Are bears a concern?

It's always possible, but highly unlikely I've done plenty of night hiking in devil's hopyard the only thing I've come across are deer

I havent seen any to date in my travels there, and I go often with my children as well. Black bears are definitely around as 140 out of 169 towns in the state of CT have reported sightings; East Haddam has reported 24 sightings in the last 12 months. Consult the CT.gov /deep website for information and helpful tips.

I have never seen one there, but CT has been seeing a rise in the bear population, so I'm guessing it's possible.

An acquaintance of mine told me that his mother, who has money and connections to sensitive information, had told him the DEEP captured a cougar in Devils Hopyard within the past couple of years and relocated it out of state somewhere. As for bears, I'd go with what Dustin said: they're everywhere including Lyme, Haddam, and all the surrounding areas close to the park. Greatest concentration of sightings occur in Simsbury/Avon areas, but nearly every town in CT has at least a few reported sightings each year. Personally, I've spent a lot of time in Devils Hopyard only to be encountered by deer, foxes, and an owl, among the more typically encountered animals such as crows, hawks, and woodpeckers. The only thing in these woods that ever concerned me were loud tree knocks from 60 yards away while I was off trail marveling at a structure of large, interwoven tree limbs, and the sound of being followed by matching footsteps that I could hear close by but could not attribute to anything.