photo credit: City of New Haven
New Haven is a city with a rich maritime legacy. Traditionally, the city was centered around its working waterfront. It is still one of the largest working ports on the eastern seaboard. In fact, the oyster fishery in New Haven Harbor is the second largest in the United States, following only the oyster fishery in the state of Louisiana. Today, much of the city's waterfront is not accessible to the public, even though New Haven is wrapped around its harbor, and has three beautiful rivers threading through the city to reach Long Island Sound. Recognizing the need for public access to the water, the New Haven City Plan Department and many community groups have been working to restore access. East Shore Park and the Edgewood Park Duck Pond are examples of their results This site builds upon the work of Chris Ozyck, with the Urban Resources Initiative, and New Haven City Plan staff who worked together to produce the New Haven Green Map. The Green Map gives New Haven citizens a broad view of the outdoor activities, recreational opportunities, and cultural features of New Haven. The Green Map's list of canoe launch sites, fishing areas, and swimming areas were used as a base, and the finished product provides an updated list of public water access points of all kinds in New Haven. Included here is information on 15 public water access points in the New Haven area. Maps, photos, and UTM/UPS coordinates of the water access points are available. The points are grouped according to their locations. Photos were taken by Beth Owen (FES '04) during the fall of 2004.
	Water Access Points Index
	Map of West River Area (Access Points 1-3)
		Access Point 1: Edgewood Park Duck Pond Recreational Area
		Access Point 2: West River Memorial Park Canoe Launch, North
		Access Point 3: West River Memorial Park Canoe Launch, South
	Map of City Point Area (Access Point 4)
		Access Point 4: Fishing Pier at City Point/Sound School
	Map of Orange Street and East Rock Park Area (Access Points 5-7)
		Access Point 5: Fishing Area at Mill River Footbridge
		Access Point 6: Orange Street Canoe Launch and Fishing Area on the Mill River
		Access Point 7: Orange Street Canoe Launch and Fishing Area on the Mill River
	Map of Fair Haven Area (Access Points 8-10)
		Access Point 8: Quinnipiac Park Fishing Area
		Access Point 9: Dover Beach Canoe Launch
		Access Point 10: Clifton Street Canoe Launch
	Map of East Shore Park Area (Access Point 11)
		Access Point 11: East Shore Park
	Map of Light House Point Area (Access Points 12-15)
		Access Point 12: Nathan Hale Park Canoe Launch and Fishing Pier
		Access Point 13: Lighthouse Point Boat Launch
		Access Point 14: Lighthouse Point Fishing Pier
		Access Point 15: Lighthouse Point Swimming Area