Hike the Giant for Mental Health
September 6, 2025
Sleeping Giant State Park
Hamden, CT
The “Sleeping Giant” is a rugged traprock mountain located 8 miles north of New Haven; it is a prominent landscape feature visible for miles. The Park offers over 32 miles of hiking trails, including 5 miles of the 23-mile Quinnipiac Trail. Trails offer distant views from rocky crags, remote quiet woods and mountain brooks with mossy cascades.
This hike for mental health features three different hiking options, depending on your taste:
Tower Trail (Easy): This 3.1 mile out and back trail features great forest settings and is good for all skill levels. It’s kid friendly and dogs on leash are welcome. The trail ends at a 4-story stone observation tower with plenty of room for a picnic.
Option 2 (Moderate): Violet Trail to the Red Square (take a right), meeting up with either the Tower Trail or Blue, and ending at the Tower. This moderately difficult trail will take you through the old quarry works and around the back of the Giant. Watch for pileated woodpeckers as you traverse the right shoulder of the mountain on your way to the Tower and its views of Long Island Sound. You can return the same way or take the Tower Trail back.
Option 3 (Hard- weather dependent due to the technical nature of the hike): Blue Trail to Violet Loop. Plan for over 6 miles of rock mixed with woods. Starting up the Blue Trail, you’ll continue past the Tower, meeting up with Red Circle and returning on Violet. The Violet trail takes you back over the far side of the mountain, past the old quarry works and ending with a stroll along the Mill River.
These are just a few of the attractions in Sleeping Giant State Park in Hamden, Connecticut.
If you are traveling in for the hike and looking for a place to stay in Hamden, try the Clarion Hotel & Suites, 2260 Whitney Avenue, Hamden, CT. The telephone number is 203-288-3831.
Hamden also hosts a number of restaurants – everything from fine dining at Luce to hot dogs at Glenwood. Also, check out the microbreweries in town.
Meet new friends and enjoy the natural beauty of autumn, just minutes from New Haven.
Register for FREE at the link below!
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