This Quaint Connecticut Town With Outdoor Thrills Is Steeped In Native American History

Gamblers tend to be risk takers and amusement seekers, so it makes sense that casinos offer a variety of amenities and entertainment to attract people and keep them coming back. Live music, restaurants, and bars are givens, but Foxwoods Resort Casino in Mashantucket, Connecticut, is the Hulk-sized version of this theme. It's America's largest casino resort, with its own outlet mall and adventure park. You'll find everything from an escape room and go-kart racing to outdoor thrills. It's even home to a Great Wolf Lodge water park.

The resort is surrounded by 2,000 acres of forest, so there are plenty of trails to explore in this unexpected hiking paradise. True adventurers, however, will want to head up to the 33rd floor of one of its buildings and jump off — attached to a zipline, of course. You'll travel at an average speed of 45 mph for a mile on the state's longest zipline and land at the Mashantucket Pequot Museum & Research Center. The massive museum tells the extraordinary comeback story of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation, the Indigenous people who almost didn't survive but are now thriving after becoming a gaming pioneer. 

Mashantucket is one of America's oldest reservations and is near the town of Ledyard. The area is 20 minutes from Mystic, under an hour from Hartford, and over an hour from New Haven. It's a big out-of-state draw, as well. It's less than an hour from Providence, Rhode Island, an hour and a half from Boston, and three hours from New York City. For visitors coming outside of New England, the closest major travel hub is Rhode Island T.F. Green International Airport (PVD) in Warwick, about 42 miles away.

While you're visiting Mashantucket, a top attraction is the HighFlyer Zipline, which receives 4.7 out of five stars on Tripadvisor. Make sure you're not wearing anything that can fly off, like flip flops, sunglasses, or a hat, and that you don't have anything in unzipped pockets like phones or keys. Step out onto the Fox Tower roof, your harness will be attached to one of four cables, and off you go to the museum, with magnificent countryside views as far as the eye can see along the way. Off-peak pricing begins at $49 for youths and $67 for adults. There is no age restriction, but riders must be between 65 and 300 pounds. 

If you'd rather have your feet on the ground while enjoying outdoor recreation, pick from a number of hiking trails or tee up on a golf course. Birders should bring their binoculars on the 1.3-mile loop trail at Poquentanuck Cove Preserve, a bird sanctuary, and geology buffs will be interested in the 1.5-mile blue trail at Ledyard Glacial Park, where enormous boulders sit where a glacier once was (13,000 years ago). Golfers should reserve a tee time at Lake of Isles, where two courses with 36 holes stretch across 900 acres. Designed by Rees Jones, the courses are owned by the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation and are visible from Foxwoods but technically located in the town of North Stonington. If you're staying at Foxwoods and are planning on golfing, check out the Stay and Play Package.

When the zipline deposits you at the Mashantucket Pequot Museum, don't board the shuttle without walking through its recreated 16th-century Pequot village and taking the elevator to the 185-foot observation tower for fantastic views (stationary this time) that you saw on the zipline. The whopping 308,000-square-foot museum features 85,000 square feet of exhibits. Through films, touch screens, dioramas, and items like wampum and dugout canoes, it tells the dramatic story of the tribe from prehistoric times to today. The members of the Mashantucket Pequot Nation still mostly live in Ledyard as they have for thousands of years, despite attempts at decimation. 

In this rural, agriculturally focused community that values its history, you could head to the Maugle Sierra Vineyards to taste wines on a 100-acre property with a 1740 farmhouse or visit the 1793 Nathan Lester House, which is on the National Register of Historic Places. The farmhouse offers an intimate look at early American domestic life, complete with an original central-chimney layout and beehive oven. Visitors can stroll the adjoining Great Oak Garden, lovingly tended by the Ledyard Garden Club, and then explore over 100 acres of surrounding land filled with blue-blazed trails that wind through stone-walled pastures, woodland, vernal pools, and the old Lester family cemetery. It's a place where natural beauty and preserved heritage come together, and a perfect spot for anyone looking for an authentic New England experience.

Mashantucket has numerous hotels via the Foxwoods Resort, including The Fox Tower and Grand Pequot Tower. There is also the Great Wolf Lodge, which has an indoor waterpark. A smaller casino resort, Mohegan Sun, is 15 minutes away in Uncasville. If you've caught the zipline bug, you could choose your next destination by exploring the world's most thrilling ziplines.