Like to fish? Love to boat? Want to swim? You can do it all at this small, peaceful state park in southeast Connecticut near the bucolic towns of Bozrah, Montville, and Salem. Best known as home to the 528-acre Gardner Lake, the lake park is a popular day spot among fishing, boating, and swimming enthusiasts. It also provides boat-only access to Minnie Island State Park, Connecticut’s smallest state park, which is an easy paddle from shore for those seeking a bit of exploration and adventure.

Fun fact: In the winter of 1895, the town’s grocer attempted to move his house across frozen Gardner Lake. But it slipped into a snowbank, cracked through the ice, and eventually sank into the lake when the ice thawed. For years the upper levels remained above water looking much like a lighthouse. Children fished from it in the summer and skated through it in the winter, and some locals claimed that on quiet nights they could hear mermaids playing the piano that sunk with the house.