There are many recreational opportunities available at West Rock.
(This website was started on Saturday, Sept. 4, 2010. The most recent update took place Monday, April 21, 2025. Despite the domain name, this an informational website, not a blog.)
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 Februar, March and April by moving other items from the woods, but also taking away items for proper disposal or recycling. On March 8, volunteers carried away additional items and also moved most of the remaining pile down the road to the gate. The state and the town have been notified about the pile and hopefully will remove it.
See more photos and read all the details on this newly updated page.
https://westrocktrails.blogspot.com/p/west-rock-junk-cleanups-w-shepard-ave.html
The junk pile awaits removal from West Shepard Avenue after volunteers brought items down to the gate on March 8, 2025. |
The gate to the main entrance at 1134 Wintergreen Ave., New Haven, reopens on to cars on Saturday, May 24. Until then, people who are walking, running, or bicycling along the road can enjoy a car-free experience. When it reopens, it will be open daily to cars 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.
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 most 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 unglazed by obvious 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 Cleanup: Red Trail
- West Rock Junk Cleanups: W. Shepard Ave., Baldwin Dr.
- 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.