Eagle Landing State Park, Haddam, CT
Website: http://www.ctvisit.com/listings/eagle-landing-state-park

Like much of the Connecticut River's floodplain, the Eagle Landing area was historically used for agriculture from well before the last century up through the 1960s. Since then, its use as home port for a cruises line brought building construction and surface parking. In its heyday, the line offered scenic trips through the lower Connecticut River Valley and across the Long Island Sound. but the greater story is the visitation and re-population of the Valley by Bald Eagles. Today's combination of riverine land preservation which provides suitable habitat, and the significant decrease in pesticide based food contamination has enable the eagle population to rebound from a near total absence in the state in the 1950s to today's winter sightings that number in the dozens. Benches, walkways and docks provide the year-round visitor with respite from life stresses. Whether watching the boats in summer or hoping for a glimpse of our national symbol in the winter months.