Devil's Hopyard

Hi Everyone!

Yesterday I spent the afternoon at Devil's Hopyard State Park located in East Haddam, Connecticut.....what a beautiful place!  The park is free to get into and has plenty of parking.  There are also many picnic tables to hold family gatherings and a camp site that is open mid-April til September 30.  The campground holds 21 sites.

Points of interest in the park are the covered bridge, Chapman Falls and the Devil's Oven.  I love to photograph covered bridges....they are beautiful structures.

This covered bridge was built in 1986 and is 36 feet long.  The bridge crosses over Eight Mile River, which is well known for its brook trout.















The inside of the bridge..........  There is some graffiti but I think its adds some life to the bridge

To the left is a spot I caught on my way up to the Falls.  I thought it was pretty cool because it looks like a mini waterfall.

Chapman Falls is quite stunning and drops more than 60 feet over a series of steps in stone formation.  There are a few legends surrounding the name of the park.  Some of the the most popular are:  a farmer named Dibble who had a garden for growing hops used for brewing beer; the Devil playing his violin at the top of the falls to direct the East Haddam witches brewing up their black magic potions.



Another is the Devil passed by the Falls, accidentally getting his tail wet.  He became so mad that he burned holes in the stones with his hooves.

Of course, we now know that the perfectly cylindrical pothole stone formations were formed by stones moved downstream by the current and trapped in an eddy where the stone was spun around and around creating depressions in the rock.  Over time as this continued to occur the potholes became larger and larger.

 I took a few different angles of the falls as they are just simply breathtaking.  It was mesmerizing as I stood there listening to the rush of water and felt the slight breeze on my face.  If you haven't been there, I highly recommend checking it out sometime this summer.

I plan on returning very soon since I didn't get the opportunity to see the Devil's Oven.  I'll be sure and share it with you as soon as I do so stay tuned!


Til next time,
K

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Rockville, Connecticut: The Hockanum Mills

Image
Hi Everyone, It looks like the warmer weather is finally upon us!  That being said, I’ve been out and about seeing people and things, lol.  Which brings me to the Town of Rockville……have you been there lately?  It’s one of those little towns that I think gets overlooked.  It’s a small section of Vernon and appears a bit run down but you have to look beyond that.  There is a lot of construction going on there presently so its an up and coming town.  Rockville has quite a bit of interesting history to it. The downtown section has e a few older, beautiful structures on the main street but what caught my eye was the Hockanum Mills.  I like where it’s situated.  The mill is located on an uphill bend and when you are standing at the top, the view gives the impression of a once prominent mill overlooking the town.   These are photos of the mill at the top of the hill with its name facing the town: This is the part I really enjoy ….often I start poking around for different an
Read more

The Anamet Complex, Waterbury, CT

Image
Hi Everyone! Its been awhile....I've been working on various projects, always learning new things and growing! I visited the abandoned Anamet Complex in Waterbury.  As many of you know, I love to go check out older, abandoned places or buildings.  Waterbury is quite interesting to me because there is a lot of history in the huge city known for its now defunct brass industry.  Many buildings are being demolished and/or redeveloped so I hope to get many photos of the city's history before its lost. The Anamet Complex is located in the south end of Waterbury on South Main Street and runs along the Naugatuck River.  The complex was founded in 1908 and was the home of Anaconda Metal Hose by American Brass.  It became the biggest manufacturer of metal hose in the world, spanning 400,000 square footing along 17 acres on South Main Street, employing hundreds.  The company went bankrupt in 1998 and the complex continues to sit, abandoned.  The land is also contaminated with i
Read more

The Pequabuck Tunnel

Image
Hi Everyone! I'm starting the season off with my trip to the Pequabuck Tunnel aka Terryville Tunnel and the Mile Long Tunnel located in Plymouth.  I heard about the tunnel last summer while visiting Horseshoe Falls which isn't too far away.  It took awhile to find this tunnel because it's just one of those things that is right under your nose if you look hard enough.  Every video I watched didn't specify a location.  I didn't video this trip but I did take pictures. The tunnel is still operational and is located just off Tunnel Road in Plymouth.  The tunnel was completed in 1910 and the year is marked at the top of the entrance.   Freight trains running between New Britain and Waterbury still use it.   It's not easy to find, and you may find yourself driving in circles until you do find it.  There is a small clearing on Tunnel Road that will take you to a trail which leads down to it.  There are many stories about the tunnel being haunted.  Would I go down t
Read more