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    Kettletown State Park

    4.0 (9 reviews)

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    Campsite layout.
    Simon G.

    Had a pretty good time here and would definitely recommend the campground to families or people who value convenience and comfort more than isolation. Pros: Nice marked trails Beautiful sunset on the lake Close proximity to bathrooms and water faucets HOT showers! Relatively clean bathrooms Cons: The campsites are CLOSE to each other. There are no trees separating the sites. If you get a big group of people listening to music, you will be listening to their music as well. (Bring earplugs) They don't enforce quiet time enough - we had a big group nearby listening to reggaeton late into the night. It was annoying. All in all - I would return. But I would have preferred more space away from my camping neighbors.

    Beach swimming area.
    Freesia S.

    Kettletown State Park is everything that comes to mind when you think of a traditional sleep-away summer camp on a lake, except it's open to family and group camping as well as large youth group camping, and you can come here just for a day. There's a small beach area for lounging and swimming, and the rest of the large lake is used for water sports such as boating, canoeing, and fishing. The water's pretty murky in the swimming area, but that's to be expected for a lake. I went swimming and found it to be cool and refreshing on a hot day. Behind the beach is a nice picnic area with charcoal grills and a good number of picnic tables under shady trees. Past the beach area is a small amphitheater with screenings of family movies at night (Madagascar 1 and 3 last weekend), plus daytime activities like a reptile show. Campsites aren't too far from all of this action, and the walk from the camping area to the beach consists of a beautiful hike on clear trails and boardwalks through the woods and over a relaxing stream. I camped here with a group of friends last week, and we all had a great time. Camping is very reasonable at $17 a night for Connecticut residents this year. Our site was clean, right across from a drinking water pump, and a short walk to the bathrooms, which are cleaned daily and include a shower. Each site includes a fire pit. Cabins are available for $50 a night for up to 6 people, which isn't a bad deal either. There is an alcohol ban this year from June 7 to Sept. 9, which may or may not deter my camping here in the future. We made it in before the prohibition, but there were still large signs everywhere about the no alcohol rule. I'm not sure how strongly this is enforced, but we did see a few police cars drive through the weekend we stayed. Quiet hours start at 10 p.m., so the police cars may have been driving through to enforce that. Overall, this was a really nice place to spend a weekend.

    A fallen tree, over a shadow, in the water, in the Spring.

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    7 years ago

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    16 years ago

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    6 years ago

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    11 years ago

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    13 years ago

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    Photo of Charlie J.
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    5 years ago

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    8 years ago

    Beautiful and relaxing beach. They lose a star for all the dead fish/high bacteria count warnings. Such a shame.

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    11 years ago

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    15 years ago

    full of challenging hiking trails and beautiful scenery (camps next to river and near waterfalls)

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    Seaport Association - Sheffield Island's Lighthouse

    Seaport Association

    4.6(23 reviews)
    25.5 mi

    My boyfriend and I went for a mini vacation in Norwalk, CT and I booked the Sunset Harbor…read moreLighthouse Tour which we went on this past Sunday evening from 6:30-8:30, on 8/10/25. This tour was definitely a highlight of our trip! Captain John and Charlie were great and all the passengers aboard had a great time! We passed three lighthouses-Peck Ledge LH, Sheffield Island LH and Green's Ledge LH. Charlie, co-captain of Captain John, had just toured the inside of Green's Ledge LH the day before which is listed on Airbnb for $6,000! He went around the ship showing everyone the floor plan. It especially exciting to be on the Long Island Sound and to see the red and white towers from Northport, since I live on Long Island!! We were able to see several different viewpoints of the sunset and osprey nests as well. Definitely recommend to residents of Norwalk AND tourists alike!

