Bigger Hikes

9 adventures tagged Bigger Hikes.

The solo tally

Where we've been

9 bigger hikes done and pinned. Tap one to read the trip.

Farmington, CT

Rattlesnake Mountain

The quiet pick. A short, steep traprock climb on the blue-blazed Metacomet Trail to clifftop views west over the Pequabuck valley toward the Berkshires. Farmington. Next on the list.

🚗 About 50 min🥾 Moderate to challenging. A steep climb for the first mile gets the elevation out of the way, then it's a rocky ridge walk out to the cliff views.

Bigger Hikes

Berlin, CT

Ragged Mountain

Real cliff-top views over Wassel Reservoir, with views along the way, plus the rock scrambles I'd been after. Do it as an out-and-back to the clifftop for the views, because the loop's back half is all woods with the trail markings missing.

🚗 About 35 min🥾 Challenging. Rocky traprock with real rock scrambles and cliff edges climbing to the clifftop at 2.3 miles. The full loop adds a rough, poorly-marked woods section on the back half.★★★☆☆

Bigger Hikes

Bethany, CT

Beacon Cap

A quiet, all-woods loop to a striking glacial boulder in the Naugatuck State Forest. Good exercise and total solitude, but no views the whole way except the one you climb the rock for. Honestly, not my favorite.

🚗 About 20-25 min🥾 Moderate, more than I expected. Rolling woods on the blue-blazed Naugatuck Trail with real little ups and downs, plus a short, steep, rocky scramble up onto the boulder. Not an easy stroll, it's a genuine workout.★★★☆☆

Bigger Hikes

Hamden, CT

West Rock Ridge

My favorite hike, just ahead of Mount Higby, and it's the closest real ridge to home. A busy family pond at the bottom with fishing and a bathroom, then you climb and the ridge is all yours, quiet enough to hear the chickadees. About 20 minutes away.

🚗 About 20 min (the closest real ridge hike)🥾 Moderate, and it earns it. A real climb up from the pond to the ridge, a good workout, then rocky, rolling ridge-top footing with cliff edges. The flat loop down by the water is easy on its own if that's all you want.★★★★☆

Bigger Hikes

Bethany, CT

Mount Sanford

Easy and super quiet, all woods with rolling ups and downs until one climb opens up a big overlook across the central valley. More Bluff Head than Higby, but the calm and the view are the draw.

🚗 About 30 min🥾 Easy. A rolling woods trail with ups and downs, then a climb up to the overlook.

Bigger Hikes

Guilford, CT

Bluff Head

The quiet southern end of the same blue-blazed ridge as Mount Higby. No views on the wooded climb, then two great viewpoints over the pond at the top. Easy, empty, and worth it.

🚗 About 35 min (I hit an hour once thanks to construction, so check the roads)🥾 Easy. A short, gentle climb that barely registered. The easiest of my ridge hikes so far.

Bigger Hikes

Meriden, CT

Chauncey Peak

The next traprock ridge over from Mount Higby, and it delivered. An easy hike with a climb you barely notice, ending at open cliffs over Bradley Hubbard Reservoir, a golf course, and a row of peaks. Higby's awesome little cousin.

🚗 About 35 min🥾 Easy. The climb is so gradual you barely notice it. The one real caution is the steep, unrailed cliff edge at the top.

Bigger Hikes

Middlefield / Meriden, CT

Mount Higby

A rocky traprock ridge over Meriden with peekaboo views the whole way up and open ledges to sit on and catch the wind. I hiked it solo to scout it. Easier climb than I expected, and a keeper.

🚗 About 35 min🥾 Moderate, mostly for the distance. The climb is a steady, easygoing uphill to the cliffs and ledges, not a gnarly scramble.

Waterfalls

Cheshire, CT

Roaring Brook Falls

The tallest single-drop waterfall in Connecticut, sitting at the top of a steep, barely-marked climb in Cheshire. I hiked it solo to scout it first. Big payoff, but this one's for older kids, not the stroller crew.

🚗 About 35 min🥾 Moderate to strenuous. Steep, and with almost no trail markings.