This is a beautiful park, it's very well maintained and clean. There are a lot of people walking…read moretheir dogs. You can walk in a small boardwalk and read about the wildlife. There are also some more challenging hikes where there is even some scrambling. Very clean and peaceful. The pine needles smell so beautiful! There's lots of free parking. You need pay for parking if you're out of state. Plenty of porta potties and bathrooms.

It has been at least 25 years since we last visited this park which is a shame because it is a true…read moregem. There is no entrance fee for CT residents and only costs $5 for out-of-state vehicles. We enjoyed walking around the ponds and trails with out dog as it appears many others do. The sole disappointment is the small covered bridge is currently closed. Next time, and there will be a next time in the not too distant future, we will bring a lunch and settle in at one of the many picnic tables.

Trails were scenic and lovely. Some downed trees block the way. Orange trail has some vertical…read moreareas, and uneven in spots - but that's nature. Waterfall easily accessible from parking lot - short distance, wide trail mostly crushed stone. Vista A lovely overlook of the river valley and mountains.

Superb park! One of my favorites to ride my motorcycle through. It was already a 5/5 experience for…read moreme without even getting off my bike. "Where should we ride today?" "How about through Devil's Hopyard?" This was a common discussion between my partner & I. It was only during our last ride that we actually parked our bikes & got off them to explore. So imagine my delight to find waterfalls, creeks, beautiful trails, & a covered bridge! There were quite a few people there, but it didn't feel crowded at all. It was possible to evenly disperse ourselves to not disturb other people. The only con (& this is just Mother Nature at work, so all we can do is prepare better in the future) is the amount of mosquitos. Load up on your favorite deet free bug repellant & you'll be good to go.

Gillette Castle is a historic home and museum that was built in East Haddam, Connecticut in 1919…read more It was the home of the late American stage actor and playwright William Gillette. He is most well-known for portraying the famous literary character Sherlock Holmes: a role he assumed more than 1,300 times on stage, once in a silent film, and twice on the radio. Gillette's use of the deerstalker cap and calabash pipe became enduring symbols of the character. He had planned to build a retirement home in Long Island, but changed his mind when he saw the Seven Sisters cliffs while traversing the Connecticut River in his houseboat, Aunt Polly. He chose this location for his "castle", which he designed himself and dubbed "Seventh Sister". Taking nearly five years to complete, the 14,000-sq-ft castle featured a 3-story-plus-tower and 24 rooms. Gillette also built a 3-mile-long narrow gauge railroad around the property, which he was particularly fond of. Notable celebrities of the early 20th century visited the home, including Albert Einstein, Helen Hayes, and Charlie Chaplin. Gillette passed away in 1937 at the age of 83. The State of Connecticut purchased the property in 1943 and dubbed it "Gillette Castle". Today the residence and surrounding park receive 350,000 visitors annually. Every holiday season, the Friends of Gillette Castle volunteer organization decorate the castle and the grounds with festive Christmas decorations. Visitors can tour the massive home in all of its holiday splendor. My family and I loved exploring the interior of the castle. The gorgeous rooms are even more beautiful with all of the Christmas trees, wreaths, ornaments, nutcrackers and other various holiday accents. Of course, there were quite a few Sherlock Holmes artifacts scattered around as well. Mrs. Claus was also in attendance distributing cups of hot apple cider to visitors. We also really liked seeing the miniature locomotives at the Visitors' Center: some of the only remaining relics of Mr. Gillette's cherished miniature railroad.

A fun, yet simple, little trip to do on a summer day. Forgot my OFF, so I couldn't go as far into…read morethe trails as I would've liked, but the castle was the primary reason for going and probably the reason most go. Although it may look medieval, the castle was built in 1914. It's rather simple and straightforward, but for $6 as an out-of-state visitor, you can't go wrong. Takes about 1/2 hour to do, and again is just something different and outside the norm to do a summer (or anytime really) day.

Great playground for the kids. Has a great area for sports like soccer or softball playing…read more Bathrooms and ample parking available.

Twin Brooks Park is a very beautiful and well maintained park. It has a nice paved walking/bike…read morepath with flowers and trees that bloom in spring and summer. There are a total of 5 ponds/lakes, two of which people sometimes fish at. There are swings (in very good condition) and a playground that is suitable for kids around age 4-13. In the winter Twin Brooks has easily the best sledding hill in a 10 mile radius. It's such a good sledding hill that it can actually be dangerous due to the sheer distance. With most sleds you don't have to worry but with high quality inner tubes you can generate a lot of speed. Sledding not your thing? No problem! There is also an extensive network of mountain biking/hiking trails in the woods to the north of the park. In fact you can mountain bike or hike from Beach Memorial Park all the way to Twin Brooks! Twin Brooks is beautiful in all 4 seasons, just don't forget your Trumbull parking pass. If you don't have one there is street parking on Franklin Street.

