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Invasives Removal Party in Rockfall Forest
May 1, 2022 @ 10:00 am - 12:00 pm
What is Rockfall Forest?
The trails in Rockfall Forest provide an important entry point to Wadsworth Falls State Park, connecting the orange Main Trail from Cherry Hill Road into the Park, and offering the yellow Laurel Grove Brook Trail. The history of these two properties link Colonel Wadsworth’s Legacy and The Rockfall Foundation. From potato farm to wild forest to outdoor classroom, Rockfall Forest has a story to tell.
Colonel Clarence S. Wadsworth founded Rockfall Corporation (now The Rockfall Foundation) in 1935 “to establish, maintain, and care for parks and forest or wild land for the use and enjoyment of the public”. One of the Colonel’s land holdings was a large plot in Middlefield and Rockfall. He entrusted the land to Rockfall Corporation, with a small section known as “The Captain’s Field” retained for use by his son, Seymour Wadsworth.
In 1941, after Colonel Wadsworth’s death, the largest portion of the land, 267 acres known as the “Great Falls Region” was donated by Rockfall Corporation to the Connecticut State Park and Forest commission. The State still maintains this land, the present day Wadsworth Falls State Park. Adjacent Captain’s Field, in the meantime, was leased out by Seymour and used for potato farming in the 1940s and 1950s. After Seymour’s passing, Captain’s Field was transferred to Rockfall Corporation for preservation. To this day, The Rockfall Foundation continues to protect these remaining 16 acres of land, which has reverted to forest since farming was abandoned. No longer a field, The Rockfall Foundation adopted the name Rockfall Forest in 2020.