Last Updated on March 4, 2024 by Emily Johnson
Meriden, Connecticut is a small city located in New Haven County with a population of around 60,000 residents. Though not a major metropolitan area, Meriden has a surprising number of great parks for its size, ranging from small neighborhood playgrounds to larger parks with hiking trails, sports fields, and other amenities. The 12 parks highlighted in this article offer a nice variety of outdoor spaces for residents and visitors to enjoy.
Whether you’re looking for a place to take the kids, have a picnic, walk the dog, play sports, or just enjoy some green space, you’re sure to find a nice city park in Meriden. The parks here provide playground equipment, open grassy areas, wooded trails, ponds and streams, athletic fields and courts, bandshells for summer concerts, and more. From the peaceful Hubbard Park to the bustling Giuffrida Park, there’s something for everyone.
So take a stroll, have a catch, hike a trail, or swing the afternoon away. With 12 wonderful parks, Meriden has plenty of room for fun and relaxation outdoor.
Hubbard Park
Hubbard Park is the largest park in Meriden spanning 164 acres. Known as the “Central Park” of Meriden due to its size and amenities, Hubbard Park offers something for visitors of all ages and interests. There are 21 tennis courts and 6 platform tennis courts for the tennis enthusiast.
The park also contains athletic fields for baseball, softball, soccer, and field hockey. Inside the park, you’ll find wooded hiking trails, picnic grounds and pavilions, paddleboat rentals on Mirror Lake, a bandshell for concerts in the park during the summer months, and the historic Hubbard Park Tower.
Built in 1900, the Hubbard Park Tower stands on the highest point in the park at nearly 750 feet above sea level. Visitors can climb to the top for impressive views of Meriden and glimpses of distant mountain peaks spanning across Connecticut and into Massachusetts.
A cool castle-like structure of brownstone and granite, the tower was gifted to the city by Walter Hubbard and today serves as an iconic landmark. With so much scenic beauty and recreational variety, it is easy to spend hours, if not an entire day, enjoying the many wonderful features found at Hubbard Park.
Giuffrida Park
Located near the geographic center of the city, Giuffrida Park encompasses 33 acres with a good mix of woodlands, open spaces, and developed facilities. Athletic fields take up a large portion of the park, with areas designated for baseball, softball, football, soccer, field hockey and even cricket.
Several playground areas make this a popular park for families with small children. Kids will enjoy the large wooden castle-themed play set as well as swings, seesaws, slides and more. For the older kids, there are basketball and street hockey courts plus a skate park area with ramps and rails maintained by the city Parks and Recreation department.
Giuffrida Park hosts a weekly farmer’s market during the summer months where visitors can purchase fresh, locally grown produce. The park also puts on free outdoor movie nights and concerts during the summer at the Paul B. Lengel bandshell. With restroom facilities and on-site parking available, Giuffrida park offers convenience along with its many recreational outlets, making it a highly popular and frequently used park.
Lincoln Park
Lincoln Park is a quaint 8 acre park located in the northeast corner of Meriden. As one of the city’s older parks, it contains several historic features. Most notable of these is the Frederick Law Olmsted Gazebo located atop a hillside overlooking a pond. The gazebo was designed by famed landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted who also designed well-known parks and green spaces such as Central Park in New York City. With its picturesque hilltop setting, the gazebo is a popular spot for wedding and Quinceanera photos.
Lincoln Park also features playgrounds, basketball courts, baseball and softball fields, bocce courts, horseshoe pits, and restroom facilities. Visitors enjoy feeding the ducks who make their home in Lincoln Park pond as well as having picnics under the shade trees. An important historic note: a 12-pound cannon used at the Battle of Gettysburg is on display inside the park. Dedicated on Memorial Day in 1929, it serves as a touching memorial to Civil War veterans from Meriden.
Benjamin Franklin Park
Benjamin Franklin Park packs a lot into a small space. Located near downtown Meriden, this 1 acre park provides playground equipment for both older and younger children including swings, slides, ramps, ladders, steering wheels, and more. For adults and kids, there is a full basketball court along with 2 shuffleboard courts. The park also contains publicly accessible restrooms, benches for sitting, and plenty of shade trees.
