The Hamden Department of Recreation has selected Lake Wintergreen to be featured as its 2023 holiday ornament, the 31st in a series of annual ornaments featuring Hamden landmarks. Lake Wintergreen is a 44-acre lake that is part of West Rock Ridge State Park. A nature trail surrounds the lake, with additional connecting trails.
Between 1863 and 1978 Lake Wintergreen provided water for the City of New Haven. After they had used the water supply for 13 years, the Fair Haven Water Co. was bought out by the New Haven Water Company, which soon bought additional land in the watershed. In 1978 the lake was taken out of the water supply system because strict new Federal standards would have required construction of a filtration plant. This would have been too expensive for the relatively small size of this water source. In 1980 the spillway and the level of Lake Wintergreen were lowered ten feet at the request of the Corps of Engineers so that the dam could withstand the probable maximum flood which occurs once in 10,000 years.
Lake Wintergreen and its surrounding trails provide for hiking, canoeing, and fishing for residents and nature lovers.
Research material provided by the State of Connecticut and the Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute.