You don’t have to prepare for a three hour tour, but New England weather can start to get rough. Just sit right back and let me tell you the tale of the Norwalk Islands. There are 25 islands that collectively make up the “Norwalk Islands.” The top tourist island is Sheffield island, home to the Sheffield Island Lighthouse, and when the weather is nice, meaning summer and early fall, you can take a boat ride to this natural park, which is part of the Stewart B. McKinney National Wildlife Refuge which includes not only most of Sheffield Island, but Chimon and Goose Islands.
The islands have been a draw for visitors to Norwalk since the ice age. The deepest part of the Long island Sound is right off the Norwalk harbor and the 325 ft. depth attracts not only fish but the warm rivers flowing into the harbor encourage the mud that proves to be advantageous to oysters and clams.
The lighthouse on Sheffield Island was established in 1868. At that time Norwalk was a major global trading port, and home to a burgeoning oystering industry. It once guided boats to steer clear of the rocky shoreline into the safety of the Norwalk harbor. A ferry to Sheffield Island can be found in SoNo at the IMAX® theater parking lot.
