Wadleigh State Park facts for kids

Wadleigh State Park is a public recreation area located on the south shore of 170-acre (69 ha) Kezar Lake in Sutton, New Hampshire. This fun state park has a bathhouse for changing, open fields for playing, and offers great chances for swimming, having picnics, fishing, and boating. It's a wonderful spot for families and friends to enjoy the outdoors.

Park History: How It Started

Wadleigh State Park was created thanks to a group called the Village Improvement Society. This group worked hard to raise money from the public to buy the land. Once they bought it, they gave the land to the state of New Hampshire.

Building the Park

After the land was given to the state, workers from two special groups helped build the park. These groups were the State Emergency Work Agency and the Civilian Conservation Corps. The Civilian Conservation Corps was a program during the Great Depression that put young men to work on important projects, like building parks.

The 1938 Hurricane

In 1938, a very strong storm called the 1938 New England Hurricane hit the area. This hurricane caused a lot of damage to Wadleigh State Park. Many of the buildings that had just been built were destroyed. A large part of the park's forest was also knocked down by the powerful winds.

The Greenway Trail

Wadleigh State Park is part of a special walking and hiking path called the Sunapee-Ragged-Kearsarge Greenway. A greenway is a long, narrow strip of land, often along a river or an old railway line, used for recreation. This particular greenway is a 75-mile (121 km) loop trail.

What You'll See on the Greenway

As you travel along the Sunapee-Ragged-Kearsarge Greenway, you will pass by several other interesting places. These include Mount Sunapee State Park, Winslow State Park, and Rollins State Park. The trail also goes through Gile, Kearsarge, and Shadow Hill state forests, as well as the Bog Mountain Wildlife Management Area. It's a great way to explore many different natural areas in New Hampshire.