West Rock Ridge State Park
Encyclopedia
State park
State parks are parks or other protected areas managed at the federated state level within those nations which use "state" as a political subdivision. State parks are typically established by a state to preserve a location on account of its natural beauty, historic interest, or recreational...
located in New Haven
New Haven, Connecticut
New Haven is the second-largest city in Connecticut and the sixth-largest in New England. According to the 2010 Census, New Haven's population increased by 5.0% between 2000 and 2010, a rate higher than that of the State of Connecticut, and higher than that of the state's five largest cities, and...
, Hamden
Hamden, Connecticut
Hamden is a town in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States. The town's nickname is "The Land of the Sleeping Giant." Hamden is home to Quinnipiac University. The population was 58,180 according to the Census Bureau's 2005 estimates...
, and Woodbridge, Connecticut
Woodbridge, Connecticut
Woodbridge is a town in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 8,983 at the 2000 census. It is one of the wealthiest towns in Connecticut, ranking 16th in the state in terms of per capita income, and is home to many of the faculty of Yale University...
. It is named for the 400 to 700 ft (121.9 to 213.4 m) trap rock
Trap rock
Trap rock is a form of igneous rock that tends to form polygonal vertical fractures, most typically hexagonal, but also four to eight sided. The fracture pattern forms when magma of suitable chemical composition intrudes as a sill or extrudes as a thick lava flow, and slowly cools.Because of the...
West Rock Ridge
West Rock Ridge
West Rock Ridge or West Rock of south-central Connecticut, with a high point of , is a long trap rock mountain ridge located on the west side of New Haven. The ridge forms a continuous line of exposed cliffs visible from metropolitan New Haven and points west...
, which is part of the Metacomet Ridge
Metacomet Ridge
The Metacomet Ridge, Metacomet Ridge Mountains, or Metacomet Range of southern New England, United States, is a narrow and steep fault-block mountain ridge known for its extensive cliff faces, scenic vistas, microclimate ecosystems, and communities of plants considered rare or endangered...
extending from Long Island Sound
Long Island Sound
Long Island Sound is an estuary of the Atlantic Ocean, located in the United States between Connecticut to the north and Long Island, New York to the south. The mouth of the Connecticut River at Old Saybrook, Connecticut, empties into the sound. On its western end the sound is bounded by the Bronx...
to the Vermont
Vermont
Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...
border. The ridge consists largely of diabase
Diabase
Diabase or dolerite is a mafic, holocrystalline, subvolcanic rock equivalent to volcanic basalt or plutonic gabbro. In North American usage, the term diabase refers to the fresh rock, whilst elsewhere the term dolerite is used for the fresh rock and diabase refers to altered material...
basalt
Basalt
Basalt is a common extrusive volcanic rock. It is usually grey to black and fine-grained due to rapid cooling of lava at the surface of a planet. It may be porphyritic containing larger crystals in a fine matrix, or vesicular, or frothy scoria. Unweathered basalt is black or grey...
, much like its sister formation East Rock
East Rock
East Rock of south-central Connecticut, United States, with a high point of , is a long trap rock ridge located on the north side of the city of New Haven...
. The park offers recreational trails, car-top boating
Car-top boating
Car-top boating is a term that refers to the recreational activity of boating via watercraft that can easily be placed upon, transported, and removed from the roof of a passenger motor vehicle...
, and 7 miles (11.3 km) of open west-facing cliffs with vistas encompassing Metropolitan New Haven and suburban towns to the west. The park includes Judges Cave, a colonial era historic site; Lake Wintergreen; and the 7 miles (11.3 km) Regicides Trail
Regicides Trail
Regicides Trail is a Blue-Blazed hiking trail, about 7 miles long, roughly following the edge of a basalt, or traprock, cliff northwest of New Haven, Connecticut. It is named for two regicides, Edward Whalley and his son-in-law William Goffe, who signed the death warrant of King Charles I of England...
, part of the Connecticut Forest and Park Association
Connecticut Forest and Park Association
The Connecticut Forest and Park Association , established in 1895, is the oldest private, nonprofit conservation organization in Connecticut. The organization is credited as an important early pioneer of the national land conservation movement and as an early advocate of long distance trail building...
's Blue Trail system. West Rock Ridge State Park is part of a larger area of protected open space including state, municipal, and non-profit owned land.
Geography
- See also: West Rock RidgeWest Rock RidgeWest Rock Ridge or West Rock of south-central Connecticut, with a high point of , is a long trap rock mountain ridge located on the west side of New Haven. The ridge forms a continuous line of exposed cliffs visible from metropolitan New Haven and points west...
