Naugatuck State Forest is a

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

state forest A state forest or national forest is a forest that is administered or protected by some agency of a sovereign or federated state, or territory. Background The precise application of the terms vary by jurisdiction. For example: * In Australia, a ...

consisting of five separate blocks in the

towns A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

Beacon Falls Beacon Falls is a town in western New Haven County, Connecticut, United States. It lies in the southwestern part of the state, and is bisected by the Naugatuck River. The population was 6,000 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, dow ...

Naugatuck Naugatuck is a consolidated borough and town in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States. The town spans both sides of the Naugatuck River just south of Waterbury and includes the communities of Union City on the east side of the river, wh ...

Bethany Bethany ( grc-gre, Βηθανία,Murphy-O'Connor, 2008, p152/ref> Syriac: ܒܝܬ ܥܢܝܐ ''Bēṯ ʿAnyā'') or what is locally known as Al-Eizariya or al-Azariya ( ar, العيزرية, " laceof Lazarus"), is a Palestinian town in the West B ...

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

, Hamden, Seymour, and Ansonia. The five blocks are the Mount Sanford (Cheshire, Hamden—bordering Prospect and Bethany), East (Beacon Falls, Bethany, Naugatuck), West (Naugatuck, Oxford, Beacon Falls), Quillinan Reservoir (Seymour, Ansonia), and Great Hill (Seymour) blocks.

History

The first purchases of lands which comprise the Naugatuck State Forest were made by Harris Whittemore in 1921. Whittemore, a Connecticut State Forest and Park Commissioner and industrial magnate, intended to donate the forest parcels to the state but died in 1928 before he could do so. In 1931, in memoriam, Whittemore's family donated nearly 2,000 acres (which included additional parcels acquired after his death). The other blocks were added afterwards with the Great Hill block having been added most recently. A scenic valley consisting of the parallel

Naugatuck River The Naugatuck River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 1, 2011 river in the U.S. state of Connecticut. Its waters carve out the Naugatuck River Valley in the wes ...

and

Connecticut Route 8 Route 8 is a state highway in Connecticut that runs north–south from Bridgeport, through Waterbury, all the way to the Massachusetts state line where it continues as Massachusetts Route 8. Most of the highway is a four-lane freeway but t ...

splits the East and West block's rising hills in Naugatuck. Most of the Naugatuck State Forest blocks are in the Naugatuck River

watershed Watershed is a hydrological term, which has been adopted in other fields in a more or less figurative sense. It may refer to: Hydrology * Drainage divide, the line that separates neighbouring drainage basins * Drainage basin, called a "watershe ...

whose sources and mouth are entirely within the limits of Connecticut and which is itself a tributary of the lower

Housatonic River The Housatonic River ( ) is a river, approximately long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed April 1, 2011 in western Massachusetts and western Connecticut in the United S ...

. The towns in the

Naugatuck Valley The Naugatuck River Valley is the watershed area of the Naugatuck River in the western part of Connecticut. The Naugatuck Valley straddles parts of Litchfield County, New Haven, and Fairfield counties. The Route 8 corridor and Waterbury Branch o ...

area were settled during the early part of the 18th century and were typical of the early New England settlements. Rivers, streams and ponds were dammed to furnish waterpower for

gristmill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and Wheat middlings, middlings. The term can refer to either the Mill (grinding), grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist i ...

tanneries Tanning may refer to: *Tanning (leather), treating animal skins to produce leather *Sun tanning, using the sun to darken pale skin **Indoor tanning, the use of artificial light in place of the sun **Sunless tanning, application of a stain or dye t ...

, and later

paper mills A paper mill is a factory devoted to making paper from vegetable fibres such as wood pulp, old rags, and other ingredients. Prior to the invention and adoption of the Fourdrinier machine and other types of paper machine that use an endless belt, ...

. There are many stone fences marking the boundaries of colonial era farms though large portions of the Naugatuck State Forest blocks are composed of rocky hills which made poor farmland.

Activities

Naugatuck SF Quillinan White Trail Singletrack Near former NIKE site

Naugatuck State Forest is used for fishing, hiking, hunting, target shooting, snowmobiling, cross country skiing, mountain biking, climbing, geocaching and trail running. The forest is crossed by several

Blue-Blazed Trails The Blue-Blazed Hiking Trail system, managed by the Connecticut Forest & Park Association (CFPA), and the related trail systems documented in the two volume ("East" and "West") 19th Edition of the "Connecticut Walk Book" comprise over 800 miles o ...

including the

Quinnipiac Trail The Quinnipiac Trail is a '' Blue-Blazed'' hiking trail in New Haven County, Connecticut. It is the product of the evolution and growth of the first trail designated in Connecticut's Blue-Blazed Hiking Trail system, with its light-blue rectangu ...

and Naugatuck Trail (including the Whittemore spur). Mountain biking trails include fire roads in the various blocks, as well as several miles of singletrack trail in the Quillinan Block that were created in cooperation of the DEEP State Forester's office, the New England Mountain Bike Association (NEMBA), and Thule Corporation.

Features

* Eastern East Block - Beacon Cap * West Block - High Rock Shooting Association Rifle Range * West Block - Seymour Reservoirs * Mount Sanford block - Cromie Grove and the border with the Town of Hamden's Brooksvale Recreation Area/Park. * Quillinan Block - Mountain biking "singletrack" White and Purple trails.

References

External links

Naugatuck State Forest
Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection
Naugatuck State Forest Map (East & West Blocks)
Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection
Naugatuck State Forest Map (Mount Sanford)
Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection
Naugatuck State Forest (Maps 1-5)
Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection {{ConnecticutTrailSystem Connecticut state forests Parks in New Haven County, Connecticut Protected areas established in 1931 Hamden, Connecticut Naugatuck, Connecticut

Seymour Ansonia 1931 establishments in Connecticut