In the lower Naugatuck Valley, Shelton is an amiable riverside town that has been reborn since the 1980s.
From the 1860s until recently Shelton relied on heavy industry, the remnants of which survive in giant brick-built factories, some now luxury condos.
A patch of the waterfront has been cleared and turned into the Veterans Memorial Park, where there’s always something fun going on in summer, and a farmers’ market is in business on Saturday mornings.
If you find yourself in Shelton to admire the foliage in fall, there are farms in the countryside with pick-your-own apples and pumpkins, also pressing cider, producing wine and baking all sorts of treats.
Let’s explore the best things to do in Shelton:
1. Jones Family Farms
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Jones Family Farms
Embedded in Shelton’s White Hills and established in 1848, Jones Family Farms covers 400 acres at three different addresses.
A lot of this land is devoted to cultivating Christmas trees, but the farm also grows blueberries and strawberries that you can come and pick in summer, as well as pumpkins in October.
During pumpkin season at Pumpkinseed Hill Farm kids can meet farm animals, take hay rides and solve a corn maze, while grown-ups can soak up the fall foliage and buy apples and squash.
On top of all this there’s a winery at the historic barn of the Homestead Farm, producing a range of whites from Pinot Gris, Chardonnay, Riesling, Muscat, Vidal Blanc, Seyval Blanc and Cayuga grapes grown on this land, as well as reds mostly made from varieties grown in California.
Take a seat at the spacious patio for a glass or two on summer weekends, when there’s a whole programme of live music.
2. Indian Well State Park
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Indian Well State Park
There’s much to enjoy about this strip of rugged woodland edging the west bank of Lake Housatonic.
Non- Connecticut residents will have to pay a hefty fee to use the parking lock, especially on summer weekends.
But once you’re in you can make a short hike to a beautiful horsetail waterfall , 4.6 metres high and dropping into a splash pool.
Come summer Indian Well State Park is Shelton’s favourite place to cool off as there’s a beach on the lake patrolled by lifeguards in peak season.
Kids will be happiest here, as the water in the designated swimming area never gets above waist height.
On the hottest days you can retreat to the shaded grove by the water’s edge for a picnic.
3. Beardsley’s Cider Mill & Orchard
Source: Beardsley’s Cider Mill & Orchard / facebook
Beardsley’s Cider Mill & Orchard
Another local business that comes into its own during the fall is this cider mill, making alcohol-free cider that is treated with UV light instead of being pasteurised, to preserve its flavour.
You can get cider here all through autumn and late-winter, but there are many more strings to this farm’s bow.
On weekends from mid-September to late-October you can visit to pick your own apples, choosing from more than 15 varieties including Gala, Honeycrisp and Macou early in the season, and Granny Smith, Winesap and Braeburn towards the end.
There’s a farm shop open seven days a week selling the farm’s famous apple cider donuts, as well as a choice of homemade pies, cookies, fruit breads, honey, jellies and jams.
4. Downtown Shelton
Source: Amici’s Restaurant / facebook
Amici’s
Considering that until a generation ago Shelton was an industrial town, the downtown is an agreeable place to spend an afternoon.
There are riverside parks, which we’ll talk about below and some of the old factories have been preserved and repurposed as homes.
There are fine examples on Bridge Street and Howe Avenue, and all through the central business district the sidewalks have been rebuilt and planted with trees.
In the last 20 years lots of independent eateries have cropped up, like the highly-regarded Italian restaurant Amici’s on Howe Avenue and Caloroso Eatery & Bar, to go with long-term institutions like the breakfast spot, Billy D’s Full Belly Deli.
5. Wells Hollow Creamery
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Wells Hollow Creamery
At a family-run dairy farm now in its fifth generation there’s an ice cream shop open every day of the week in spring and summer.
Wells Hollow Creamery has a menu of dozens of homemade flavours, from conventional picks like vanilla, chocolate and strawberry, to more outlandish creations like key lime pie, cannoli ricotta and baklava.
You can choose between a cup and a cone, and there’s also a selection of sorbets and fat-free options.
There’s a shaded outdoor patio where you can enjoy your scoops, and smaller family members will have a fun time checking out the farm’s cows, chickens and goats.
6. Paugussett Trail
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Paugussett Trail
This 9.2-mile Blue-Blazed trail through Shelton and some of Monroe links much of the natural space on our list, including Indian Well State Park, Webb Mountain Park and the south shore of Lake Zoar.
The main route runs from the south-east to the north-west, roughly parallel to the Housatonic River, which hoves into view every now and again.
On the walk you’ll see the foundations of long forgotten mills, giant boulders, the falls at Indian Well and the entrance to an old silver mine.
One of the memorable sections is a tough climb at Princess Wenonah Drive where steps carry you up the precipitous slope between two suburban houses.
7. Shelton Riverview Park
Source: www.sheltonconservation.org
Shelton Riverview Park
The town’s oldest official park lies atop the bluffs beside the Derby-Shelton Dam, affording vistas of the man-made falls and the wooded hills on the Derby side of the river.
Here since the end of the 19th century overlooking the dam is the “Boy with Fish” statue, cast in zinc and standing on a granite fountain.
At Fort Hill you’ll find the site of Shelton’s last palisade fort belonging to the Native American Pootatuck people.
This spot is marked with an inscribed boulder.
Another intriguing slice of history can be found at a descendant of Hartford’s famous Charter Oak, which became a symbol of American independence.
To go with its scenery, Riverview Park is a place to go for some exercise, and has baseball fields, basketball courts and a hiking trail.
