Harkness Memorial State Park

Harkness Memorial State Park, on the Long Island Sound shore in Waterford, is the most elegantly beautiful state park in Connecticut — the former Eolia estate of the Harkness family (Standard Oil heirs), with its Beaux-Arts mansion (open for tours), sweeping Italian and Chinese formal gardens, long manicured lawns sweeping to the rocky Sound shore, and expansive views across Long Island Sound to the South Fork of Long Island.

The park&rsqtml;s combination of the magnificent Eolia mansion and gardens, the open lawns (one of the finest picnic settings in Connecticut), the rocky Sound beach, and the theatrical Sound views make it exceptional among Connecticut’s coastal parks. The annual Harkness Starfish Festival (a summer concert series on the lawn) is one of the most beloved outdoor-music events in Connecticut. Harkness Memorial State Park is a treasured cultural and natural icon of Connecticut.

Harkness Memorial State Park offers picnicking on the magnificent sweeping lawns overlooking Long Island Sound (one of the finest picnic settings in New England), walking the formal Italian and Chinese gardens (maintained and open to the public), touring the Eolia mansion (open seasonally for tours — check CT DEEP for current schedule), swimming and sunbathing at the Long Island Sound rocky beach, birding (the Sound shore is excellent for migratory shorebirds and sea ducks in fall and winter), attending the Harkness Starfish Festival (a summer lawn-concert series — bring a blanket and a picnic), fishing from the rocky shore, and photography of the mansion, gardens and Sound. The lawn picnics, the Sound views and the formal gardens are the signature draws.

Summer (June through August) is the peak season — the gardens are in full bloom, the Starfish Festival concerts are on the lawn, and the Sound beach is warm. Spring (May–June) is beautiful for the garden bloom (the wisteria and roses are spectacular). Fall brings quiet beauty and the migrant shorebirds. The park is most crowded during Starfish Festival concerts — book lawn concert tickets in advance. Any season is rewarding for the lawn picnic and Sound views; summer and spring for the gardens, and fall for the quiet beauty and birding, are the highlights.

The Eolia estate was built by the Harkness family — Edward Harkness (heir to a Standard Oil fortune) and his wife Mary Stillman Harkness. The Eolia mansion was constructed in 1902 and the formal gardens added over the following decades. Mary Harkness donated the estate to the state of Connecticut upon her death in 1950, with the request that it be used for the public benefit. The estate is named Eolia (after the mythological island of the wind god) for the reliable Sound breezes. Harkness Memorial State Park preserves this magnificent gilded-age estate and its beautiful Sound-shore setting.

Harkness Memorial State Park sits on a rocky promontory on the Long Island Sound shore of Connecticut — the exposed glacial bedrock (gneiss and schist) of the Eastern Connecticut Highlands meets the Sound at the park’s rocky beach. The Sound shore here is characteristic of the glaciated Connecticut shoreline — rocky, with pocket beaches and exposed ledge, unlike the sandy beaches of Long Island or the Cape. The Sound views from the lawn extend across the water to Orient Point and the South Fork of Long Island. The rocky glaciated shore, the Sound position and the level lawn terrain created the distinctive Harkness seascape.

Harkness Memorial State Park’s Sound shore is excellent for birding in migration and winter — common and red-throated loons, horned grebes, common eiders, long-tailed ducks, scoters and buffleheads on the Sound in fall and winter; migrating shorebirds on the rocky shore in August and September; and the occasional peregrine falcon or merlin hunting the lawn and shore in fall. The gardens support hummingbirds (ruby-throated) in summer and migrant warblers in spring and fall. The park’s lawns attract Canada geese and ring-billed gulls year-round.

Harkness Memorial State Park protects a significant stretch of Long Island Sound shoreline — the rocky, glaciated shore and its intertidal zone support diverse invertebrates (blue mussels, barnacles, periwinkles, green crabs) and the shorebirds and sea ducks that feed on them. The formal gardens are maintained landscapes; the surrounding natural areas (the rock ledges and the shrubby margins) provide native plant and wildlife habitat. Protecting the Sound shoreline, the intertidal zone and the natural areas within the park sustains the ecological character of Harkness.

Harkness Memorial State Park holds a treasured place among the icons of Connecticut — the finest coastal estate park in the state, the magnificent Eolia mansion and formal gardens on a Long Island Sound promontory, the beloved Starfish Festival summer concerts on the lawn, and one of the finest picnic settings in New England. The combination of gilded-age architecture, formal gardens, Sound views and summer lawn concerts makes Harkness exceptional. It is a cherished natural and cultural icon of Connecticut.

Harkness Memorial State Park is in Waterford, Connecticut, on Great Neck Road (off CT Route 156), about 5 miles west of New London. The park is accessible by car from New London and the surrounding shoreline communities. A parking fee applies in season (CT State Parks rates — check CT DEEP for current fees). The park is open year-round; the mansion tours and Starfish Festival are seasonal (check CT DEEP and the Harkness schedule for current dates and fees). New London (5 miles east) has full services. Check CT DEEP for current park hours, mansion tour schedule and Starfish Festival dates before visiting.

Connecticut DEEP manages Harkness Memorial State Park. The formal gardens are maintained by CT DEEP and a volunteer friends group. Visitors help by respecting the gardens (no picking flowers or disturbing the plantings), staying on designated paths in the garden, picking up after pets on the lawn, protecting the rocky Sound shore (stay off the intertidal rock ledges when shorebirds are feeding), and packing out all trash. The Sound shoreline, the formal gardens and the mansion are sensitive historic and natural features requiring careful stewardship.

The rocky Sound shore can be slippery (algae-covered rocks — wear appropriate footwear if scrambling on the shore ledges). The Sound can be rough in wind — stay off the exposed rocky points in wave conditions. The park is very busy during Starfish Festival concerts (traffic and parking are significant; plan accordingly and consider arriving by rideshare on concert days). Ticks are present in the park margins; check after any time in the shrubby areas. Respect the slippery shore, the concert crowds and the ticks.

Parking fee in season (CT State Parks rates). No overnight camping. Pets on leash on the grounds. Mansion tours require separate tickets (when offered — check CT DEEP for current schedule and fees). Starfish Festival concerts require tickets (purchase in advance — they sell out). No fires on the lawn or beach. Pack out all trash. Check CT DEEP for current park fees, mansion tour availability and Starfish Festival schedule before visiting.

The city of New London (5 miles east — with the historic downtown, the US Coast Guard Academy, the Eugene O’Neill Theatre Center and the ferry to Block Island and Fishers Island), the Ocean Beach Park (New London’s public sand beach), the town of Old Lyme (with the Florence Griswold Museum, the center of American Impressionism), the Connecticut River estuary to the west, and the shoreline towns of Mystic (with the Mystic Seaport Museum — one of the finest maritime museums in America) define the region. Harkness, the Florence Griswold Museum and Mystic Seaport together define the southeastern Connecticut coastal cultural experience.

Bring a picnic and a blanket, find a spot on the sweeping lawn facing Long Island Sound, and spend a afternoon at Harkness — it’s one of the most relaxing and beautiful settings in Connecticut. Walk through the Italian and Chinese gardens before the picnic (the wisteria pergola in June is extraordinary). Check the Starfish Festival schedule and buy tickets for a summer lawn concert — the combination of live music, lawn picnic and Sound views on a summer evening is one of Connecticut’s finest outdoor experiences. Walk the rocky Sound shore for the shorebird and sea-duck birding in fall. The park is free to enter off-season (only the parking fee applies in season).