Indian Well State Park
Shelton, Connecticut

153 acres along the Housatonic River

• Activities: Swimming, Boating, Hiking (Paugussett Trail), Viewing the Falls, Fishing, Picnicking, Field Sports.
• Services: Picnic Shelter, Concession, Flush Toilets, Parking, Drinking Water, First Aid, Telephone, Boat Launch Ramp

Above: A typical weekday in August

The Legend of the Well: According to legend, a waterfall at the park was the secret meeting place for two lovers from enemy Indian tribes. When their tryst was discovered, the father of the Princess, a Paugussett chief, ordered a raid upon the Pootatuck village where the brave lived. The Princess believed her lover was dead, and in despair dove off the waterfall. Her brave, who had survived and was sleeping nearby, awoke to the sound of her suicide. Then he too jumped off the waterfall to join her in eternity. The pool was once much deeper than it is today and was believed to be bottomless.  You can view the falls without paying the entrance fee.  After entering the park from Route 110, stop at a designated parking area on your right.  A sign for the waterfall will be across the road. 

Good Points: It's amazing how many locals have never been to this park.  That's too bad: It's got a nice beach and the entrance fee is only $4.00 (there is no fee to hike the Paugussett Trail or view the waterfall).   You can also buy a season pass good to all state parks for only $35. I've taken my kids to Indian Well frequently during summer weekdays and had a wonderful time.

The facilities were just recently refurbished.   There is a shaded area adacent to the beach that shelters picnic tables and grills.  Beyond that are open fields for playing soccer or whatever. 

There isn't too much of a current in the river at this point because it is upstream of the Derby-Shelton dam (this part of the river is known as Lake Housatonic). There are no tidal effects or salt water to deal with, either.

There has been some recent controversy as to the reasons many locals don't go to this beach, with some people saying it's because of racism and others saying otherwise.  Most of the time when I mention to locals that I go to Indian Well they say something like, "Oh really?  How is that place? I never think to go there."  However, there are a few people I've spoken to who say they avoid the park because there's "too much riff-raff from Bridgeport and New York City."  During weekdays beach-goers are mostly white, along with a fair number of Hispanics (who range from Indian to White to Black and everything in between).   During evenings and weekends the beach can be nearly all Hispanic.  Even on weekends I have never once had a problem at the park from Hispanics.  Everyone is extremely respectful, well-mannered and just plain nice. No one tries to make me feel like I don't belong there.  I never heard of anyone else having a problem at the beach either. 

Bad Points: The Life Guards are rude to the public, and there are too many rules that infringe upon the public's enjoyment and use of the park.  I was given a $60 ticket for letting my two-year old daughter watch a flock of geese. We were sitting together along the shoreline in ten inches of water and she had a Coast-Guard approved life jacket on, but the Life Guard declared this a life-and-death situation as we were not in the designated swimming area.  There are a lot of other ridiculous rules there and park goers are often hassled by DEP staff, as I detailed in a recent letter to the DEP. The Life Guards bark out commands, and I don't think I've ever heard them say "please" or "thank you".  They don't smile, except to each other.  And they huddle next to each other, as if afraid of getting too close to the rest of us. I'm not saying I'd want to be a Life Guard, or that they have an easy job.  They also don't get paid very much.  But I had plenty of low-paying jobs when I was young and I was always courteous and polite, no matter what. 

Another drawback is that in late summer the water gets really churned up and murky as a result. It doesn't seem dirty so much as just churned up (if you go in the morning the water is actually quite clear).  Passing boats chop up the weeds, which come floating into shore. But hey, no jellyfish.

In July a lot of day camps bring their kids to Indian Well.   You can be sitting on a quiet part of the beach you found and presto, 30 screaming kids are suddenly jumping into the water right at your feet. 

Directions: Take Route 8 to Route 110 (Howe Avenue) located in downtown Shelton.  Go north and west on Rt. 110 for about 2 miles.  The park is on your right.