Rocky Neck State Park

A busy day at Rocky Neck State Park.

Rocky Neck is an "all things to all people" park. Covering more than 700 acres between a tidal river and a salt marsh, the park offers beach activities, camping, hiking and nature viewing and saltwater fishing.

Day-use facilities include a 1930s-era stone picnic pavilion that is available for rent for private functions, which was made from materials left when a fish processing mill was demolished. The facilities are found on a half-mile of white sand beach on Long Island Sound.

Anglers may fish from the jetty at the west end of the beach, from a wheelchair-accessible platform over Bride Brook or from the beach itself at night. A public boat launch is a few miles away on Route 156.

Hikers find about five miles of trails at Rocky Neck, half of which are shared with mountain bikers. The park has an attractive mix of terrain, much of it wooded, with some ledge outcroppings and gentle changes in elevation. Cross-country skiers use the park in winter.

Among the things to see are Tony's Nose and Bakers Cave. The nose is a ledge overlooking Four Mile River. Both the nose and the cave sheltered Tory sympathizers during the Revolution.

Nature viewing is rewarding. A wheelchair-accessible viewing platform stands at the edge of 100-acre Bride Brook Marsh. The marsh is home to a variety of wading and migratory birds, as well as ospreys who work the river when the alewives are running.

The park's 160 campsites, along five loops, are less than a mile from the beach. Twenty-five of the sites are for tents only.

The park is on state Route 156 (244 West Main Street) in East Lyme.