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West Rock Ridge LbNA #52734

Owner:Adoptable
Plant date:Mar 28, 2010
Location:
City:Hamden
County:New Haven
State:Connecticut
Boxes:1
Planted by:Era Lunaris
Found by: Bungalow Boxer
Last found:Aug 12, 2015
Status:FFFFFFFF
Last edited:Mar 28, 2010
Approximate distance: 2 miles, round trip; about 1 hour. Mostly (old) paved road. No inkpad, so be sure to bring your own ink.

We used to go for many walks up the closed-road section of the West Rock Ridge State Park to enjoy the view up top. This letterbox was created in fond remembrance of our time as Hamden residents. The stamp is fashioned after the concrete marker that shows the orientation of towns Woodbridge, Hamden, and New Haven.

Directions:
Off the Wilbur Cross Parkway (Route 15): Take Exit 60. Turn right off the exit ramp onto Dixwell Avenue/Route 10 South. Take a right at the next light onto Benham Street. Follow Benham Street to the end. Turn left onto Main Street. Continue down eventually to a sharp left, with the parking lot for the Lake Wintergreen area on the right. Continue on, taking the sharp left and following Main Street to the end. Turn right onto Wintergreen Avenue. Continue just past the route 15 overpass, and turn left into the parking lot for West Rock Nature Center.

Note: The North section of West Rock Ridge State Park where the letterbox is located is closed to vehicle traffic, but it is accessible year round on foot or by bike.

Clue:
After parking at the Nature Center lot, cross Wintergreen Ave. and take the short asphalt walkway into the old parking lot at the front of West Rock Ridge State Park. Walk through the lot and look for a tree on the right that has an old, faded-bluish (blank) sign on it about 8 feet up. To the right of this tree is a trail which takes you up to the closed road. Once you reach the road, turn right and start walking up (north).

Note: This road has a number of switchbacks up to the ridge, and you'll be walking on the road the whole way up. There are shortcuts that provide a more direct, if more vertical, route up to the top. Feel free to take them if you know the way.

Walk all the way up to the last switchback, which has a median with a stone-paved pit in the middle of it. Stay on the right side of this median, and look straight ahead to the ridge overlook. On the other side of the railing is an aging concrete marker with letters carved into the top. Stand at the marker, facing the direction of "W." Take 9 steps forward. A tiny, unmarked trail should open up on your right. Take it for 13 steps (these will be going parallel to the park road, which will be on your right). Then turn west and take 16 steps towards the cliff edge. Be careful not to go too far! Stop and look at the neighborhood below--you should be lined up with a road, and the tennis bubble should be at about 1 o'clock. Look down. At your right foot should be an outcropping of rock. Look on the west side of this rock for a nook, and look under the pile of rocks in the nook. Tip: If you turn away from the cliff and face the park road, there should be a 16-ft cedar directly between the rock and the road.