Wadsworth Falls State Park

Wadsworth Falls State Park in Middletown, Connecticut is a location that offers hiking, swimming, biking, and picnicking. There are also waterfalls that you can visit – a big falls, and a little falls. Some information if you plan to hike – it is a bit confusing when you first start to figure out what trail you want to take to get to the waterfalls, so you really need to pay attention when you’re first getting going, as well as throughout the trail so you don’t miss any of the trail markers. It is also a bit of a long hike - about 3 miles there and back – but this depends on if you actually walk the trails or if you park near where the waterfall is. When you reach the end of the trail, there will be a marker labeled big falls pointing you to the right. You want to go in that direction until you come to the parking lot, and then there will be the path leading you to the waterfall. If you park closer to the big falls, it would only be a short walk down a path. I will say though that if you walk the trails be extremely careful because there are rocks and tree roots sprouted up all over the place. Just a word of caution – you are not supposed to swim in the big falls, however some people just don’t listen and do it anyways. Price to park on weekends is $9 for a CT registered vehicle and $15 for a not CT registered vehicle, on weekdays there is no charge.

Here are my top 5 tips for if you plan to visit Wadsworth Falls –

1)      If you are elderly, have young children, or simply just don’t want to do a lot of walking, then I would recommend you drive to where the big waterfall is located and take the short path down. 

2)      Like I mentioned, there are many signs at the falls stating no swimming, so don’t be one of THOSE people (the ones who blatantly disregard the rules and ruin things for everyone else!) 

3)      Wear some good walking shoes so you don’t kill your feet too bad if you plan to walk the trails. 

4)      Preserve the beauty of the park and do not litter!

5)      Watch out for the wildlife. We saw a frog and a snake while on the trail, so go with the “for every one you see, there are ten you don’t see” rule and watch where you are stepping!