Sleeping Giant (Connecticut)

Sleeping Giant of south-central Connecticut, with a high point of, is a rugged traprock mountain located 8mi north of New Haven. It is part of the narrow, linear Metacomet Ridge that extends from Long Island Sound near New Haven, north through the Connecticut River Valley of Massachusetts to the Vermont border. A prominent landscape feature visible for miles, the Sleeping Giant receives its name from its anthropomorphic resemblance to a slumbering human figure as seen from either the north or south. The Giant is known for its expansive clifftop vistas, rugged topography, and microclimate ecosystems. Most of the Giant is located within Sleeping Giant State Park. The mountain is a popular recreation resource; over of hiking trails traverse it including 5mi of the 23mi Quinnipiac Trail. Quinnipiac University is located at Mount Carmel's foot in Hamden.GeographyThe Sleeping Giant, long by wide, is located in Hamden with its eastern edge falling into Wallingford. The Giant's profile features distinct "head", "chin", "chest", "hip", "knee" and "feet" sections topographically represented by traprock outcrops and ridge crests. The highest point is the Left Hip, 739ft, followed by the Chest, 710ft, and the Left Knee and Right Leg, 700ft each, and so on. The Giant's Head, 670ft, is marked by a 400ft cliff. A stone observation tower located on the Left Hip, built by the Works Progress Administration in the 1930s, offers 360° views of the surrounding Mill and Quinnipiac River valleys. An old rock quarry, closed since 1933 and now part of the state park, has left scars on the Giant's Head.