Parks Guide

Western Connecticut State University (WCSU), founded in 1903, is located in Danbury, a major city in Fairfield County in the foothills of the Berkshire Mountains, 65 miles north of Manhattan and 50 miles west of Hartford. WCSU’s rural 364 acre Westside campus complements its 34 acre Midtown campus in the heart of downtown Danbury. Constant [...]

Stewart B. McKinney NWR is comprised of ten different units that are stretched across Connecticut’s shoreline. The headquarters is located approximately 45 minutes south of Hartford and 30 minutes east of New Haven in Westbrook, CT. Salt Meadow NWR was established in 1972 and redesignated by Congress as the Connecticut Coastal National Wildlife Refuge in [...]

Recreation facilities at this Corps-owned project are managed by the State. Free boat launching and excellent bass and pike fishing opportunities keep the 450-acre lake popular with local residents. Bass tournaments for groups require a State permit. Recreation facilities include a picnic area, drinking water, restrooms, hiking trails and hunting. For up-to-date information, call (860)923-2982.

Hop Brook Lake is a popular day use park with swimming and picnicking facilities, athletic fields, picnic shelters and over 7 miles of hiking trails winding through the woods and fields. Canoes, sailboards and rowboats are welcome on the 21-acre lake. The lake and its feeder streams are stocked with trout by the State. Cross-country [...]

In June of 1882, painter J. Alden Weir boarded a train from New York bound for his modest farm among the hills of Branchville, CT. Once here, Weir and his family transformed their summer retreat into a creative refuge for friends and fellow artists. After Weir, artists Mahonri Young and Sperry Andrews lived and worked [...]

The Henderson Americana Center for Culture & the Creative Arts is located on Hunt Hill Farm in New Milford, Connecticut. Hunt Hill Farm, the heart of the historic Anderson and Bostwick farms, has been continuously farmed since 1707 and has been lovingly preserved by Ruth & Skitch Henderson. It has housed The Silo Store  Gallery  [...]

Transportation buffs will especially enjoy this corridor’s significant design, which brilliantly integrates the craft of the engineer and the artist. Everyone will take pleasure in its recreational offerings and aesthetic beauty.

This 32-mile, 25-town route traverses one of the last unspoiled areas in the northeastern United States, with rustic farmlands, forests, farmsteads, open spaces, and historic structures and features.

This is a special kind of park. It embraces numerous towns, villages and a total population of about 300,000. Quinebaug & Shetucket is not a traditional park. Instead, citizens, businesses, nonprofit cultural and environmental organizations, local and state governments, and the National Park Service work together to preserve and celebrate the region’s cultural, historical and [...]