An amusement park, village, and even an abandoned zoo are just some of the places being reclaimed by nature in Connecticut. Whether you fancy yourself a historian or an urban explorer, there is something intriguing about slowly decaying ruins tucked away in surprising places. Not all of these sites are crumbling stone walls from our earliest settlers. Rocky Hill Quarry Park is home to perhaps the strangest and most colorful ruins in the state.
Located on a former trap rock quarry in Rocky Hill is Quarry Park. The 84-acre park spans several levels with views of the remnants of the operation that ran from the early 1800s to the middle of the present century.
Discover several miles of trails within the park that lead through the various levels of the old quarry. The paths are fairly easy to navigate an well marked throughout the park.
The old compressor house is the only completely intact building that remains. You can walk inside and feel the damp air that accompanies abandoned places such as these.
Stone walls run along the hillside with even more vibrant spray paint decor. It's hard to imagine that this site was once populated by hundreds of workers extracting rock from the land.
The stone archways tower overhead looking like misplaced gothic architecture in the forest. There is something hauntingly beautiful about these former quarry ruins.
While you might expect that a place like this might be littered with garbage, on our last visit, the park was surprisingly clean. The next time you're looking for a different kind of adventure, take a hike through Rocky Hill Quarry Park.