Pathways

Nestled amongst the rolling Litchfield Hills of Sharon, Conn., near the New York border, lies Housatonic Meadows State Park. Established in 1927, the park is relatively small— only 452 acres—but features a variety of outdoor recreation opportunities, including hiking, camping, canoeing, and world-class flyfishing along the banks of the Housatonic River, a 150-mile waterway that begins in western Massachusetts and gradually flows southeast through Litchfield County before emptying into Long Island Sound between Stratford and Milford.

Long cherished by the Mohicans and other Indigenous people who for millennia lived along its banks in hide-covered wigwams, the Housatonic River became a major industrial power source in the 19th century. By 1900, dozens of dams had slowed its flows and blocked migrating fish such as trout and salmon. Then, from 1932 to 1977, the General Electric plant in Pittsfield, Mass., discharged PCB pollution into the river; in 1997 the area was designated a Superfund Site by the Environmental Protection Agency. While remediation continues along its upper stretches, the Housatonic River remains a destination for whitewater kayakers, birders, and anglers in northwestern Connecticut. Local outfitters will guide you to the perfect eddy where you can test your skills against brown trout, rainbow trout, and bass in its cold, clear waters. At Housatonic Meadows State Park, all flyfishing is catch and release. H