Hop Brook Lake Recreation Area

Hop Brook Lake Recreation Area is located within the towns of Middlebury, Naugatuck and Waterbury, Connecticut. Its 536 acres provide excellent recreation opportunities and a chance to escape from the growing suburbia surrounding the park. This day-use park offers four picnic shelters with electrical outlets, picnic tables and charcoal grills, and an on-site ball field that can be reserved for sporting events and activities. Regular picnic sites are spread throughout the park on a first come, first served basis. Other amenities include restrooms with flush toilets, sinks and water fountains, volleyball courts and horseshoe pits. User fees are no longer charged to enter the park. Exploring Hop Brook Lake by canoe, kayak or rowboat is a favorite activity of visitors, and the park's beach and designated swimming area are a great place to relax in the warm summer sun. Fishing is welcome at the lake and its feeder streams, which are periodically stocked by the Connecticut DEEP with brown, brook and rainbow trout; largemouth bass, perch and panfish are also found in the lake. Hikers, walkers, mountain bikers, cross country skiers and snowshoers will find over seven miles of trails winding through the woods and meadows. The forest surrounding the lake is made up of a wide variety of trees including maple, oak, hickory, ash, birch, white pine and hemlock. Wildlife is abundant. Bird watchers have the opportunity to see hawks, owls, osprey, turkeys, waterfowl, numerous songbirds and the occasional bald eagle, and white-tailed deer, black bears, coyotes, foxes, bobcats, raccoons, possums, beaver and squirrels make Hop Brook Lake their home.