I really like this beach. It's cool for kids, has bathrooms, outdoor shower, and changing rooms…read more Plenty of parking, lifeguards, and even a food truck. The tide goes out really far, and leaves plenty of things to explore such as tide pools, and long sand bars that go out again very far. It does cost money to get in, but I think it's free after like 6pm. Only thing I wasn't a fan of is the swimming area. There are big patches of grasses growing right where you'd swim during high tide, and it makes the swimming area very small, and a few big rocks that should be moved and are dangerous. Very clean beach. Haven't seen really any trash or plastic. There are crabs to catch, and shells to find. They even let us drop off for free. It is considered one of the best beaches in Ct.

4 stars, nice (for ct!)…read more thats the way it is these days, when you summer in RI, you expect certain things, harvey beach is very different than what i typically experience. the flats! this is one of the neatest part of the beach, low tide you can walk out into the bay real far out, its surreal! high tide has a lot of grassy areas, again, kinda weird to me for a beach, but its still nice sand and clean water. there is also a lobster truck in the lot and bathrooms too. 15$ to park, which stung, but way better than say 16$! cost of doing business, this is a public beach, so if you can walk, save the moneys. sandy (danny?)

A whole lot of…read morerecreation Ethel Peters is a huge recreational complex that has a whole lot of different activities. Different schools and organizations use the complex as well as individual residents and everything in the complex is very well maintained. Several huge and very nice baseball fields, a football and soccer field, hoop and tennis courts, a skate park, a nice running track and even a dog park are available. It is a huge area and many people just use the area to jog or go for a walk. During the summer lots of different leagues use the facilities and there is always something going on. Fortunately the complex has a huge parking lot so even with zillions of people around parking is usually not a problem. In the winter I have seen people cross country skiing and snow shoeing here. A wonderful town park that meets the needs of just about any activity you could want. A great place for some recreation or relaxation.

The kids love coming to visit this bike/skate park! The signs indicating that this park may be…read moreclosed due to littering are a little concerning but hopefully it helps keep it clean. The kids love the ramps and it appears to be well kept with the exception of the back side of the park where the litter seems to collect. providing additional trash and/or recycle bins might be beneficial.

A playground near the beach with grass areas and trees, I mean what more could a kid ask for! There…read moreare multiple play areas for varying age groups. The park is in good condition, all new rubber mats along the bottom and trees surround the park so it's a beautiful spot to picnic that overlooks the water. During fall months there was no fee, I'm sure the summer it is packed here due to the beach. But if you have kids this is a fantastic place to spend a a few hours.

Fantastic beach! It's not huge, but it's still a decent size. Brought my 4 yr old here on a Sunday…read moreand had a great time! We arrived about 10:30 and there was plenty of space. The nice guy in parking told us it was $30 to park for nonresidents (assume that's both parking and pass, though not sure), but free parking was available a short distance up the road and entry fee would be just $10. We went with that even though it meant I would be carrying everything to the beach. The parking was really not far... maybe one wide city block. It's literally across the playground (which you can't cut to since it's part of the park and fenced in). Then you go down the hill which is all sidewalk (good when you have kiddos), and down to the paid parking and beach. Once you arrive to the parking, you go to the restroom building on the left and there's a sign that says "passes" on the right side. Go there to pay the $10 pass. There were some rules I wasn't aware of, so some tips: umbrellas need to be behind the cones. I believe the life guard said it was to keep the incoming tide from washing it out? The tide did come up a little during the day we were there. Also, no boogie boards allowed anywhere at the beaches with life guards. What I didn't know, was it was allowed at the private beach strip between the two public beaches. There are houses overlooking the private beach area, but everyone seems to use it or at least walk it to get from one public beach to the other. I'm sure if someone really didn't want you hanging out there, they'd tell you, but we seemed to be allowed. We also were just 2 people and not a party hanging out, so that probably helps. The water was warmish in the shallow waves but cooler once in. Water is pretty clear and some areas had more seaweed than others, but not bad. There are a ton of boat type shells and not much of others. The sand and waters are full of nice pebbles, stones, and larger stones. There is also a floating raft a short distance out (of both public beach areas) that you can swim to, although we did not since my daughter still doesn't swim well. The beach gets busy after noon, but it wasn't too bad. There are a couple outdoor showers by the bathrooms that worked really well. We didn't use the bathrooms so not sure how they were. I don't know if there's a concession stand; I didn't see one. But there was an ice cream truck that came by at the main beach. A nice playground is up the hill a little bit from the beach that we were going to visit, but decided to keep moving and go home. I'd definitely come here again. For $10 and a little hassle of carrying your things a short distance, it's a really pretty and clean beach, with nice views of sailboats on the water. The waves are gentle too, so it's good for little ones. Still watch them though bc as the day went on, the waves got a little bigger and has a good pull for small kiddos.

Great historic site/battlefield. Climbing the monument/tower is exhausting and your workout for the…read moreday. The tunnel is interesting too, as I'm only 5'6 and had to hunch down to get through. I didn't check out the musuem, as the monument climb took a lot out of me, but otherwise the site was interesting and fun experience. Some nice views as well, while also remembering those that passed here

Such a great piece of history right here in CT! It's a quick visit - I looked at every part of this…read morefort and walked down the street to the water in about an hour visit. I really enjoyed my time here! I am not super knowledgeable about American history , so I really loved all the signage (see photos). There is no parking lot but plenty of street parking. There ate public bathrooms and a water fountain, but they were closed due to Covid.