Mansfield Hollow Lake, also known as Naubesatuck Lake, is located at the convergence of the Fenton, Mount Hope and Natchaug Rivers.  The lake was created as part of the US Army Corp of Engineers flood control strategy for the southern New England region.   The CT DEP manages Mansfield Hollow State Park and a public boat ramp in the upper part of the lake.  Although swimming is prohibited there, other recreational opportunities are worth exploring.  The Friends of Mansfield Hollow volunteer to preserve, maintain and enhance this park.  The Naubesatuck Watershed Council focuses on water quality and quantity issues for the three river systems that meet at this lake. 

Joshua’s Tract Conservation and Historic Trust (JT) own and manage the Windham Atlantic White Cedar Bog.  In 1995, JT acquired the Windham Atlantic White Cedar Bog, which is located close to Rt. 6. It had been added to the state list of significant natural areas in 1981. Its plant life records Connecticut’s glacial past.  Rare butterflies and numerous warblers frequent the bog in springtime. This bog plays an important role in recharging and purifying the aquifers that provide drinking water. The bog is a very fragile environment, sensitive to pollution and nutrient input. Run-off rain water from large buildings and paved surfaces carry substances that can wreck a bog. Based on the research of a national expert, Joshua’s Trust has been providing advisory input to the local land use officials that led to modifications to the site designs when a large box store retailer developed an adjacent parcel. They will continue their effort as additional development proposals in the area threaten this valuable ecological area. Atlantic White Cedar Bogs, a type of forested inland wetland, are recognized as one of the twelve key habitat types in Greatest Conservation Need in the Connecticut Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Strategy (CWCS.)

The Mansfield Hollow area supports a pitch pine/scrub oak barren, a special type of upland woodland and shrub habitat also listed as one of the twelve key habitats types in Greatest Conservation Need in the CWCS.  Click here for interesting information about the geology of Mansfield Hollow State Park.