Devil's Hopyard

Photo Credit: Vincent Sapone 

In East Haddam, Connecticut lies a gorgeous state park eerily named Devil’s Hopyard. This is a favorite place for hiking and camping, despite the spooky legends surrounding the crown jewel of the park – Chapman Falls. The park gets its name from a local legend dating back to the early Puritan settlers. There were several fields of hops and a malt house in the area during the 18^th century. 

Photo Credit: Vincent Sapone 

Not far from the site of the hopyard and malt house lies the spectacular Chapman Falls, a sixty-foot cascade of water which features nearly perfectly cylindrical potholes in the otherwise jagged rock. Puritan’s explained the formation of these holes in the rock as the work of Satan. It was said that the Devil was walking near the falls and got his tail wet. He was so angry that he stomped his hooves, burning deep holes into the rock. Locals also told many stories of Satan himself sitting atop the large boulder at the top of the falls and fiddling while witches of Haddam stirred up various foul brews in the rocky cauldrons below. They avoided the area after dark and legends of spooky happenings continue even today.

Photo Credit: Vincent Sapone 

While not quite as spooky, the scientific explanation is that these potholes are formed by stones being moved downstream by the flowing water become caught in an eddy, a swirling current of water. As the stone spins, it begins to wear away the rock beneath it creating a hole. The original stone will eventually wear away, but other stones are often swept into the same pothole and, through similar spinning action, will enlarge it. These have left behind perfectly cylindrical holes the rocky waterfall.

Works Cited:
http://www.damnedct.com/devils-hopyard-east-haddam

http://www.vincentsapone.com/trips/dh/dh.html

https://www.toyotaofcolchester.com/blogs/901/community/colchesters-own-haunted-legend-devils-hopyard-state-park/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devil%27s_Hopyard_State_Park#/media/File:Devils_Hopyard_Sign_2_Kevin_Pepin.jpg