Mansfield Hollow State Park

State Park · Mansfield, Connecticut

A flood control reservoir that turned into one of the better wildlife areas in eastern Connecticut, largely by accident. The Army Corps of Engineers dammed the Natchaug in the 1950s after the hurricane floods of 1938 and 1955, and the result is a shallow lake with a wide fluctuating margin of mudflat, marsh and scrub - which is exactly what waders and migrating shorebirds want, and there is very little else like it inland in this state. Birders come here from across the region in spring and autumn. Around the water there is a large day-use area with boat launches, about 2,000 acres of state land and trail links into the Natchaug and Nipmuck forests. NO SWIMMING ANYWHERE, ever, because it remains a working flood control structure with a water level that is not yours to predict. Come in spring or autumn migration, when a drawdown exposes the mudflats and the waders arrive; outside those weeks it is a pleasant but unremarkable reservoir, and the regulars with scopes will not be there.

Bassetts Bridge Road, Mansfield Center, Mansfield, Connecticut, 06250, United States

Open daily year round from around eight to sunset. Entry and parking are generally FREE, which is unusual for a Connecticut park of this size. Boat launches are open in season. SWIMMING IS PROHIBITED AT ALL TIMES. Water levels are managed by the Army Corps for flood control and change without notice. Trails are not cleared in winter. There is no camping.

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