Hubbard Park and hiking Castle Craig Tower in Meriden CT

November 6, 9:39 AMHartford Hiking ExaminerJeff Burke

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Castle Craig Tower from the first step.
photo by Jeff Burke

An Oasis divided by a Highway, at the edge of Meriden. The area north of the highway provides for great hiking adventures with incredible views from either of the twin peaks. The area directly south of the highway is an enchanting park with stone bridges and buildings. The park fountains and waterfalls make for perfect pictures.  If you do decide to climb the white trail directly in front of this castle; you can expect an exciting and heart quickening hike. It's not dangerous nor difficult to a seasoned hiker, however this is not for day hikers. Definitely not for family hiking with little kids or Great Grandma! For the less adventurous try the back portion, it is gradual and even the weakest can enjoy the view of the Castle Tower from the expansive Merimere Reservoir. The paved road makes for a nice stroll, as you will see by the number of people this is an obviously popular walking area. Should you reach the tower and return via the road; you would have walked 3+ up and 3+ miles back.  Your reward is the view from the 50 foot wide lookout and 32 foot tall stone tower. You can see the reservoir 900 feet below you and over 1 mile away. Its awesome to see how far you have walked in one visit. Still walking beneath the cliff on a rocky trail, up is to hard for most hikers. So enjoy a walk to the end of the reservoir as it is a little over a mile. You can watch as the wind whips up the white caps on the reservoir. The cliffs that surround you on both sides of the reservoir look dangerous but inviting for extreme hikers. Please check out the map before going here and use the close-up features to examine the area via satellite. There are no trail maps available here!

Castle Craig Tower photo by Jeff Burke

Castle Craig Tower on the Hanging Hills of Meriden was so windy that it probable would have set some records this last Halloween afternoon.  This mountain is 970+ feet high and hiking here either way is a real work-out, so expect that lactate burn in your legs after you reach the summit. The road is closed from November to April so you will have little choice but to hike the face of the mountain or walk the long way up the back road of the park along the Merimere Reservoir. Once you reach the tower you will find why on a windy day few people stay on Castle Craig Tower longer than a few minutes. The wind along the edge is an intense updraft; of hurricane wind proportions easily sweeping a small person away from the edge. If you don't sense some danger here get your head checked.

The sweeping views cover most of the southern valley below, the reservoir, the city of Meriden and the Highway at the edge. Distant mountains will be revealed to you, so bring your camera and get some incredible pictures from any safe point along the wall below the tower. If you have a zoom lens take some great pictures of Sleepy Giant Mountain to the south and the distant city of Hartford to the North from the tower. There appears to be a few other trails up here (a blue trail across the cliffs) and a fire road along the valley floor between the east and west peaks, seems to connect to the West Peak Road but we will leave you extreme hikers a chance to explore it!

Waterfall at Hubbard Park photo by Jeff Burke

 Bring your family to the  oasis next to the city an enchanting storybook place with it's fountains and buildings made of stone. The Merimere Reservoir feeds the Mirror Lake and ponds and  the two park waterfalls one at the entrance and one at the exit! Stone bridges, ponds and a huge reservoir what more could you want. 

How about a huge kids park with plenty of swing sets, in a huge playground with equipment for the youngest of children. Use the outdoor amphitheater with its covered stage area for perfect group photos and family events.  As I mentioned before no matter what your expectations when you get here, this place should exceed them.

Chevy on the Tower with his back against the wall! photo by Jeff Burke

Chevy was very eager to climb this and was the first up the trail, the first up the cliff and the first to the top of the tower. He is really smart and realized quite quickly that he needed to lean against the wall to avoid being pushed about by the wind. If Chevy could speak he would probable rate this his best hike of the year so far and rate it a 4 woofs out of 4 woofs.

This is a three part series as there are so many pictures and views to enjoy.  For more photos of this adventure check the last two article (Links Below) that Jeff wrote for the Examiner this week.  

Our Hike to Castle Craig Tower! was more of an extreme adventure than were use too, but absolutely would do it again.  

Getting down by Hiking off Castle Craig Tower! was not very exciting but was rewarding as we walked the last mile or so along the Merimere Reservoir.
 

Please write a comment or contact Jeff at JBurke3333@aol.com  if you would like share your park or hike!