Castle Craig in Meriden's Hubbard Park

Castle Craig in Meriden's Hubbard Park

If you're looking for something to do on a warm Summer day, look no further than a visit to Castle Craig in Meriden's Hubbard Park. Located at the summit of East Peak in the Hanging Hills, it's not really a castle in the strict sense of the word, it's more of an observation tower, or watchtower, as Bob Dylan would say!

At an elevation of 1,002 feet, the views from the tower are fantastic: on a clear day you can see Long Island Sound to the south, the foothills of the Berkshires to the west, and the Hartford skyline to the north. Our visit was, as you can see from the slideshow, a rather hazy day, so our view didn't penetrate that far, but it was still awesome as it was! we had good views of Hubbard park's Mirror Lake below, as well as of Meriden and Wallingford to the south.

The site is accessible two ways: either by car via the 4+ mile long Reservoir Road or, for the more adventurous, by hiking up the trails (including a portion of the 51 mile long Metacomet Trail) that start down in Hubbard Park and meander up the side of East Peak. If you're if a hurry, I suggest you drive to the summit; it takes about 13 minutes driving slowly enough to take in the scenery that includes Merimere Reservoir and Mine Island. Hoofing it to the top, while certainly an invigorating activity, will most likely take you the better part of an hour. Once at the top there is ample parking and picnic tables if you planned ahead and brought your lunch with you!

Vehicular access to Castle Craig is open to the public from April to October, 10 AM to 4:45 PM daily; of course, if you'd rather walk or (gasp!) jog to the top, you can hit the trail 365 days a year during the normal operating hours of the park, which is pretty much from sunrise to sunset. Whenever you go, and however you get there, it's a trip you'll always remember!

Enjoy!