During the warmer months, the park hosts free outdoor family movie nights. A large movie screen is set up on the basketball court with seating available on the playground grass or visitors can bring lawn chairs and blankets. Free popcorn is often provided while families and friends gather to enjoy a movie together under the stars. Though it may be small in size, Ben Franklin Park has become a treasured community space for recreation, movies, rest, and relaxation.
Wilcox Park & Campground
Nestled along Harbor Brook in western Meriden, Wilcox Park & Campground combines the beauty of nature with recreational variety across its 72 acres. The dedicated park area inside Wilcox Park contains a playground, picnic tables, walking paths, ACCESS-CTV performing arts stage, and restroom facilities. Visitors enjoy hiking or jogging on the trails along the brook watching for local wildlife including ducks, geese, songbirds and the occasional hawk.
The campground at Wilcox Park offers full amenities to campers including electric and water hookups at each campsite, hot showers, restrooms with washer and dryers, a dump station, camp store, snack bar, and rec room. Both tent and RV camping are welcome. During summer months, the campground hosts weekend entertainment like live music, magic shows, arts and crafts, carnival rides, and other family activities. The large grassy field provides campers plenty of room for outdoor games and sports. Whether you come for the day or stay overnight, Wilcox Park offers a nice blend of nature and recreation for Meriden residents and out-of-town visitors.
Cortlandt Park
Conveniently located right downtown, Cortlandt Park serves as a nice oasis amidst the buildings and pavement. Its proximity to City Hall and the Meriden Public Library make it a popular spot for downtown office workers to take lunch breaks. Amenities at this half-acre park include benches for resting, a large gazebo, numerous shade trees, and the prominent Mid-State Fallen Firefighters Memorial. Dedicated in 2002, the memorial honors Connecticut firefighters who lost their lives in the line of duty. The centerpiece sculpture titled “ Passing the Flag” features three 10-foot bronze firefighters carrying the American flag.
On summer Saturdays, Cortlandt Park transforms into the Meriden Farmer’s Market. Local farmers and vendors line up beneath white tents selling fresh fruits and vegetables, baked goods, honey, flowers, crafts and more while visitors shop to live music. Small as it is, Cortlandt Park serves the community well both as an everyday urban greenspace and weekend farmer’s market venue thanks to its advantageous location in the heart of downtown.
Neutaconkanut Hill Park
Looking for beautiful views, wooded trails and historic ruins? Visit Neutaconkanut Hill Park located just west of downtown Meriden. Encompassing 75 acres, the park contains the remnants of two 19th century reservoirs that supplied water to Meriden back when it was a booming manufacturing hub. Visitors can walk along the earthen dam structures which still hold back Chestnut Brook and Harbor Brook, creating calm pools that attract birds, turtles and other wildlife. The reservoirs now mainly serve a scenic purpose rather than functional, but provide the backdrop for peaceful walks surrounded by nature.
In addition to the historic reservoirs, the towering viewpoint known as Castle Craig stands as the focal point of Neutaconkanut Hill Park. Constructed of trap rock and reached by a winding stone staircase, Castle Craig was built in 1900 as a memorial to the men from Meriden who fought in the Revolutionary War. Hiking up to the top rewards visitors with panoramic views from the outskirts of Hartford in the north all the way to Long Island Sound in the south. With striking vistas, woodland trails, and remnants of Meriden’s past, the park proves itself a scenic gem.
Hanover Pond Park
Spanning 48 acres off East Main Street, Hanover Pond Park provides a popular place for walking, fishing, picnicking, and observing wildlife. It gets its name from the 20 acre Hanover Pond at the heart of the park which came to be when Harbor Brook was dammed to form a reservoir in the late 1800s. Though no longer used for city drinking water, the pond remains stocked by the CT Department of Energy and Environmental Protection enabling visitors to fish for species like largemouth bass, sunfish, catfish and carp.
Encircling the pond is a paved walking path just over a half mile long. Visitors enjoy exercising or taking leisurely strolls around the water accompanied by lobbed tails and mallard ducks who call Hanover Pond home. Benches along the path provide spots to rest, eat lunch, or simply sit quietly taking in views of the pond. With its pleasant setting, convenient downtown location, and opportunities for relaxation plus fishing, Hanover Pond Park has become a cherished community space.
