Devil's Hopyard State Park is a public recreation area located at the

Eightmile River The source of the Eightmile River is a swampy, undeveloped region in the town of East Haddam, Connecticut, centered between Ackley Road, Hall Kilbourne Road, Usher Swamp Road, and Miles Standish Road. The Eightmile River runs for U.S. Geological ...

's Chapman Falls in the

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of East Haddam,

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

. The

state park State parks are parks or other protected areas managed at the sub-national level within those nations which use "Federated state, state" as a political subdivision. State parks are typically established by a state to preserve a location on accou ...

includes facilities for hiking, fishing, bicycling, picnicking, and camping. It is managed by the

Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) is a state agency in the US state of Connecticut. The department oversees the state's natural resources and environment and regulates public utilities and energy policy. I ...

History

The park was the site of an attack by the

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, in 1775, on a mill owned by pro-British loyalists. After a portion of the broken millstone was found at the foot of the falls in 2002, a park sign was erected to present details of the story. The park's falls powered "Beebe's Mills" (named after the original owner) until the 1890s. The site was acquired by the state for use as a state park in 1919 at the prodding of A.G. Willard, a resident of

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who had expressed her concern with the extent of logging operations taking place in the area.

Name

At some time prior to 1800, there was a malt house on George Griffin's farm near a small tributary of the Eightmile River called Malt House Brook. The malt house was abandoned prior to 1814, but during the period of its operation Griffin grew hops in a small clearing—the "hopyard"—beside the road running through the area now called Devil's Hopyard. There are a number of theories as to why the area was named “ Devil's” Hopyard, ranging from a landowner named Dibble to supernatural explanations for the naturally occurring potholes near the falls. A sign in the park has more on the legends of the etymology of the park's name.

Attractions

The principal feature of the park, Chapman Falls, drops more than over a series of steps in a Scotland

schist Schist ( ) is a medium-grained metamorphic rock generally derived from fine-grained sedimentary rock, like shale. It shows pronounced ''schistosity'' (named for the rock). This means that the rock is composed of mineral grains easily seen with a l ...

stone formation. The Vista Point cliff, located at the end of the Orange Trail, stands 150 to above the Eightmile River. Other attractions include "mini falls" and three historic highway bridges listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

In the news

On March 26, 2012, a large brush fire struck the park. Efforts by firefighters from fourteen towns included burning out the area behind two threatened households. The fire consumed more than fifty acres over two days before authorities let it burn itself out. Officials proposed hikers as a possible cause of the blaze. Six to 12 inches of soot, ash and other residue filled the area for some time thereafter.

References

External links