Dates visited: 11/6/2020, 3/21/2021 & 11/18/2021

The dogs love the beach! This might be my favorite of the beaches we've visited. There are some nice trails here too. The Meig's Point trail is great! We initially visited on an unusually warm day in November, where temps hit the 70's. There were sunbathers, in November, in Connecticut. Our second visit was in March. It wasn't quite as warm, only into the 60's, but there were a lot of people. Both times, Mandy decided she was going to walk into the ocean to cool off. Our third visit here came the following November. It was exactly one week prior to Thanksgiving, and we had one day where temperatures warmed up into the upper sixties. I took a half day from work to take advantage of the weather. We actually did the Shoreline Greenway that runs outside the park first. The Greenway connects to a bike trail that runs next to the campground inside the park that leads to the beach. Since we visited the eastern part of the park on our first trip, we explored some of the areas on the western side that we did not explore on our first two visits. After that, of course, we headed to the beach. As we were getting ready to leave, I realized that sunset was in a little over a half hour, so I decided to stay and take some pictures of the sunset at the beach.

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Date visited: 8/7/2021

The Paper Mill Trail resides on Madison Land Trust property that once was the site of an old paper mill (hence the name). The ruins of the paper mill are at the beginning of the trail. There are remnants of a stone dam and a concrete dam that "breached." The dams were on the Hammonasset River, which also serves as the border between Madison and Killingworth. It's possible the dogs are in Killingsworth in some of the pictures below, at least the ones where they are in the middle of the river. The trail follows the river for about a mile, and then veers off from the river and loops around very near to some backyards. This part of the trail is rather ordinary.

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Date visited: 11/18/2021

The Shore Line Greenway sounds like it should be one of those multi-use bike trails that connect multiple towns. It's only part that. There are multiple sections in the towns of East Haven, Branford, Guilford and Madison, but they aren't connected. Perhaps there are "on-road" portions as well, but the Greenway's website says "Hosting Account Has Expired", so I really don't know. This is the fourth section we walked, and this one runs along side Hammonasset Beach State Park. Unfortunately, part of this section was closed for repairs the day we visited.

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Date visited: 3/11/2022

This is the first of two Madison Land Conservation Trust Trails we hiked on this day. Both were similar, and if my camera wasn't automatically geotagging the photos, I might have trouble figuring out which place each photo was from. We hiked a loop that was about a mile and a half long. The highlight of this one was the "Indian Rock Shelters" of course. Those are pretty much large rock formations, with some small caves. The trail itself is not very steep, but it is rocky. It was suprisingly not too muddy, but there were stream crossings with only rocks availble to cross. Of course the dogs just walked through the streams instead of balancing on the rocks.

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Date visited: 3/11/2022

This is the second of two Madison Land Conservation Trust Trails we hiked on this day. Both were similar, and featured small hills with rocky terrains. They also both featured water crossings without bridges. We hiked the North Trail, I didn't see the South Trail, but I'm sure it's very similar. We passed a number of these Madison Land Conservation Trust places on our way to and from here. I guess we have a lot more exploring to do!

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Date visited: 3/14/2022

This is another Madison Land Conservation Trust property. This one was pretty much just a mile and a half loop in the woods. There are sections of the trail that were washed out, as well as a few water crossings that had to be done on rocks. Balancing on the rocks is fine for me, but it can be a challenge for the dogs. Lexi seemed to do okay, but Mandy preferred plowing through the streams. That's why Mandy got a bath when we got home and Lexi didn't!

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Date visited: 12/30/2024

This was an unplanned adventure. We were actually heading to a beach in Rhode Island, but when we were about half way to our destination, I noticed the weather forecast changed, so we re-routed here where it was warmer and sunnier. There's a small parking area with space for about four cars near this rare Connecticut Shoreline Access Point. The actual access area is very small. There's a sidewalk along a seawall that runs down Middle Beach Road for a bit. After that, we walked about a mile down the road and back, passing East Wharf Beach along the way. Dogs are not allowed on town beaches in Madison, so we mostly stayed off the sand. Of course, I don't know why anyone would care since it's the end of December. We passed a lot of private beaches. Unlike Rhode Island, most of Connecticut's shoreline is off-limits to the public. It's a shame there isn't more public access.

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Date visited: 12/30/2024

This was our second stop in Madison on this day. It's a very nice town park, but be aware. Dogs are not allowed on the beach, playgrounds, picnic areas, or athletic fields. That pretty much just leaves the parking lot. It was the off-season, so we walked around a bit through the picnic areas, and also to a rocky area past the beach. It's not entirely dog un-friendly. Garvan Point can be accessed at the far end of the park, and there is a dog-friendly beach area there.

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Date visited: 12/30/2024

There is actually an off-leash dog beach here, called "Bark Swim Beach". It is located at the far end of Surf Club Park. Human swimming is off-limits, but boats can be launched from here. It's a small beach, but it looked like it had better sand than the regular beach. Be aware, there are some rules. The sign says that dogs must be registered with Madison Beach & Recreation, and proof of license and shots must be shown in order to receive a "Bark Swim Pass". It says "September to May dates only as shown on your pass". It's the off-season, and it was unclear if dogs are allowed without a pass in the off-season, or if they aren't allowed at all. At any rate, we checked out the beach. It was a good spot to take a couple photos as the sun began to set, but too chilly for a swim anyway.

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Date visited: 12/30/2024

This time of year we always travel with Santa hats! You never know when it will be time for a Holiday Photo.