Watch our video and then read about our trip below
I have lived within a short drive to Sleeping Giant for years now, and I have to sadly admit I've never visited. Everyone I know was shocked to learn this and insisted I go hike the blue trail. I heard something about cliffs and climbing which was enough to sell me, so off we went last weekend!
The Blue trail is a part of the Quinnipiac Trail system, named after the college located across the street from Sleeping Giant Park, and stretches some 23 plus miles through several other parks. Luckily, the section of trail beloved by everyone is only a few miles on the "Head" of the Giant. This park is PACKED normally, but even more so with the current state of the world. That said, we could count on our fingers how many people we saw on this trail, no doubt due to the difficulty.
We parked in the main lot and found the well marked trail head sign. A leisurely stroll down to the river was followed by our first uphill section. This was a small 100 ft elevation gain that was enough to get us sweating on the 92 degree day. The top of this hill was a fairly impressive vista and probably the easiest to access in the park, but we saw very few people taking advantage of this. The real difficulty is coming back down. The trail leads directly down a sharp and narrow cliff that is not suitable for children or dogs. Sadly we had to send our dog Margo off to go play in the rest of the park while we got the main part of the hike underway.
Looking at the map, the climb up to the head of the "Giant" ascends very quickly to 670 feet. This slope is full of boulders and loose rock, but the real treat is the sections of sheer unbroken cliff face you get to scramble up. It's extremely steep in sections but not quite real bouldering. I can see why people really love this trail, the views while hiking certainly don't hurt! This is a strenuous climb and is rated "A" as the most difficult hike in the park for a reason. It is also VERY exposed to the sun, which we discovered : )
Once on top of the head there are views to the southeast of Quinnipiac college. Sit back and enjoy the many view points as you trudge through a few more little scrambles. It seems like whoever designed the trail made sure not to avoid a single exposed rock in the park! The descent is just as quick and rocky as the ascent, but you trade views for much welcome shade.
At this point, you can continue to take the blue trail up a sharp rise to the Tower or simply jump on the gentle gravel path. We opted to take the gravel path up to relax a little but took the blue path back down from where we came in order to save time. The gravel path, known as the tower trail, starts at the main lot and is HEAVILY trafficked by people of all fitness levels. At the top is the tower often featured on Instagram for it's spectacular views. Unfortunately, the tower is closed during the pandemic. You can watch the video to see us explore a bit, but we left after a few minutes and headed back by way of the Tower Trail to the Orange/"Green Nature" trail.
Some of the best views around, check.
Fun cliff side pseudo climbing, check.
Definitely an awesome trail!
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