There are many recreational opportunities available at West Rock.
(This website was started on Saturday, Sept. 4, 2010. The most recent update took place Sunday, March 16, 2025. Despite the domain name, this an informational website, not a blog.)
The ice storm over the weekend of Feb. 15-16 has damaged trees at West Rock, as evidenced by what I have seen in the northern end of the park, and there are likely to be branches down on trails throughout the park. I cleared several branches along West Shepard Avenue and moved lots of sticks off the road on Feb. 17. Park users can help by moving branches and sticks off trails as they hike.
I did a loop hike on Feb. 22, hiking the Regicides Trail from the northern end of Baldwin Drive south to the power lines and returning on Baldwin Drive. I did another loop hike on March 2, doing the circuit around Lake Wintergreen, then up the Blue-White Trail to the Regicides Trail, heading north to the Purple Trail, and returning on Purple-White. With help from other hikers, we cleared lots of small to medium branches from both the road and trails, some of which required cutting to move them. Another volunteer and I cut two blowdowns on March 8 from the northern end of the Sanford Feeder Trail.
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Broken branches lie across West Shepard Avenue on Feb. 17, 2025. The branches were removed by a volunteer after this photo was taken. |
Volunteers removed items from the woods east of West Shepard Avenue and left a pile for collection by the state on Jan. 11, 2025. When people see a pile like this, they tend to think someone dumped it there illegally. The items were certainly dumped illegally in the woods prior to 2011, but volunteers placed them along the road, so they can be taken away. Volunteers have been adding to the pile with additional work sessions in February and March by moving other items from the woods, but also taking away items for proper disposal. On March 8, volunteers carried away additional items and also moved most of the remaining pile down the road to the gate. The state is aware of the pile, but with its limited staff has yet to remove it. Two volunteers returned on March 12 to carry away additional trash from the woods and the piles.
See more photos and read all the details on this page. Scroll WAY down to the section with the West Shepard Avenue junkyards.
https://westrocktrails.blogspot.com/p/west-rock-junkyard-cleanups.html
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This junk pile was placed here by volunteers on Jan. 11, 2025. |
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The junk pile is somewhat smaller on Feb. 17, 2025, as volunteers have been carting items away for proper disposal or recycling. |
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The junk pile continues to shrink as seen on Feb. 22, 2025, as volunteers continue to remove items from the park, A regular park user dragged the blue pool filled with junk in the above photo down to the West Shepard Avenue gate on Feb, 17, so that is no longer in the pile, but still is at the park and needs to be removed. |
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The junk pile across from the driveway along West Shepard Avenue is small after volunteers brought items down to the gate on March 8, 2025, and also removed other items for recycling or proper disposal. |
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The junk pile awaits removal from West Shepard Avenue after volunteers brought items down to the gate on March 8, 2025. |
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Many boards have been removed from the ground, while other still need to be dug out on March 8, 2025. The removed boards are stacked in a pile nearby and will be removed by volunteers at a later date. |
The foot of rain that fell in the Oxford area in August 2024 caused extensive damage to the trails in the Naugatuck State Forest, West Block, south of Spruce Brook Road. Details and photos are available on that page on this website.
https://westrocktrails.blogspot.com/p/naugatuck-state-forest-west-block.html
The gate to the main entrance at 1134 Wintergreen Ave., New Haven, closed for the season on Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024. This means that people who are walking, running, or bicycling along the road can enjoy a car-free experience until the road reopens on Saturday, May 24, 2025. When it reopens, it will be open daily from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
There are five parking spaces outside the gate for those who wish to start their activity from that point.
Regicide Drive, leading to the South Overlook, was repaved in spring 2023, but the spur to Judges Cave was not, as state officials are considering what to do with that section of the road.
Details about the rehabilitated Paradise Avenue Red Trail have been posted to this lpage on this website:
https://westrocktrails.blogspot.com/p/paradise-avenue-red-trail.html
The reblazing and pruning back of the Red Trail and the two associated Red-White Trails started July 2, 2024 and is complete as of Aug. 21, 2024. Most blazes are painted with Rustoleum, so they are bright and clear to follow. The previous blazes had been there for six years and had faded to a muted pink color. The Red Trail is 6.8 miles long. The northern Red-White Trail is 0.6 miles long, while the Red-White Trail along Lake Wintergreen is 0.35 mile long.
