Regicides Trail is a '' Blue-Blazed''

hiking A hike is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century. Long hikes as part of a religious pilgrimage have existed for a much longer time. "Hi ...

trail A trail, also known as a path or track, is an unpaved lane or a small paved road (though it can also be a route along a navigable waterways) generally not intended for usage by motorized vehicles, usually passing through a natural area. Ho ...

, about 7 miles (11 km) long, roughly following the edge of a

diabase Diabase (), also called dolerite () or microgabbro, is a mafic, holocrystalline, subvolcanic rock equivalent to volcanic basalt or plutonic gabbro. Diabase dikes and sills are typically shallow intrusive bodies and often exhibit fine-gra ...

, or traprock,

cliff In geography and geology, a cliff or rock face is an area of Rock (geology), rock which has a general angle defined by the vertical, or nearly vertical. Cliffs are formed by the processes of weathering and erosion, with the effect of gravity. ...

northwest of

New Haven New Haven is a city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound. With a population of 135,081 as determined by the 2020 U.S. census, New Haven is the third largest city in Co ...

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

. It is named for two

regicides Regicide is the purposeful killing of a monarch or sovereign of a polity and is often associated with the usurpation of power. A regicide can also be the person responsible for the killing. The word comes from the Latin roots of ''regis'' ...

Edward Whalley Edward Whalley (c. 1607 – c. 1675) 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 u ...

and his son-in-law William Goffe, who signed the death warrant of King

Charles I of England Charles I (19 November 1600 – 30 January 1649) was King of Kingdom of England, England, Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland, and Kingdom of Ireland, Ireland from 27 March 1625 until Execution of Charles I, his execution in 1649. Charles was born ...

. Upon the restoration of Charles II to the throne and the persecution of the regicides, the pair hid in Judges Cave near the south end of the trail in 1660. The Regicides is widely known to be one of the most technical trails within the CT Blue-Blazed trail system.

Description

The trail is a narrow footpath marked with blue blazes, sometimes rocky with difficult footing. It is roughly paralleled by Baldwin Drive, a paved road currently closed to motor vehicles, except for maintenance vehicles, named for New Haven native Simeon E. Baldwin,

governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

of Connecticut from 1911 to 1915. The trail is within the

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

s of New Haven, Hamden, Woodbridge, and

Bethany Bethany (,Murphy-O'Connor, 2008, p152/ref> Syriac language, Syriac: ܒܝܬ ܥܢܝܐ ''Bēṯ ʿAnyā''), locally called in Palestinian Arabic, Arabic Al-Eizariya or al-Aizariya (, "Arabic nouns and adjectives#Nisba,

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of Lazarus (name), L ...

, and entirely within West Rock Ridge State Park, but is maintained by a private organization, the Connecticut Forest and Park Association, in conjunction with the West Rock Ridge Park Association. At its southern end, the Regicides Trail terminates at the stone wall near a pavilion at the park's South Overlook, which has a panoramic view of South Central, Conn., including Sleeping Giant State Park, East Rock Park, New Haven Harbor, and the

Long Island Sound Long Island Sound is a sound (geography), marine sound and tidal estuary of the Atlantic Ocean. It lies predominantly between the U.S. state of Connecticut to the north and Long Island in New York (state), New York to the south. From west to east, ...

. At its northern end, the Regicides Trail connects with the Quinnipiac Trail. Both trails are part of the state's system of " Blue-Blazed Trails" totaling more than . There are two connecting Blue-Blazed Trails to the Regicides Trail. The Westville Feeder, which starts at a footbridge over the West River off Blake Street in the Westville section of

and extends for 0.7 miles, terminating with a junction at the Regicides Trail, just south of Judges Cave. The trail is blazed Blue-Yellow. The Sanford Feeder follows an abandoned town road, running from Brooks Road in Bethany to its junction with the Regicides Trail near Baldwin Drive. The Sanford Feeder is 0.6 miles and is blazed Blue-Red. The Regicides Trail also connects to a series of other trails within the park that are not part of the Blue-Blazed system. These trails include the Red Trail that creates a trail loop within the park; the Green Trail, connecting down to the park's main entrance on Wintergreen Avenue; the Orange Trail, connecting to the south end of Lake Wintergreen; the Blue-White Trail, connecting to the northern end of Lake Wintergreen; the Purple Trail, connecting to Main Street in Hamden, and the Yellow Trail, connecting to Mountain Road in Hamden. The Regicides Trail has a connection to the Woodbridge trail system via the blue-yellow-blazed North Summit Trail, which intersects the Regicides, just west of Baldwin Drive near a U-shaped overlook. The North Summit Trail extends for 0.8 miles and intersects with the Bishop Estate and Darling House Trails, off Connecticut Route 69 in Woodbridge.

References

External links

Specific to this trail:
Official West Rock Ridge State Park website

West Rock Ridge State Park map

West Rock Ridge Park Association

West Rock Nature Center

Bishop Estate & Darling House Trails

West Rock Ridge trails information

CT Museum Quest Article on the Regicides Trail
State and municipal government websites:

* ttps://www.newhavenct.gov/home City of New Haven, Connecticut
Town of Bethany

Town of Bethany Conservation Commission

Town of Hamden
Land trust / conservation/preservation organizations:
West Rock Ridge Park Association

Bethany Land Trust

Woodbridge Land Trust

Connecticut Forest and Park Association

Regional Water Company website
{{Protected areas of Connecticut Blue-Blazed Trails Metacomet Ridge Mountains of Connecticut Protected areas of New Haven County, Connecticut Geography of New Haven, Connecticut Hamden, Connecticut Landforms of New Haven County, Connecticut Tourist attractions in New Haven, Connecticut

Description

See also

References

Further reading

External links