Gardner Lake State Park

Gardner Lake State Park in Salem, Connecticut, is a ten-acre public recreation area on the southern shore of Gardner Lake that provides one of the lake’s main public access points for swimming, boating, and fishing. Though small, it is significant because it fronts a five hundred twenty-nine-acre state-designated bass management lake. For much of the twentieth century the property was a private resort, but Connecticut purchased it in 2001 after earlier local acquisition efforts failed, opening this shoreline to broader public use. A swimming beach and boat launch anchor the park, and state improvements in 2008 increased visitation despite later concerns about trash and disruptive behavior.

Salem, Connecticut · United States