Campion Park
Campion Park occupies 58 acres off Camp Street in northwest Meriden. It offers athletic fields and courts for baseball, softball, soccer, basketball, tennis, and inline street hockey. With two playgrounds plus a splash pad, it’s also a popular spot for families with children. Kids can burn off energy climbing the large wooden playset, zooming down slides, and swinging on monkey bars before cooling off in the splash pad fountain. There are plenty of picnic tables scattered around the playground and shade trees offering respite should the sun be strong.
Another unique feature is Campion Park’s labyrinth – a circular maze marked out by stones embedded in the grass. Visitors walk the winding path from the labyrinth entrance to its center as a way to quietly meditate. Informational signs explain the ancient background of labyrinths and their historic uses. The park also contains restroom facilities, water fountains, and on-site parking. Whether you play a pick-up game, bring the kids to the splash pad, or want to center your thoughts walking the labyrinth, Campion Park has something for all to enjoy.
Westfield Park
As one of Meriden’s newer parks developed in the mid-90s, Westfield Park contains modern amenities for recreation across its 35 acres. Athletic facilities include a little league baseball field, two softball fields, a street hockey rink, and four tennis courts. The park provides ample playground equipment as well with two different jungle gym structures featuring twisty slides, ladders, steering wheels, monkey bars, and more.
Westfield Park’s mirador section sits atop a hill giving visitors pretty views across Meriden from the gazebo picnic area. roses line the wrought iron fences around the mirador while sidewalks inlaid with red brick lead down to the patio containing Chess and Chinese Checkers game tables. This scenic spot hosts free concerts throughout the summer months performed on the mirador stage. Visitors bring lawn chairs and blankets to sit back enjoying live bands against the scenic views. Thanks to modern design and amenities like the mirador outlook, Westfield Park has developed into a first-rate community space.
Mill Brook & Hubbard Park Linear Trail
For visitors looking to stretch their legs, Meriden offers the Mill Brook and Hubbard Park Linear Trail. This hiking path travels 2.9 miles connecting the downtown area to the expansive Hubbard Park. Walkers, runners, bikers, and even leashed dogs can enjoy the peace and scenery along the wood-chipped trail as it winds alongside Factory Brook and Mill Brook. The path takes you under Connecticut Route 70 past a series of residential backyards and across East Main Street before entering the woods.
There you’ll be surrounded by tall trees and views of the rushing brooks as the trail inclines steeply up toward Hubbard Park’s high point. Interpretive signs describe details about native trees, wildflowers, and the historic Hungerford’s Saw Mill that once operated nearby. Benches offer spots to pause and catch your breath during the mile-long ascent before reaching the apex. From here the trail levels out traveling through Hubbard Park’s forest and across Mirror Lake Dam before culminating near the Castle Tower. For outdoor exercise surrounded by nature, Mill Brook Trail is a local treasure.
Oak Ridge Park
Oak Ridge Park provides a nice neighborhood space for recreation in southern Meriden near the North Farms village. At just under 11 acres, amenities include soccer and baseball fields, basketball courts, playground equipment, and restrooms. Young kids can burn energy navigating through the wooden castle play set with its peaks and ramps, twisting slides, ladders, and more. When the playground gets too hot, kids can also cool off at Oak Ridge’s spray park area during the summer months.
Picnic tables offer space for enjoying snacks and meals while taking in views of the forested ridge that gives Oak Ridge Park its name. Walking paths line the hillside between the playground and athletic field giving visitors a short woodland hike without having to leave the park. Since Oak Ridge sits adjacent to Rush Elementary School, the playground and courts stay active when school recesses as neighborhood kids flock over to play. Whether you visit for an afternoon picnic or exercise walking the ridge path, Oak Ridge Park delivers for this Meriden community.
Conclusion
Though certainly not an exhaustive list, the 12 parks described here provide a window into some of the best outdoor recreational spaces Meriden has to offer. From large multi-use parks like Giuffrida and Hubbard to smaller neighborhood playgrounds like Oak Ridge and Lincoln Park, Meriden residents have access to tremendous greenspace and facilities right in their backyard.
These parks foster community, encourage healthy living, provide space for sporting events and practices, and allow opportunities for people to connect with nature and the outdoors.
Beyond just grass and trees, Meriden’s parks contain fountains, streams, performance stages, historic towers, labyrinths, hiking trails, and memorial structures giving each location unique character. So whether living in or just visiting Meriden, be sure to experience one of the city’s fine public parks.
