The Great Outdoors: Hamonasset Beach State Park

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You don’t have to wait for the summer sun to enjoy all that Hammonasset Beach State Park has to offer. Connnecticut’s largest shoreline park is open year-round from 8AM until sunset. Activities include picnicking, bicycling, walking trails, carry-in boating, fishing, seasonal camping and of course, saltwater swimming. There are those who enjoy the beach when the park is just opening and the fog is beginning to lift, and there is still a light mist in the air. This is the perfect time for walkers and joggers to experience the two-mile stretch of shoreline. Then there are those who like the beach when the sun is at its strongest. This is when the crowds are at their maximum and the beach resembles one big patchwork quilt, made up of colorful beach blankets, umbrellas, and coolers, with sunbathers soaking up the sun’s hot rays. Small children, sporting sun hats to protect their delicate skin from those same hot rays, dig holes and make sandcastles in the damp sand several feet from the surf’s edge. Older children brave the water’s chill, in hopes of catching any waves before they pound the shore. There are also those who enjoy the beach when the sun begins to descend, and the majority of sunbathers have packed up, and the seagulls have taken over the beach. Some comb the beach with their metal detectors while others simply sit and wait to watch the day’s setting sun.
Located off Boston Post Road in Madison, Hammonasset is named for the Hammonasset Native Americans, an eastern woodland ethnic group that inhabited the area before the arrival of the first colonists in 1639. Over the course of the almost ninety years since its opening, the park has gone through many transformations. It has more than doubled in size, bathhouses were built, lockers were added, pavilions expanded to provide concession areas, a 600-foot bench was erected along the beach to protect the berm, which also provided a place for visitors to sit, and park roads were improved to better accommodate the growing crowds.
In 1972 the park opened a nature education center, now known as Meigs Point Nature Center. You don’t have to be a serious naturalist to enjoy all that the nature center offers. The center hosts a variety of native animals, most of which are brought to the center after sustaining an injury in the wild and can no longer survive in their own habitat. These include turtles, snakes, amphibians, crabs, and fish. A favorite among children during the in-season is the touch tank. Small wonders of the sea are brought inside for close-up viewing and learning, and then released back into Long Island Sound. A private educational program is provided to school groups, scout troops, and any others. Each outdoor and environmental program is tailored around the age level and needs of each group.
Camping at Hammonasset’s William F. Miller Campground is seasonal. This year’s season begins May 15 and runs through October 31, 2009. The campground offers 558 open sites and provides its campers with a concession area, bathrooms, showers, and a dumping station. Individual fireplaces are not provided. Although pets on a leash are permitted in the park’s picnic areas, they are prohibited from the beach and campground.
Today, more than a million people a year enter through the park’s gate. Don’t be surprised at the crowds on any given day that the sun is present, even during the winter months. Many people actually prefer to visit the park during the off-season when the crowds are fewer and the air is crisp with a cool, ocean breeze. Some take advantage of the bike and jogging trails, others stroll quietly along the boardwalk or the water’s edge, while others just sit, relax, and take in all the sights, sounds and smells. On weekends when it is clear, and the wind is just right, the open sky above the park is magical -often filled with kites of all shapes and colors like a vibrant, unforgettable kaleidoscope.