East Rock Park is a park in the city of

New Haven New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,023 ...

and the town of Hamden,

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...

that is operated as a New Haven city park. The park surrounds and includes the mountainous ridge named

East Rock East Rock of south-central Connecticut, United States, with a high point of , is a long trap rock ridge located primarily in the neighborhood of East Rock on the north side of the city of New Haven. A prominent landscape feature and a popular ...

and was developed with naturalistic landscaping. The entire park is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

Description

East Rock is a popular outdoor recreation destination among residents and visitors of the greater New Haven region. Views from the clifftops span metropolitan New Haven, Long Island Sound, and Long Island. The park is open year-round to hikers and walkers. The automobile road is open April 15 to November 1, 8 a.m. to sunset and November 1 to March 31, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and holidays, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., weather permitting. Activities permitted in the park include

hiking Hiking is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century.AMATO, JOSEPH A. "Mind over Foot: Romantic Walking and Rambling." In ''On Foot: A Histor ...

, snowshoeing, cross-country skiing,

picnicking A picnic is a meal taken outdoors ( ''al fresco'') as part of an excursion, especially in scenic surroundings, such as a park, lakeside, or other place affording an interesting view, or else in conjunction with a public event such as preceding ...

bicycling Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of cycles for transport, recreation, exercise or sport. People engaged in cycling are referred to as "cyclists", "bicyclists", or "bikers". Apart from two ...

(on roads and city-designated mountain bike trails only), boating (on the Mill River),

bird watching Birdwatching, or birding, is the observing of birds, either as a recreational activity or as a form of citizen science. A birdwatcher may observe by using their naked eye, by using a visual enhancement device like binoculars or a telescope, by ...

, and

dog walking Dog walking is the act of a person walking with a dog, typically from the dog's residence and then returning. Leashes are commonly used for this. Both owners and pets receive many benefits, including exercise and companionship. Description ...

. Rock climbing,

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...

, and alcoholic beverages are prohibited. A number of hiking trails traverse the ridge, most notably the Giant Steps Trail which ascends to the summit at a near-vertical pitch from the south. At the foot of the mountain are located football, baseball, and soccer fields, tennis courts, basketball courts, and playgrounds. The Trowbridge Environmental Center is open Thursdays and Fridays from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm, and at least one Saturday a month for public programs; it offers displays and information about the geology and ecosystem of East Rock. The Pardee Rose Garden and Greenhouse features roses and other flowering plants from spring to fall, and is a popular place to shoot wedding pictures. The park's layout is the work of Donald Grant Mitchell and the

Olmsted Brothers The Olmsted Brothers company was a landscape architectural firm in the United States, established in 1898 by brothers John Charles Olmsted (1852–1920) and Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. (1870–1957), sons of the landscape architect Frederick Law O ...

. The covered bridge is named after A. Frederick Oberlin, a local hero of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. The Friends of East Rock Park organization, founded in 1982, is a community and environmental advocacy group that assists with park maintenance by hosting social events and volunteer work days.Friends of East Rock Park
/ref>

National Register of Historic Places

The National Register of Historic Places listing for East Rock Park recognizes six contributing buildings, one other contributing structure, six

contributing objects In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic distri ...

and one

contributing site In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic distric ...

The park's historic, contributing elements include: *English Gate, c. 1890, at View Street, with

trap rock Trap rock, also known as either trapp or trap, is any dark-colored, fine-grained, non-granitic intrusive or extrusive igneous rock. Types of trap rock include basalt, peridotite, diabase, and gabbro.Neuendorf, K.K.E., J.P. Mehl, Jr., and J.A. ...

*Pardee Rose Garden, 1922, on State Street *Bishop Gate, c. 1890, on State Street, with trap rock *Director's Residence, c. 1900 *Sheep Barn, c. 1900, a large

Colonial Colonial or The Colonial may refer to: * Colonial, of, relating to, or characteristic of a colony or colony (biology) Architecture * American colonial architecture * French Colonial * Spanish Colonial architecture Automobiles * Colonial (1920 au ...

/ Shingle-style building *Queen Anne Barn, c. 1900 *Greenhouses, 1920s * Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument, from 1887, a 122-foot monument at the summit *Whitney Gate, c. 1890 on Whitney Avenue, with brownstone *Walls, c. 1900 *East Rock Road Bridge, a steel arch span bridge from the 1940s There are also a contributing storage shed and a number of non-contributing buildings. and Image:Pardee Rose Garden.jpg, Pardee Rose Garden Image:East rock 065.JPG, Greenhouses and Learning center at Pardee Rose Gardens Image:New Haven East Rock.JPG, Annual cycling race Image:Stairs to the top of aEast rock.JPG, The stairs to the top of East Rock Image:Hiking Road.JPG, The paved hiking road to the top of East Rock Image:East Rock Park new haven082.JPG, View the city and harbor Image:East rock 089.JPG, The historic walls on the roadway to the Summit Image:Whitney gate.jpg, Whitney Gate Image:Rice Field East rock.JPG, Frisbee players at Rice Field. The Frisbee was invented in New Haven Image:2009EastRockCanoeMillRiver.jpg, Canoeing down the Mill River

References

External links

East Rock Park - City of New HavenGeocaching in East Rock and the surrounding area
{{Authority control Parks in New Haven, Connecticut Hamden, Connecticut National Register of Historic Places in New Haven, Connecticut Historic districts in New Haven County, Connecticut Queen Anne architecture in Connecticut Shingle Style architecture in Connecticut Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Connecticut Parks on the National Register of Historic Places in Connecticut

Description

National Register of Historic Places

See also

References

External links