Rocky Neck State Park

State Park · East Lyme, Connecticut

The shoreline state park that is not Hammonasset - smaller, quieter, and with a better walk. A half-mile crescent of sand faces Long Island Sound at Niantic Bay, backed by one of the largest tidal salt marshes on the Connecticut coast, and the two are joined by a long wooden boardwalk that runs out over the marsh and under the railway to the sand. Walking that boardwalk at high tide with egrets working the channels is the thing people remember rather than the beach. Above it stands an enormous 1930s stone and timber pavilion built by the WPA, with a fireplace you could park a car in - one of the best surviving Depression-era park buildings in New England. There are about eight miles of woodland trail behind the marsh, a campground, and fishing off the point, and in September, when the crowds go and the water is at its warmest, it is close to perfect. The parking is the thing to plan around: it is charged daily in season, it costs out-of-state vehicles considerably more, and on a hot weekend the lot closes when it fills, often by the middle of the morning.

244 West Main Street, Niantic, East Lyme, Connecticut, 06357, United States

The park is open daily year round from around eight in the morning to sunset. The BEACH season with lifeguards, showers and full facilities runs roughly Memorial Day to Labor Day. PARKING IS CHARGED in season, daily, with a substantially higher rate for out-of-state vehicles, and the lot closes when full on hot weekends. The campground is seasonal and booked separately. Off season the park stays open and parking is usually free.

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