Waterford's Recreation and Parks Department is charged with maintaining the town's community center, numerous playgrounds, the school grounds and town parks while providing programs for adults and children. The department runs a sport council, which oversees several sporting events for children and teenagers and provides swim classes and open swim at the Waterford High School pool.
Decisions on the department's budget and overall focus is set by the Waterford Recreation and Parks Commission, a group of nine volunteer townspeople appointed by the Board of Selectmen.
Harkness Memorial Park holds the former mansion of Edward Harkness, a former multi-millionaire philanthropist, overlooking 230-acres of waterfront property. The mansion was purchased by Harkness in 1907, and with the help of landscape designed Beatrix Jones Farrand and over two hundred million dollars of his own money, Harkness restored the grounds into one of the most elegant sites in Connecticut.
There is admission costs from Memorial Day to Labor Day, with tours of the mansion available during that same time. The mansion hosts weddings as well, and admission is free from September to May.