Regicides Trail

Regicides Trail is a Blue-Blazed hiking trail, about 7 miles (11 km) long, roughly following the edge of a diabase, or traprock, cliff northwest of New Haven, Connecticut. It is named for two regicides, Edward Whalley and his son-in-law William Goffe, who signed the death warrant of King Charles I of England. 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.

Regicides Trail
West Rock
Length7.0 mi (11.3 km)[1]
LocationNew Haven County, Connecticut, United States
DesignationCFPA Blue-Blazed Trail
TrailheadsQuinnipiac Trail Junction in north, West Rock Ridge State Park South Overlook parking lot by pavilion in south
UseHiking, snowshoeing, geocaching
Elevation
Highest pointJunction with Quinnipiac Trail on York Mountain, 680 ft (210 m)
Lowest pointWilbur Cross Parkway Tunnel Roof, 380 ft (120 m)
Hiking details
Trail difficultyModerate to Hard
SightsNew Haven, Woodbridge, Lake Watrous, Lake Dawson, Lake Wintergreen, Konold's Pond, Long Island Sound, Judges Cave
HazardsDeer ticks, poison ivy, falling off cliff heights

Description
Lake Watrous in Woodbridge and Bethany, Connecticut is visible from an overlook on the Regicides Trail, about one mile south of its northern junction with the Quinnipiac Trail.

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 of Connecticut from 1911 to 1915. The trail is within the towns of New Haven, Hamden, Woodbridge, and Bethany, 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.[2] At its southern end, the Regicides Trail terminates behind 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. 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 800 miles (1,300 km).[3]

There are two connecting Blue-Blazed Trails to the Regicides Trail. The Westville Feeder, which starts off Blake Street in the Westville section of New Haven and extends for 0.6 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.[4]

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 Gold 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.[5] The Regicides Trail has a connection to the Woodbridge trail system via the red-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.[6]

See also

References
  1. Colson, Ann T. (2006). Connecticut Walk Book West (19th edition). Connecticut Forest and Park Association. ISBN 0-9619052-6-3.
  2. "West Rock Ridge Park Association website". West Rock Ridge Park Association. Retrieved 6 December 2011.
  3. "Connecticut Forest and Park Association website". Connecticut Forest and Park Association. Retrieved 6 December 2011.
  4. Coulson, Ann (2006). Connecticut Walk Book West. Rockfall, CT: Connecticut Forest and Parks Association. pp. 242–248. ISBN 0-9619052-6-3.
  5. "West Rock Ridge State Park" (PDF). Conn. Dept. of Energy and Environmental Protection. Retrieved 6 December 2011.
  6. "Bishop EstateDarling House Trails" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 October 2011. Retrieved 6 December 2011.

Further reading

Books – Connecticut hiking []

Books – Connecticut history and geography []

Specific to this trail:

State and municipal government websites:

Land trust / conservation/preservation organizations:

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