Bradley Mountain

Bradley Mountain, 700ft, is a traprock mountain located 3mi west of New Britain, Connecticut, United States, in the towns of Southington and Plainville. It is part of the narrow, linear Metacomet Ridge that extends from Long Island Sound near New Haven, Connecticut, north through the Connecticut River Valley of Massachusetts to the Vermont border. Bradley Mountain, popular as an outdoor recreation destination in the metropolitan Hartford/ New Britain area, is known for its clifftop scenic vistas overlooking Plainville Reservoir, unique microclimate ecosystems, and rare plant communities. Bradley Mountain is traversed by the 62.7mi Metacomet Trail.GeographyRoughly in diameter, Bradley Mountain rises steeply 450ft above the Quinnipiac River valley to the west. The mountain consists of an upper ridgeline with several summits and a lower 375ft high bluff-line. The Metacomet Ridge continues north from Bradley Mountain as the ridgeline of Pinnacle Rock and south as Ragged Mountain. Plainville Reservoir (also called Crescent Lake) occupies a bowl-shaped valley on the western side of the mountain, and Shuttle Meadow Reservoir stands between Bradley Mountain and Ragged Mountain to the south. The lower bluff-line is occupied by suburban development. A 0.5mi diameter traprock quarry, owned by Tilcon, has obliterated the northeast side of Bradley Mountain below the summit.