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11 Parks, preserves and playgrounds

Parks, Trails and Ponds Across Bethel

Apart from the Square and the Town Green, Bethel's parks, ponds and trails sit away from Greenwood Avenue, so plan on driving to most of them. The biggest is Huntington State Park, a short drive southeast of the Square.

Ponds
16
Trails
6

1,017 acres Huntington State Park

Huntington State Park

Fields and woods across Redding, Bethel and Newtown, with five ponds, a lagoon, 15-acre Lake Hopewell and ten miles of trails open to hikers, cyclists and riders on horseback.

  • 11 minBy car from the Square
  • 8 a.m.Open daily until sunset
  • FreeDogs on a leash

Leave the car at the park lot on Dodgingtown Road, on the Bethel side. Connecticut State Parks lists archery-only deer hunting in the park from September 15 to December 31.

Plan a day that ends here

Park details from Connecticut State Parks

A gravel trail running down through meadow grass to a pond ringed by woods at Huntington State Park
A gravel trail running down through meadow grass to a pond ringed by woods at Huntington State Park.AskJoanne · CC BY 3.0
Anna Hyatt Huntington's bronze of a mother bear standing upright, two cubs climbing at her side, on a stone plinth among trees
Anna Hyatt Huntington's bronze of a mother bear standing upright, two cubs climbing at her side, on a stone plinth among trees.AskJoanne · Public domain

  • On the avenue

    P. T. Barnum Square

    Parks & Outdoors

    A small triangular park laid out in 1881 as Fountain Place, renamed for the showman in 1928, with Ernest Moore Viquesney's bronze Doughboy at its center.

  • On the avenue

    Town Green

    Parks & Outdoors

    Municipal open space, free and open to the public.

  • Off avenue

    Bennett Memorial Park

    Parks & OutdoorsShelter Rock Road

    Town-owned parkland on Shelter Rock Road, open to the general public.

  • 9

    Collis P. Huntington State Park

    Parks & Outdoors9 Dodgingtown Road

    1,017 acres of fields, woods, five ponds and ten miles of trails across Redding, Bethel and Newtown, with Anna Hyatt Huntington's bear and wolf sculptures at the entrance. Free, open daily 8 a.m. to sunset, dogs on a leash.

  • Off avenue

    Meckauer Park

    Parks & OutdoorsShelter Rock Road

    A town park off Shelter Rock Road with a playground.

  • Off avenue

    Meckauer Park Playground

    Parks & Outdoors

  • Off avenue

    Overlook Park

    Parks & Outdoors

  • Off avenue

    Parloa Park

    Parks & Outdoors

  • Off avenue

    Parloa Park Playground

    Parks & Outdoors

  • Off avenue

    Stephenson Preserve

    Parks & Outdoors

    A nature preserve with its own named trail.

  • Off avenue

    The Nature Conservancy Wolfpits Nature Preserve

    Parks & Outdoors

    Private, Open To Public Without Fee

6 Trails in Bethel

Trails

Paths and hiking routes in Bethel.
TrailTypeSurface
Dog Walking PathPathgravel
Enchanted TrailPathwood
Huntington Ridge TrailPathearth
Pond LoopPathNot recorded
Stephenson TrailPathNot recorded
Pond TrailHiking routeNot recorded

16 Ponds and lakes

Ponds

Sixteen ponds and lakes sit inside the town line.

  • Little River Pond
  • Bethels Pond
  • Sympaug Pond
  • Todd Park
  • Signors Pond
  • Lily Pond
  • North Pond
  • King Lake
  • King Lake No 1
  • King Lake No 2
  • Chestnut Pond
  • Whose Pond
  • Jenkins Pond
  • Schatten Pond
  • Hurd Pond
  • Chestnut Ridge Reservoir