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.

Beautiful drive here this morning from Hartford to East Haddam, CT. It's late in the autumnal…read moreseason but still plenty of fall foliage in yellows oranges and reds to admire. We unfortunately could not visit the visitor's center or the inside of the castle because they are closed after early October for redecorating the interior for the winter holiday season. We explored the grounds along two nicely up-kept trails down to the Connecticut River's edge, with more deciduous trees as well as evergreens giving beautiful shade. It must be gorgeous when it snows here. If you're visiting there are several pretty areas with benches, perfect for a picnic.

Love hiking here! Great views, beautiful forest, easy parking, dog friendly.read more

We've made a couple of visits to the Salmon River State Forest since we moved to CT. There are a…read morecouple of parks and trails that go through the forest - The Air Line Trail and Day Pond State Park are both inside the forest, and the Salmon River Trail goes through it, around Day Pond park and over to the Comstock Covered Bridge. The trails are well maintained and well signed, and this is overall a great place to spend time hiking or fishing.

The parking along the route isnt obvious, except for cars along a guardrail. There are 2 separate…read moreentrances from there, mostly obscured by overgrowth of bushes. The stairs lead down to what used to be an open picnic area, tables, grills, now quite a bit overgrown. The "falls" are simply a creek that flows along the picnic area, with a few small cascades, all under 5-6 feet tall. There is a trail that goes along the other side of the creek, and it then moves up & away from the creek into woods. That trail is ok, and eventually leads to a quirky rock formation where it's clear people either party and/or camp out and leave trash around. Like other comments, this place is in dire need of TLC by the state and better care by people who use it.

I wish that it was as well kept up as it was in years gone by. It seems to have gone downhill a lot…read morein the last 10 years or so. The parking lot was well kept, there were tables to picnic at and when my kids, now adults, were growing up it was family friendly. I can not say that is still true and I feel DEEP or whoever needs to invest in the area. If they returned it to what it was I feel it would be a much better place for families. I do not know who to contact to ask about doing this. BUT I do wish someone would do it. Haddam Meadows is kept up so well and IF they did this to 7 Falls it would be great especially because it is so close to cities and town in the area.

Beautiful scenic nature with hidden gems throughout! Definitely a great place to bring the fur…read morebabies to have a swim! The park is clean and litter free Just be careful as some of the areas near the "island" are dirty and littered partially due to wash up and rising/sinking water levels. This is the only part that is concerning.

was looking for a picnic spot to eat some sandwiches and saw on there sign there was a picnic area…read morebut the gates were closed and we saw people walking with there dogs, seemed like nice spot. until we started to walk in the direction of the pinic spot and it was a very very far walk and it was very cold, we gave up on walking to the picnic spot and we ate on the road instead. would not recommend going if the gates are closed and the weather is cold.

Well maintained hiking trails. Beautiful and scenic whichever way you decide to hike. Make sure you…read morewear proper fitting as the terrain can get rocky and steep in some areas. If you are lucky enough to find the falls, it's worth the hike!

Another visit to this state park though this time we only walked our dog around a small section…read more There were a number of people sitting around enjoying the nice weather or having a quick lunch at one of the numerous picnic tables. We will be back

This is an interesting park. George Dudley Seymour State Park is adjacent to Hurd State Park, it's…read morejust to the south of it. Access to the park is at the end of Clarkhurst Road, which basically dead-ends at what used to be a bridge for cars, but now is a pedestrian bridge. There's a small gravel lot here, across from a private residence. The first part of the park is interesting - after you cross the bridge, you're still hiking on old roadway, down the hill. Once at the bottom of the hill, there are a number of meandering little trails, none of which are blazed. If you follow the main trail, you eventually end up in a semi-marshy area, where paths have been mowed. This would be a great park if there were a little more signage and trail blazing. Just even an entrance sign would be enough.

This is a newly rededicated state park in East Haddam. It has a parking area, a memorial and a…read moresmall picnic area. It commemorates Capt. Comer, an explorer from the time of great explorations during the early 1900's, who also resided in East Haddam. Members of his family still live in town. The park is located at the head of a town park which includes a couple of short easy hiking trails. The picnic area is easy to get to and a nice little roadside rest. This is a good place to bring young children for a picnic and a short hike.