Quaddick State Park

About Quaddick State Park

The area we now call Quaddick State Park was once Thompson's urban farm, where the old villagers spent their years peacefully. The Nipmuck fishing area was once home to a large number of wild boars, deer, elk and other wild animals.

The cool water and sandy beaches often attract crowds in the warm summer months, and the cool water and sandals on the sandy beach attract crowds even in the colder winter months.

Long before the Parkway was built, what is now the southern part of the park was a river community that literally grew on the banks of the Quinnipiac River. In late 1948, the property passed to the State Parks and Forestry Commission, and in 1953, after a new road over the river to Cross River State Park was built, it was purchased by the State Highway Commission to become Quinnipsiac River State Park. The commission classified the land east of this "new highway" as "surplus land" when the Parkway was completed, but not the rest.

From the 1920s onwards, the community grew to more than three dozen buildings and in the 1950s to seven buildings in total.

Back then, summer residents experienced only minor and infuriating flooding, but rainwater runoff and flooding events became increasingly dangerous. In the mid-1970s, it was decided to remove the buildings and take flood defences to protect the community. Buildings were removed and residents bought, and then communities were protected by flood defences.

The community is located in what is now the southern part of the park and access to it is possible from the community through a small entrance on the north side of Quaddick Road.

The park has been asked to compromise its integrity in many ways, but fortunately the value of the open space, combined with the protection of water quality and flood plains, has led to an ever decreasing number of parking spaces in the park. In the 1960s, when it looked like a permanent home, it was considered a parking lot. The same constraints imposed at the end of Banton Street made it too dangerous for the dozens of guards who eventually settled in Newtown.

In 1972, the park was placed under the care of the Department of Environment, and today the Quinnipiac River State Park is accessible to hikers and walkers. The floodplain is forested and open to the public and can be reached on foot, by bike, canoe, on horseback, kayak or canoe.

Although water quality has improved significantly, there is still one of the first documented wintering areas in the state of New York, as well as a number of areas with significantly improved water quality. Clean water also improves habitat quality for wildlife, although there is still a lack of diversity of sensitive species in various river sections.

Look out for owls and ducks nesting in dead trees, as well as birds of prey such as the blue heron, white shark and little owl.

As it is located in an active floodplain, the forest floor can be muddy seasonally and many cuts, meanders and oxen are flooded by the river. Sometimes the river banks are followed, but sometimes attempts lead to Toelles Road in the north or to a barred gate entrance on the deserted Banton Street. Blue - tanned Quinnipiac Trail, a 2.5 km trail from the main entrance to the park that sometimes follows the banks of the rivers.