Woodbridge, Connecticut
Woodbridge is a town in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 8,983 at the 2000 census. It is one of the wealthiest towns in Connecticut, ranking 16th in the state in terms of per capita income, and is home to many of the faculty of Yale University...
and Hamden
Hamden, Connecticut
Hamden is a town in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States. The town's nickname is "The Land of the Sleeping Giant." Hamden is home to Quinnipiac University. The population was 58,180 according to the Census Bureau's 2005 estimates...
. It is bordered by Konolds Pond, Lake Dawson, and Lake Watrous on its western flank and by Lake Wintergreen on its eastern flank and is 6 miles (9.7 km) long. The South Overlook, located at the southern end of the park, offers views to the west, south and east, including Sleeping Giant State Park, East Rock Park
East Rock Park
East Rock Park is a park in the city of New Haven and the town of Hamden, Connecticut that is operated as a New Haven city park. The park surrounds and includes the mountainous ridge named East Rock and was developed with naturalistic landscaping....
topped by the Soldiers and Sailors Monument
Soldiers and Sailors Monument (New Haven)
The Soldiers and Sailors Monument, located on the summit of East Rock in New Haven, Connecticut, is visible for miles from the surrounding urban metropolis and Long Island Sound. The monument was built in 1887 and honors the residents of New Haven who gave their lives in the Revolutionary War, the...
, the city of New Haven, including the harbor, Long Island Sound
Long Island Sound
Long Island Sound is an estuary of the Atlantic Ocean, located in the United States between Connecticut to the north and Long Island, New York to the south. The mouth of the Connecticut River at Old Saybrook, Connecticut, empties into the sound. On its western end the sound is bounded by the Bronx...
, and Long Island
Long Island
Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
.
The West Rock Tunnel (designated since 2003 as the Heroes Tunnel to honor first responders like EMTs, fire and police men), was bored through West Rock in order to make passage for the Wilbur Cross Parkway
Wilbur Cross Parkway
The Wilbur Cross Parkway is a limited access road in Connecticut, comprising the portion of Route 15 between Milford and Meriden. It is named after Wilbur Lucius Cross, a former governor of the state...
.
History
In the 17th century, West Rock served as the hideout for Edward WhalleyEdward Whalley
Edward Whalley was an English military leader during the English Civil War, and was one of the regicides who signed the death warrant of King Charles I of England.-Early career:The exact dates of his birth and death are unknown...
and his son-in-law, Gen. William Goffe
William Goffe
William Goffe was an English Roundhead politician and soldier, perhaps best known for his role in the execution of King Charles I and later flight to America.-Early life:...
, two of the three "regicide judges" whom New Haven honors by streets bearing their surnames. They had fled England, anticipating prosecution under King Charles II
Charles II of England
Charles II was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father, King Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War...
in the execution of his father Charles I
Charles I of England
Charles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...
, to New Haven; the rock shelter
Rock shelter
A rock shelter is a shallow cave-like opening at the base of a bluff or cliff....
hideout used by the two is now called Judges Cave. The Regicides Trail is also named with this history in mind.
Recreation
West Rock Ridge State Park is open daily from sunrise to sunset; recreational uses include hiking, bicycling, fishing, car-top boating, horseback riding, dog walking, picnicking, cross-country skiing, rock climbing and other passive pursuits. A park road to Judges Cave and South Overlook are open to vehicle traffic, in season. No access fees are charged to use the park or park roads. Mountain bikes and horseback riding are permitted on certain trails. Power boats, hunting, and ice skating are prohibited in the park. Baldwin Drive, spanning the ridge crest north of Judges Cave, is open to non-motorized use only. Park amenities include picnic tables and a pavilion at South Overlook.There are 21 miles (33.8 km) of blazed trails in the park. Primary trails include the 7 miles (11.3 km) Regicides Trail, which runs along the ridgecrest; the Red Trail which runs the length of the park at the east base of West Rock Ridge, and the White Trail, which passes along the shore of Lake Wintergreen. A network of shorter trails pass between these main routes. Other trails enter the park through adjacent municipal, nonprofit-owned, and private land.
The park's main trailhead and parking area is located at Lake Wintergreen on Wintegreen Avenue in Hamden. Other trailheads and parking areas are located on Hill Street, Mountain Road, Connecticut Route 69, and within the park at Judges Cave and South Overlook.