The five blocks are the Mount Sanford (Cheshire, Hamden—bordering Prospect and Bethany), East (Beacon Falls, Bethany, Naugatuck), West (Naugatuck, Oxford, Beacon Falls), Quillinan Reservoir (Seymour, Ansonia), and Great Hill (Seymour) blocks.

Rivers, streams and ponds were dammed to furnish waterpower for gristmills, tanneries, and later paper mills.

There are many stone walls marking the boundaries of colonial era farms, though large portions of the Naugatuck State Forest blocks are composed of rocky hills which made poor farmland.

Naugatuck State Forest is used for fishing, hiking, hunting, target shooting, snowmobiling, cross country skiing, mountain biking, climbing, geocaching and trail running.

Mountain biking trails include fire roads in the various blocks, as well as several miles of singletrack trail in the Quillinan Block that were created in cooperation of the DEEP State Forester's office, the New England Mountain Bike Association (NEMBA), and Thule Corporation.