East Rock | |
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East Rock
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Highest point | |
Elevation | 366 ft (112 m) |
Coordinates | 41°19′38″N 72°54′17″W / 41.32722°N 72.90472°W |
Geography | |
Location | New Haven, Hamden |
Parent range | Metacomet Ridge |
Geology | |
Age of rock | 200 Ma |
Mountain type | Fault-block; igneous |
Climbing | |
Easiest route | Auto road |
East Rock of south-central Connecticut, United States, with a high point of 366 feet (112 m), is a 1.4-mile (2 km) long trap rock ridge located primarily in the neighborhood of East Rock on the north side of the city of New Haven. A prominent landscape feature and a popular outdoor recreation area with cliffs that rise 300 feet (91 m) over the city below, East Rock 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. East Rock is the central feature of East Rock Park, a municipal park owned by the city of New Haven along the New Haven-Hamden town line.
East Rock, located in New Haven and Hamden, Connecticut, is 1.4 miles (2.3 km) long by 0.5 miles (800 m) wide at its widest point, although steepness of the terrain make the actual land area much larger. Beside the high point, East Rock has three other distinct peaks: Whitney Peak, 300 feet (91 m), a sharp-sided pinnacle on the north side of the ridge; Indian Head, 310 feet (94 m), just south of the high point; and Snake Rock, 205 feet (62 m), the southern buttress of the ridge.
Whitney Peak and Lake Whitney (located at the western base of the mountain behind the dammed Mill River) are named after Eli Whitney, the inventor of the cotton gin and a former New Haven resident. The Eli Whitney Museum, a museum and workshop with hands-on projects and exhibits on Eli Whitney and A. C. Gilbert, is located at the base of the dam.