Bradley Mountain

Bradley Mountain
View of Plainville Reservoir (AKA Crescent Lake) and Sunset Rock State Park from the Bradley Mountain summit.
Highest point
Elevation	679 ft (207 m)
Coordinates	41°39′27″N 72°50′15″W / 41.6576°N 72.8376°W / 41.6576; -72.8376Coordinates: 41°39′27″N 72°50′15″W / 41.6576°N 72.8376°W / 41.6576; -72.8376
Geography
Location	Southington and Plainville, Connecticut
Parent range	Metacomet Ridge
Geology
Age of rock	200 Ma
Mountain type	Fault-block; igneous
Climbing
Easiest route	Metacomet Trail

Bradley Mountain, 700 feet (210 m), is a traprock mountain located 3 miles (5 km) 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 62.7-mile (101 km) Metacomet Trail.

Roughly 1.5 miles (2.4 km) in diameter, Bradley Mountain rises steeply 450 feet (140 m) above the Quinnipiac River valley to the west. The mountain consists of an upper ridgeline with several summits and a lower 375 feet (114 m) 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 0.5 miles (0.8 km) diameter traprock quarry, owned by Tilcon, has obliterated the northeast side of Bradley Mountain below the summit.

The Quinnipiac River, not much more than a brook this far north, passes west through the gap between Bradley Mountain and Pinnacle Rock, forming the north and west and drainage of the mountain, before flowing into Long Island Sound. The east and south sides of the mountain drain into the Mattabesett River, then to the Connecticut River, thence to Long Island Sound.