    Like a lot of other dork type middle age dudes I'm a sucker for a good lighthouse. Actually I've…read morebeen to a few clinkers which says that I'm apparently I'm also a sucker for a bad lighthouse as well but there's no need to worry about that at Sheffield because it's all good here. So if you want to come you've got two legal options. 1. Show up via kayak (or I suppose boat then taking a short swim) during hours when they are running tours and you will be met on the shore by a volunteer who will ask you to pay a few dollars for the privilege of taking the lighthouse tour/hanging out on the island. 2. Or, you come via the regularly scheduled boat that runs from the dock on North Water Street in Norwalk from late May until the end of September. There are various public & private decks for parking all around the area so it shouldn't be too hard to find a close space. I don't remember what the price is for option #1 but for option #2 the below currently apply: Adults: $22.00 - Children 12 & Under: $12.00 Senior / NSA Member $20.00 Active Military with ID $10.00 Children 3 & Under: $5.00 Family 4 Pack (2 Adults, 2 Children) $55.00 A few random facts: Boats depart weekends only every year over Memorial Day weekend and eventually go daily from July until Labor Day and then back to weekends only until the end of September. Check seaport.org for the current schedule and for special events such as their clambakes. Once you get to the island you get to take a brief tour of the lighthouse which was built in 1868 (downstairs only for now as the upstairs tower portion is being worked on and hopefully tours will be allowed there in the not to distant future once they get the stairs in better shape along with figuring out a way to dissipate the heat which we were told was well over 100 degrees the day we were there in August) and you can also walk through the nature trail via the Stewart B. McKinney Wildlife Refuge. If you are going to walk on the nature trail or along the beach that fronts Sheffield Island Harbor just know that things are "wild" and that you will get eaten alive by flies, mosquitoes and I wouldn't be shocked if the trees had lots of ticks. The lighthouse was relit in 2011 for the first time in 91 years. Why Sheffield Island? The island was named after Revolutionary War veteran Captain Robert Sheffield who bought the island in 1804. He married Temperance Doty, a Mayflower descendant and such started the current lineage of the island's name. The 47 acre island is private property that is primarily owned by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service with the Norwalk Seaport Association depending upon the website owning only three or four of those acres. You will be reminded a few times of where you can and cannot walk. Speaking of an area you can't walk by it would be the dilapidated house on the right near the dock. That house is still owned by the Stabell family who sold the island to the Norwalk Seaport Association in 1986 for 700K. I forget the exact story we were told but it's something along the lines of the "home" (more of a dilapidated shack) cannot be renovated because of Fish and Wildlife Service rules and if they raze the structure they lose the land so the shack stands as is. The island itself is around a mile and half from the dock in Norwalk and the boat is kept at a country club pace in both directions which equals about 40 minutes to make the trip in each direction. This is fine as one of the crew did a fairly good job or telling everyone about some of the various islands & lighthouses & birds in the area and about the local shellfish industry. Past that it's just sit back and relax on some of their picnic benches and have a picnic or don't do a damn thing except the enjoy the beautiful view. Either way it's awesome.

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    Seaport Association - Hello Mr.Tony Silver Spring Md.

    Hello Mr.Tony Silver Spring Md.

    Seaport Association - Peck Ledge LH

    Peck Ledge LH

    Seaport Association - Sunset

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    Sunset

    Hollandia Nurseries - Sign on old farm irrigation machine

    Hollandia Nurseries

    3.0(48 reviews)
    9.3 mi
    $$$

    Hollandia nursery has the most beautiful products around. We bought a brand-new build with not a…read moresingle shrub. Eugene designed a beautiful plan for us which we are implementing it in stages as our budget allows. Euguene walked our property, so he was able to best design with products conducive to our very windy hill top and dry shallow soil bed. The installation so far has been is exceptional and his crews are very, very hardworking and professional. We continue to work with Eugene and Kathy to make our vision of a beautiful property come to life.

    Hollandia is a local treasure. Great plants, cheerful young staff, knowledgeable botanists and…read morestaff who will happily drop their watering chores to help customers find the plant they are searching for. Always. I've been shopping here for over twenty years. Today, however, I had an unfortunate run in with Mr Grouch on his golf cart. It seems I broke the rules. When driving in the " back way" we saw the exact shrub ( a massive dappled willow /pictured below) we came to buy. So, instead of parking the car, getting a wheeled cart and returning back to the plant, we stopped, put the four foot tall shrub into the car and drove around to pay. For those who don't know the layout, Hollandia improved their parking a few years ago. Instead of limiting parking to the front of the building, they have created a massive parking lot deep into the back of the nursery where the commercial vehicles can access their big orders. It is a huge operation. This is an improvement for those of us who usually buy as much as we can fit into our cars. But, I will grant, that it also exposes the operation to potential shoplifting as cars are now permitted into the yard itself. Today, though, my 85 year old husband and I decided we could eliminate the usual park, get cart, return back across yard to get shrub, pay, return to car, load shrub. You'd have thought we sprayed Round Up on the annuals. Old Mr Grouchy explained that this is not what is done. I asked, " Do you really want me to return the plant, get a cart, pick up the plant all the way on the other side of the yard and return to the same spot where we are standing?" I thought he might be inclined to give a senior citizen like himself a bit of a break with the usual routine. Guess not. He explained that he was even older ( as he is sitting in his golf cart) and that a lot of 80 years olds shop there and observe the rules. Well...this one didn't and won't ever again. Good bye Hollandia. Love the plants, love the staff but the boss is a small minded lout. It seemed far more important for him to chastise us for breaking the rules than to have been understanding of our particular method of purchase.

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    Hollandia Nurseries
    Hollandia Nurseries - Sign

    Sign

    Hollandia Nurseries

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    Kettletown State Park - parks - Updated August 2026

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