Old abandoned quarries. The words still conjure up fond memories of growing up in Portland near the Strickland feldspar quarry. It was a place where we went to watch rockhounds digging through a mountain of tailings and teens diving into the cold, sapphire-blue water of the flooded quarry hole.

Today, you can golf at my childhood memory as the pile of tailings has been dispersed and spread across the 18 holes of Quarry Ridge Golf Course and the quarry hole has become a giant water hazard. But there are still places across the state where you can still go and imagine a time when quarries sent Connecticut stone across the country. The first is good for rockhounds, the second is good for those who like to legally swim in a quarry.

Stony Creek Quarry Preserve In Branford/Guilford One of the best-preserved places to explore is the Stony Creek Quarry Preserve on the Branford/Guilford line. The 450-acre, town-owned preserve was once the home of companies like Stony Creek Red Granite, Norcross Bros. and Beattie Quarry. The quarries produced some of the most beautiful pink granite ever discovered. The granite was used in the base of the Statue of Liberty, Grand Central Station, the Brooklyn Bridge, South Station in Boston, the Lincoln Memorial and Grant's Tomb.

The main trail, a section of the 28-mile Branford Trail, is marked by orange blazes near a stone wall built out of the granite. The trail immediately plunges into the abandoned portion of the quarry, past huge outcroppings with drill holes in them marking where the huge slabs of granite were cut. The trail passes an area where crews from Stony Creek Quarry Corp. still quarry the granite for use in buildings, landscaping, sea walls and jetties. Surrounding the active quarry are huge piles of discarded granite. From here, the trail plunges into a valley surrounded by towering rock walls.

A trail along the west side of the road takes visitors to the abandoned portion of the quarry complete with old railroad beds and plenty of piles of granite tailings from the quarry operations of long ago.

The main entrance to the preserve is on the dirt portion of Quarry Road. Quarry Road is located on Route 146 or Stony Creek Road in Branford. A trail map is available at www.scrcog.org/trails.htm and clicking on "Quarry Westwoods." The Connecticut Forest & Park Association's Walkbook also has excellent maps.

Brownstone Quarry in Portland Worked as early as the 1600s, the brownstone taken from Quarrytown helped to build cities up and down the eastern seaboard. Today the flooded quarry along the banks of the Connecticut River is home to the Brownstone Exploration and Discovery Park where visitors can explore the quarries with a mask and snorkel or scuba gear, down zip lines, on a kayak and by climbing and repelling the sandstone walls.

As the website says "Visitors of all ages will have the unique opportunity to explore the quarries 100-foot freshwater depths; traverse its 85-foot solid brownstone walls; discover the 300 years of quarrying history and navigate the waters smooth surface."

Who knew history could be so much fun?