The three trails have been pruned back, but some sections near Farm Brook Reservoir remain narrow because there is so much growth along there, both native and invasive. These plants grow quickly in this area because the trees are less dense and the area is more sunny than shady, which fuels plant growth. Another narrow section is about two tenths of a mile south of the northern part of Mountain Road, a section that is heavily infested with invasive plants.
A third narrow section is between Lake Wintergreen and Mountain Road where there is endless invasive multi-flora rose and plenty of invasive autumn olive. I have cut these back where I can, focusing on the thorny stems projecting out into the trail.
A fourth problem area is the final ascent to the South Overlook where privet chokes off the trail, despite being heavily cut back every couple of years, as volunteer hours permit.
The Blue-Yellow Westville Feeder Trail was reblazed in one afternoon on Aug. 27, 2024. The project included cutting back and uprooting invasive plants along the trail.
The White Trail was reblazed and pruned back in three sessions during early September. This trail was relatively quick to finish due to the almost complete lack of invasive plants, so pruning back did not take that long.
The Yellow Trail was reblazed and pruned back the afternoon of Sept. 16, including reblazing along Mountain Road to guide people from the Yellow Trail where it descends off the ridge to the nearest trailhead at Mountain Road, which is a third of a mile away to the north.
I reblazed the Green Trail on Sept. 19, and did a light pruning back. Portions of the trail have extensive invasive plants along the edges, primarily winged euonymus (burning bush) and privet) and will take many hours to cut them yet again.
Reblazing has been completed on Purple, Purple-Orange, and Purple-White Trails on Oct. 4. The new shade is a dark color that is fresher than the previous one, but a bit more challenging to see. The orange and white tails on those connector trails are easy to see.
The Blue-White Trail from Lake Wintergreen to the Regicides Trail was reblazed on Oct. 22, depending on the weather. The other trails have been reblazed in the past two to four years and do not need reblazing at this time.
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A dull old blaze and a bright new blaze can be seen on the Red Trail, a short distance south of Mountain Road, July 30, 2024. |
While cutting down and girdling the invasive tree of heaven tree on the northern side of Mountain Road on July 22, I saw about 15 to 20 spotted lanternflies in the nymph stage: some were the early stage, which are black and white, while others were late stage, which are black, white, and red. I tried to crush them, but they hopped away too quickly.
When I returned on July 30 for more work on the tree of heaven with another volunteer, we saw about half a dozen nymphs, and one adult. She may have crushed a couple of them. There are a few smaller trees of heaven to cut down, but we targeted most of them.
I girdled five more trees along the first stretch of Baldwin Drive where I also spotted one adult lanternfly on Aug. 13.
I saw two spotted lanternflies on the Teal Trail near the apartment buildings. The two adults jumped off a resprouting tree of heaven that I was cutting.
I saw about 20 on a tree of heaven that I cut down on Sept. 19 near Judges Cave.
This is the first I have spotted the spotted lanternfly at West Rock. I had previously seen the adults at Sherwood Island State Park in 2023. I also started seeing them in Milford this month, noticing a handful at the Housatonic River boat launch along I-95.
The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station (CAES) has information on its website, plus a form for reporting the sightings. I submitted a report on what I saw using the form.
Website: https://portal.ct.gov/caes/caps/caps/spotted-lanternfly---slf
If park users see the spotted lanternfly, please try to crush them, and hopefully have better results than I had.
Tree of Heaven details: https://ipm.cahnr.uconn.edu/invasive-species/invasive_plants_tree-of-heaven/
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A spotted lanternfly nymph crawls on a tree of heaven near Mountain Road, July 30, 2024. |
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Cut tree of heaven are piled near Mountain Road, July 30, 2024. |
Lake Wintergreen Parking Options
If the parking lot at Lake Wintergreen is full, these are some nearby options:
The closest option is to park on Valerie Court, located only 0.1 miles away toward Wintergreen Avenue. Walk carefully along the shoulder of Main Street back to the Lake Wintergreen parking lot.
The state has an overflow parking lot located on Wintergreen Avenue, a right turn when coming from the Lake Wintergreen lot. From this lot, follow the wide path down to the Red Trail by the lake. This lot is supposed to be open weekends, but the state has almost no staff for the park, so it has been closed the times I have driven by it.
