East Rock Park | |
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| Location | Roughly bounded by State, Davis, Livingston Sts., Park and Mitchell Drs., and Whitney Ave.,New Haven, Connecticut |
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| Coordinates | 41°19′48″N72°54′16″W / 41.33000°N 72.90444°W /41.33000; -72.90444 |
| Area | 427 acres (173 ha) |
| Architect | Mitchell, Donald Grant; Olmsted Brothers, et al. |
| Architectural style | Queen Anne, Shingle Style, Tudor Revival |
| NRHP reference No. | 97000299[1] |
| Added to NRHP | April 15, 1997 |
East Rock Park is a park in the city ofNew Haven and the town ofHamden, Connecticut, that is operated as a New Haven city park. The park surrounds and includes the mountainous ridge namedEast Rock and was developed with naturalistic landscaping. The entire 427-acre (173 ha) park is listed on theNational Register of Historic Places.
East Rock is a popular outdoor recreation destination among residents and visitors of the greater New Haven region. Views from the clifftops span metropolitan New Haven, Long Island Sound, andLong Island. The park is open year-round to hikers and walkers. The automobile road is open April 15 to November 1, 8 a.m. to sunset and November 1 to March 31, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and holidays, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., weather permitting. Activities permitted in the park includehiking,snowshoeing,cross-country skiing,picnicking,bicycling (on roads and city-designated mountain bike trails only),boating (on the Mill River),bird watching, anddog walking.Rock climbing,swimming, andalcoholic beverages are prohibited. A number of hiking trails traverse the ridge, most notably the Giant Steps Trail which ascends to the summit at a near-vertical pitch from the south. At the foot of the mountain are located football, baseball, and soccer fields, tennis courts, basketball courts, and playgrounds. The Trowbridge Environmental Center is open Thursdays and Fridays from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm, and at least one Saturday a month for public programs; it offers displays and information about the geology and ecosystem of East Rock. The Pardee Rose Garden and Greenhouse features roses and other flowering plants from spring to fall, and is a popular place to shoot wedding pictures.
The park's layout is the work ofDonald Grant Mitchell and theOlmsted Brothers.[2] The covered bridge is named after A. Frederick Oberlin, a local hero of theFirst World War.
The Friends of East Rock Park organization, founded in 1982, is a community and environmental advocacy group that assists with park maintenance by hosting social events and volunteer work days.[3]
The National Register of Historic Places listing for East Rock Park recognizes sixcontributing buildings, one othercontributing structure, sixcontributing objects and onecontributing site The park's historic, contributing elements include:
There are also a contributing storage shed and a number of non-contributing buildings.[2]
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