Officials expect state parks to build on record year
BARKHAMSTED — After a record 10 million visits to state parks last year — even with restricted capacity in the coronavirus pandemic — Connecticut opens the new outdoor recreation season with more opportunities, including immediate reservations for campgrounds and cabins, starting this weekend.
Picnicking and freshwater swimming that were prohibited last year, will be reinstated, along with concession stands, restrooms, bathhouses and boardwalks at shoreline parks.
On a sunny spring Friday, Gov. Ned Lamont and his administration’s top environmental leaders gathered in the Peoples State Forest, which includes thousands of acres along the scenic Farmington River here, to announce a general relaxation of rules, along with encouragement for state residents to maintain their social distancing, mask wearing and limits on gatherings to 200 people.
Lamont said that last year, when little information was available about the coronavirus, he made it a point to keep state parks open, knowing that people were stuck close to home and needed the outlets. “It was the best therapy you could ask for,” Lamont told reporters. “Last year was our biggest year ever in terms of people visiting our parks and beaches.”
“Something really remarkable has been happening in Connecticut, as people are discovering and rediscovering the incredible outdoor recreation opportunities that we have in our state, and taking part in it in a very safe way in this pandemic” said Katie Dykes, commissioner of the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, who hosted a 45-minute news conference to highlight state park and forest attractions, with an added pinch of agri-tourism.
“Even with limits last year, we had more visitors than ever,” Dykes said of the 10-percent increase of visitors in 2020, including 50 percent more hikers; a 40 percent jump in boat sales; a 13 percent hike in fishing licenses; and a 9 percent rise in hunting licenses.
She said that outdoor recreation played a crucial role in helping state residents get exercise and peace of mind in the stresses of the pandemic. “It’s provided a connection to nature, which we know is so essential for our mental and our physical health,” she said, stressing that last year the state was able to keep its parks open, while many others closed theirs.
Dykes announced new guidelines including higher park capacity and a return to swimming at freshwater parks including Squantz Pond in New Fairfield and Indian Well State Park in Shelton. “All of our state parks and forest campgrounds, our rustic cabins, our youth group camping, our river camping, our backpack camping sites will be open beginning on April 10 on a reservation-only basis,” she said. “The campground reservation system is open now for new campground and cabin reservations.”
Last year, camping was delayed until July, and there were no cabins available in the pandemic. Picnicking and other gatherings will be limited, for the time being, to 200 people, subject to possible change during the season, in consultation with the state Department of Public Health.
Dykes said that nature centers and interpretative facilities that were closed last year out of fear of the coronavirus, will also reopen by the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend. Lower-capacity limits in state parks that were imposed last year will be lifted, but social distancing and mask-wearing will be stressed, and park officials have the discretion to close parks when capacity is reached.
Connecticut’s tourism industry creates $15.5 billion in annual economic activity and generates $2.2 billion in tax revenues, along with 123,000 related jobs in the state, said Christine Castonguay, interim director of state tourism.
The 3,000-acre Peoples State Forest, the core of which was purchased at $8 an acre in the 1920, includes miles of hiking trails as well as popular trout fishing in the Farmington River, where dozens of anglers could be seen Friday.