8. Sports Center of Connecticut
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Sports Center Of Connecticut
For families who can never agree on what to do there are activities for everyone at this versatile attraction.
The first thing to say about Sports Center of Connecticut is that it has full-size double-decker rinks for free skating and pick-up hockey, but also where kids can learn figure-skating skills and sign up for a youth hockey league.
But added to that there are tons of other activities, including the crowd-pleasing 18-hole mini golf course, a bowling alley, driving range, batting cages, paintball, laser tag, a basketball court, video arcade and a virtual reality game.
There’s also a pottery studio, where you can craft, fire and glaze your own creation, although this requires prior booking.
9. Veterans Memorial Park
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Veterans Memorial Park
Shelton has a programme of public events at this riverside park which is home to the town’s solemn granite war memorials.
The Veterans Memorial Park is a wide band of grass and vegetation, with a pavilion and a tree-lined path next to the river (Shelton Riverwalk). In 1975 this now serene space was the scene of one of the largest cases of arson in the history of the United States, when the Sponge Rubber Products Plant was set on fire, causing an explosion.
Today the Veterans Memorial Park hosts Shelton’s 4th of July fireworks, as well as the Downtown Sounds summer concert series, the Food Trucks on the River programme, the town’s farmers’ market and outdoor theatre performances.
10. Shelton Lakes Recreation Path
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Shelton Lakes Recreation Path
With 11 miles of trails in more than 450 acres, the Shelton Lakes Greenway Network snakes off into the town’s rural hinterland, curving around a series of peaceful reservoirs wreathed in woodland.
The most trodden path in this network is the multi-use Shelton Lakes Recreation Path, which has a crushed stone surface accommodating bikes, wheelchairs and baby strollers.
This path, 4.1 miles long, was completed in 2012 and starts at Pine Lake close to the centre of town and leads you west up a gentle incline, following the top of the dam at Silent Waters and rising to an overlook at Hope Lake Dam.
11. Whitney Farms Golf Course
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Whitney Farms Golf Course
Even golfers who have seen it all will be tested at this 18-hole Par 72 championship course ten minutes out of Shelton.
Whitney Farms is a private club but open to the public, offering inspiring views from its tees and on its broad fairways.
Where the course gets tricky is on its small, undulating greens, so your iron play will need to be on point.
There’s a driving range and practice green if you need to rediscover your touch.
Green fees start at $41 for 18 holes during the week, and the Sand Trap Grill and Bar sends a cart out onto the course with refreshments on busy days.
12. Lake Zoar
Source: Bridget Elizabeth / shutterstock
Lake Zoar
Just before it flows past Shelton the Housatonic is dammed to form the reservoir Lake Zoar, covering more than 900 acres, making it the fifth largest lake in the state.
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the hydroelectric Stevenson Dam was built in the 1910s and carries Roosevelt Drive (Route 34) across the river.
Lake Zoar is open to the public, and people visit to walk the Zoar Trail, a circular route departing from the end of Great Quarter Road on the north shore and climbing to a rocky summit in the Paugussett State Forest.
On the water the lake is popular for water-skiing and jet-skiing, and though it isn’t stocked with fish, large numbers of trout swim down on the Pomperaug and Pootatuck Rivers to go with the abundant bass, perch, white catfish and pike.
13. Webb Mountain Discovery Zone
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Webb Mountain Discovery Zone
Right on the town line with Monroe is more than 300 acres of wilderness on rugged terrain across two separate areas.
About half is Webb Mountain Park, which pitches steeply to the Housatonic River and is a destination for hikes, rock climbing on walls of schist and camping.
Further in from the river is the Webb Mountain Discovery Zone, an outdoor learning facility geared towards kids and resting in 170 acres of woodland.
The Discovery Zone runs after-school programmes dealing with science and nature, as well as special seasonal enrichment classes in spring, summer and autumn, all encouraging kids to experience the natural world.
If you come on an ordinary day you can hike the trails, check out the freshwater species at the vernal ponds, take a picnic, go bird-watching at the Discovery Zone’s feeders and birdbaths, and take part in a free, guided scavenger hunt.
14. Shelton History Center
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Shelton History Center
To dip into Shelton’s past the town’s historical society has gathered a handful of buildings at the corner of Ripton Road and Cloverdale Avenue.
The Brownson House (1822) and Trap Fall School (1872) have been relocated to this site, while the Wilson Barn (1860) is in situ and houses the museum’s permanent exhibition, “Three Centuries of Shelton – From Farming to Industry and Beyond”. When the Shelton History Center is open you can tour the complex, which also includes a carriage barn and its collection of horse-drawn vehicles, as well as an authentic outhouse and corncrib.
The society is also very active in the town’s community, organising events like the Vintage Vehicles and Classic Car Show, as well as town tours, a reading circle, open houses and a club for youngsters.
15. Shelton Farmers’ Market
Source: Shelton Farmers Market / facebook
Shelton Farmers’ Market
It’s a sign of Shelton’s transformation that where there was once a hulking factory there’s now a cute farmers’ market open Saturdays all through spring and summer next to Veterans Memorial Park.
Come by from 09:00 to 13:00 for fresh produce, locally roasted coffee, farm-raised meat, eggs, breads, cookies, muffins, flowers and arts and crafts, all direct from the producers.
Of course, along with the knowledge that you’ll be helping the local economy, you’ll be meeting the producer face-to-face, and they’ll have tips on how to get the most from their stock.
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