A third option during non-school hours is to park at Wintergreen Interdistrict Magnet School at 670 Wintergreen Avenue, Hamden, near the turn for Main Street, which is a 0.25-mile walk. From the school, walk through the overflow parking lot and follow the path down to the Red Trail along Lake Wintergreen.
These are better options to park for cars along the narrow shoulder of Main Street because there is no risk of being clipped by a passing vehicle trying to squeeze past. For the people exiting the cars, they are not standing in the brush on the passenger side, or in the travel lane on the driver’s side.
For those planning on hiking to the South Overlook or Judges Cave, there is plenty of parking behind the New Haven Montessori School, 495 Blake St., New Haven, at the south end of the park by the footbridge.
People who park at the main entrance may wonder why the parking lot there is always blocked by a chain. That parking lot is owned and operated by the City of New Haven for the West Rock Nature Center. The city keeps the lot closed because when it is open, miscreants will dump items there, rather than bring them to the transfer station. The city had blocked access to most of the other parking lot with jersey barriers for the same reason, but in August 2021, pushed back those barriers to allow more parking, and then in October 2024, moved the barrier back toward the road, so there is little to no parking there.
- West Rock User Guide
- West Rock News Updates
- Safety and Comfort at West Rock
- West Rock Driving Directions and Parking Information
- Getting to West Rock by Bus and Foot
- West Rock Gets Press
- Web Links for Maps, Trails, General Info and Outdoors Clubs
- Trails Overview and Trail Map Updates
- Regicides Trail
- Westville Feeder, Sanford Feeder, and the Quinnipiac Trail
- Red, White, and Red-White Trails
- Paradise Avenue Red Trail
- Colorful East-West Trails: Green, Blue-White, Gold, Purple, and Yellow
- North Summit, Old Oak, Teal, and Solar Youth Trails
- West River Greenway
- West Rock Vistas
- Suggested Hikes and Walks at West Rock
- Bicycling, Cross Country Skiing, and Horseback Riding
- Fishing and Boating at West Rock
- Rock Climbing at West Rock
- West Rock Options for Sleeping Giant Fans
- Animals at West Rock
- Interesting and Unusual Plant Species at West Rock
- Wildflowers at West Rock
- West Rock Natural Features: Geology, Geography, and Judges Cave
- On the Trail of the Regicides
- Looking Back Through a Window in Time: West Rock History
- West Rock Tunnel (Heroes Tunnel)
- West Rock Tunnel (Heroes Tunnel): Safety Improvements
- Margaret Fisher Memorial Fireplace
- Historic Airway Beacon on West Rock
- West Rock Historic Postcards
- Elements of Trail Maintenance
- Finding Fitness and Peace of Mind in Trail Work
- West Rock Wish List
- West Rock Wish List Completed
- West Rock Junkyard Cleanups
- Invasive Species: Natural World Bullies
- Reclaiming the Native Forest from Invasive Plants
- Invasive Animals Attack Trees
- Storm Damage at West Rock
- Characteristics of a Good Hiking Area
- Naugatuck State Forest, West Block and East Block
- Hikes Beyond West Rock: Fairfield County
- Hikes Beyond West Rock: Hartford County
- Hikes Beyond West Rock: Litchfield County
- Hikes Beyond West Rock: Middlesex County
- Hikes Beyond West Rock: New Haven County
- Hikes Beyond West Rock: New London County
- Hikes Beyond West Rock: Tolland County
- Hikes Beyond West Rock: Mattabesett Trail
- Hikes Beyond West Rock: Madison Trails
- Hikes Beyond West Rock: Pequonnock River Valley
- Hikes Beyond West Rock: Redding Trails
- Hikes Beyond West Rock: RWA Properties
- Hikes to Waterfalls Near West Rock
- Web Links for Hiking, Bicycling, and Traveling
- Rail Trails in Connecticut, Rhode Island and Eastern New York
The trail descriptions are spread across so many pages to make the information easier to access.
* West Rock is 1,904 acres of state owned land, but there are also parcels that are next to the state owned parcels owned by Hamden, New Haven, and the Hamden Historical Society. If these parcels are included, the park is 1,987 acres.
