Southford Falls State Park
169 acres in Southbury and Oxford, CT
Parking: Large lot near 175 Quaker Farms Rd, Southbury, CT
Trail Map Trails: 1.5 miles Rating: ★★★☆☆
For a smaller Connecticut state park with short trails Southford Falls has a lot to offer. Highlights include water lily filled Paper Mill Pond, the broken damn and rugged waterfall, the mossy covered bridge, and the petite tower. On top of all that there is designated fishing, a picnic gazebo, and natural as well as man made history to explore.
Hiking
From the parking area the trail leads through a large right next to Paper Mill Pond. A picnic area is set right next to the water and serves double duty as a handicapped fishing area. Here you are right above the falls and you can take either side to view them. Taking the bridge will take you the ledge above them while following the fence will get you up close to the bottom of the falls.
The waterfall is half man made with a broken dam spilling to the left and rugged drop of about 10 feet. There are another set of drops as Eightmile Brook heads downstream totaling about 50 feet. At the bottom is a covered bridge. The original was built in 1802 and the current one is a reproduction built in 1972. It is sound but certainly showing its age. From the covered bridge it is about a half mile to the spur trail up to the watch tower. The trail meanders along the Eightmile Brook ravine through you’ll have to climb a bank along the trail to see it.
There are several “Unauthorized Trails” that the DEEP has put up signs to discourage use. The first is about where I thought the trail up to the tower should be (as apparently do many others). However the actual blazed trail (which is a much easier climb) is about a quarter mile further along the trail.
Tower
The watch tower is metal trellis and only about 25 feet high. The view is pretty lackluster in summer with only a small view of the next hill though perhaps this improves when the foliage is off the trees.
From here the trail works its way back to Paper Mill Pond. There have been at least two minor reroutes which differ from the trail map above where downed trees have forced a new section of trail. I also missed the .2 mile crossing trail which may have succumbed to fallen trees as well.
The trail soon reaches an open area with a the picnic gazebo and view of the pond with the falls a short distance away. I managed to spend well over an hour here exploring, photographing, and filming.
Fishing
Paper Mill Pond and Eightmile Brook are designated trout fishing areas.
History:
Established as a state park in 1932.
Links:
- Peter Marteka – Southford Falls State Park A Respite In Our Darkest Hours (2012)
- Geology of Southford Falls
- Waterfalls of New England – Southford Falls
- CTMQ – Southford Falls State Park (2011)
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Last updated July 20th, 2020
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