Totoket Mountain

Totoket Mountain
View from Totoket Mountain facing west towards the Farm River Valley from the Regional Water Authority's Green (Vista) Trail in the Big Gulph Recreation Area.
Highest point
Elevation	est. 720 feet (220 m) ridge high point
Coordinates	41°24′50″N 72°42′10″W / 41.41389°N 72.70278°W / 41.41389; -72.70278 Bluff Head (high point)
Geography
Location	Durham, North Branford, and Guilford, Connecticut
Parent range	Metacomet Ridge
Geology
Age of rock	200 million years
Mountain type	Fault-block; igneous
Climbing
Easiest route	Mattabesett Trail

Totoket Mountain, with a high point of (est.) 720 feet (220 m) above sea level, is a traprock massif with several distinct summits, located 7 miles (11 km) northeast of New Haven, Connecticut. It is part of the Metacomet Ridge that extends from the Long Island Sound near New Haven, north through the Connecticut River Valley of Massachusetts to the Vermont border. Totoket Mountain is known for its 500-foot-high (150 m) scenic cliffs, unique microclimate ecosystems, rare plant communities, and for Lake Gaillard, a 2.5-mile-wide (4.0 km) public reservoir nearly enclosed by the mountain. The north ridge of Totoket Mountain is traversed by the 50-mile (80 km) Mattabesett Trail and a significant network of shorter trails. The name "Totoket Mountain" applies to both the entire mountain and to a subordinate northwestern peak (577 ft or 176 m).

Totoket Mountain rises steeply between 200 ft (61 m) and 650 ft (198 m) above the surrounding landscape, with a high point of (est.) 720 ft (219 m) above sea level. It is roughly 11.5 miles (18.5 km) long by 4.25 miles (10 km) wide at its widest point and lies within the towns of Durham, North Branford, and Guilford, Connecticut. Major peaks on the mountain include Sea Hill 410 feet (120 m); East and West Sugarloaf Hill, 512 and 476 feet (156 and 145 m); Totoket Mountain (a subordinate peak), 577 feet (176 m); and Bluff Head, est. 720 feet (220 m), the high point. The southern half of the mountain splits into two arms which completely encircle the Lake Gaillard Reservoir. Beside Lake Gaillard, the mountain shelters several other small bodies of water, including Menuckatuck Reservoir, West Lake, Clear Lake, Bartlett Pond, Lane Pond, and the scenic Myerhuber Pond (protected as part of the Northwoods conservation area), just below the high cliffs of Bluff Head.

The Metacomet Ridge continues north from Totoket Mountain as Pistapaug Mountain and south as Saltonstall Mountain. An outlying peak, Peter's Rock, lies to the west of Totoket Mountain. The west side of Totoket Mountain drains into the Farm River, thence to the East Haven River and Long Island Sound; the south side into the Branford River and Long Island Sound, the east side into West River and Long Island Sound, and the north side into Parmalee Brook, then to the Coginchaug River, thence to the Connecticut River and Long Island Sound.