Moomettes Magnificents Family, Grandparents, Crafts, Food, Travel, New England, Photography, Reviews,
New England Tourist Attractions
The Meigs Point Nature Center at Hammonassett State Park in Madison, Connecticut is a wonderful way to spend the day if you’re traveling and looking for affordable fun things to do in Connecticut with the family. The Nature Center and Park Services offers programs and activities for park visitors, kids and adults alike on a limited year round basis.
Each summer my family enjoys several camping trips to the campgrounds at Hammonasset. Hammonasset Beach State Park has 3 miles of publicly owned beaches in Connecticut, making it the State’s most popular state park.
It’s an understatement to say that the beach is one of my favorite places, as I’ve been visiting since I was a toddler.
The stone breakwater at the Meigs Point end of the park was built in 1955, and the stones were brought in by truck from quarries in northern New England. My charming son-in-law is from Vermont, and I’ve visited the Rock of Ages Quarry in Barre, Vermont.
On our most recent camping trip, my family visited the Meigs Point Nature Center and walked the Cedar Island Trail. The grandchildren are now old enough to enjoy exploring the walking and hiking trails along the nature preserve.
Cedar Island Trail
A walk along the Cedar Island Trail through the woods leads to a boardwalk that ends in the salt marsh. We were treated to a magnificent display of a driftwood sculpture!
At the beginning of the trail, informational boards give a bit of background on the geology of the area.
About 21,000 years ago, both Connecticut and Long Island Sound were covered with glacial ice at that was at least one mile.
The trail is an easy walk where you can marvel at the large boulders along beach at Meigs Point that were deposited by the Wisconsin Glacier.
Meigs Point Nature Center
The Nature center is staffed by knowledgeable season Nature Center Docents who are college students. The grandchildren had an enjoyable time marveling at the Butterfly Garden that was brimming with colorful fluttering activity!
The Center hours are 10am to 5pm Tuesday – Saturday, from Spring through October.
There are plenty of hands-on activities at the nature center and preserve for kids, Mom and Dad, Grandmother and Grandfather to enjoy, whether on a sunny day or the occasional rainy day.
Nature in Education Activities include:
- Canoe and Kayak adventure trips
- Campground movies in the amphitheater
- Nature crafts for the whole family in the Nature Center
- Live Birds of Prey demonstrations and talks
- Outdoor Explorer activities to earn badges
- BINGO in park Mohegan Center
- Hammonassett Safari to look for animals in the park
On Safari we saw chipmunks, skunk and at one time beautiful Monk Parakeets that were nesting in the trees with nests that were the size of a Volkswagon Bug!
Season Passes and Senior Citizen rates are available.
For More Information Visit: Hammonasset Beach Park
© Moomettes Magnificents
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Ooooh, I’ve been there and it’s absolutely gorgeous!! It’s a great place to take the family!
What a beautiful area and so diverse. I was so interested in your mention of Monk parakeets and their huge nests, I had to look them up in Wikipedia. We have them here in Florida, but I was amazed to learn that they live and seem to thrive so far north and that they are considered pests in many states and other parts of the world. My mother taught me so much about birds, but she probably didn’t know about these being in the wild as they are only here due to escaping captivity since the 1950s. Thanks for the interesting post and a seed of knowledge!
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It looks like a beautiful place! Thanks for your review!
Looks like it has something for everyone.
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ha!! I love the sign “this is not just a pile of rocks”!
Great post.
Dresden – that sign cracked me up too when I saw it!
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