East Rock Park — Attraction in Hamden

This is a bit of a gem in the middle of a very developed area that can be rewarding for novice to experienced hikers alike.

I used the roads on the southern end of the park to ascend to the top of the Indian Head peak. It was a lightly wet day with the surfaces covered in leaves and I felt confident and enjoyed the trip even carrying a bit of a kit with me. My view at the top was fairly misty and the late autumn setting added a nice touch to the experience.

I would recommend at least an hour visit here just to have a decent taste of it. You will need several hours to walk the whole park and appreciate multiple views from the peaks. I did have a walk along part of the river flowing through it which is worth it by itself, but seeing New Haven city skyline from some height is what makes this location worthwhile.

I'm holding back on 5 stars for 2 minor reasons. It's not a real escape from the city hustle and bustle as it's all very audible from everywhere in the park. And, I would have to advise using safety measures if you're going it alone here - it is possible to get hurt (slipping/ falling/ wildlife encounter) without anyone...

Some of the most poorly marked trails I have seen in a very long time. The markers are so far & few between and so many people have gone off the trail that you're constantly wandering aimlessly until you hit a dead end and up having to turn around and head back the way you came. We gave up on hiking thru the woods because the yellow trail literally took us in a small circle and brought us right back to where we began. We were forced to walk up the road to the summit (if I wanted to walk on the street, I would have stayed in my neighborhood, at least then we would have sidewalks). The road is very narrow, quite a few sharp corners and turns, the posted speed limit is 15 mph and as I'm walking with my 7 & 3 year old, cars are tearing down the road going 40mph. I kept yelling "Slow down!". The view from the top is very pretty, they have the coin slot binoculars that allow a clear view of the harbor. Quite a few picnic tables, wide open space for running around, kite...

Park crowd is somewhat unsafe. We see signs everywhere that warn us about drug use. We also see signs everywhere about locking your car door.

The vegetation is not natural, it's full of invasive unmaintained species. The trails and car lane are filled of garbage. The summit viewing area is corrupted by graffiti and garbage everywhere. There is no maintenance and it really shows.

I would say that probably in the Fall the view can be beautiful with the change in color (if you can just eliminate the park from the view). Rally cars really drive the summit uphill fast like it's their own private road (15 mph is the law but these drivers drive up the hill at 40 mph) so we can imagine joggers and children should get hit here at some point in time. There were no police when we were there for public safety.

We would not recommend this place and it...