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▪ Trail Descriptions |
West Branch: Connecticut Section W-3: West Rock Ridge to Wharton Brook State Park This section follows the Regicides Trail over West Rock Ridge, the Quinnipiac Trail over Sleeping Giant, and the course of Wharton Brook to Wharton Brook State Park.
W-3.0: West Rock Ridge West Rock Ridge, an eight mile long traprock cliff, is part of the 100 mile long Metacomet Ridge which extends from Long Island Sound to nearly the Vermont border. West Rock Ridge, most of it within West Rock Ridge State Park, features scenic vistas, woodland, lakes, historic sites, rare plants, and a summit automobile road. The name "regicides" means "king killers" and harks back to colonial times when several men accused of planning to assassinate King Charles I fled to West Rock and hid in a cave. "Judges Cave," as it is now known, is composed of several pieces of a large, cracked basalt boulder. W-3.1: Sleeping Giant Sleeping Giant as a traprock mountain ridge the resembles the form of a sleeping human being. The Giant, located within Sleeping Giant State Park, features rock formations, cliff faces and vistas, picnic facilities, rare plant communities, an observation tower, and an extensive network of trails. The Sleeping Giant is considered a scared site by the Quinnipiac Tribe who call the mountain Koueonk Mogosketomp. According to tribal tradition, the spirit Hobbomock diverted the course of the Connecticut River and was punished to sleep forever; therefore the sleeping giant. The proposed New England Trail route would pass over the Giant using the Quinnipiac Trail and other trails.
W-3.2: The Quinnipiac River and Wharton Brook. The Quinnipiac Trail descends the east foot of the Sleeping Giant and ends at the Quinnipiac River in Wallingford, Connecticut. The proposed New England Trail route would follow the riverbank south for a few hundred feet to its junction with Wharton Brook, then follow the south bank of the brook upstream to Wharton Brook State Park. There is currently no trail along Wharton Brook.
Constructed in the 1920's, Wharton Brook State Park was one of America's original motor waysides. Although only 102 acres, Wharton Brook offers a swimming beach, hiking trails, mill dam and falls, woodlands, and picnic facilities. Resources City
of New Haven map West Rock West Rock Nature Center Bishop Estate & Darling House Trails Sleeping Giant
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