Lamentation Mountain State Park
Berlin & Meriden
A wildfire in October 2024 burned up a lot of this place.
I’ve seen this small, unremarkable state park also referred to as a “state park scenic reserve.” Because Connecticut doesn’t like to make anything easy. Lamentation Mountain itself includes a long ridge with nice views… but that ridge and summit is actually west of the park itself. The Mattabesett Trail traverses the ridge and clips a corner of the state park. Exciting stuff.
View from high point on Mattabesett ridgeline in Guiffrida Park looking north at Lamentation Mountain (and State Park). (Wikipedia)
The land was given to the state by Ms. Marjorie Moore in 1935. She merely wanted a protected place for birds and the state didn’t see any development opportunity on the steep hillside so… there it is. A very steep rectangular state park off of the Berlin Turnpike that no one would ever bother exploring to any real degree. There is a primitive tentsite that I think is within the park boundary along the Mattabesett Trail. Note: there’s no water source there.
The most interesting thing here is the name. Matt at Explore Connecticut did the digging and writes that the name “can be ascribed to a Leonard Chester circa 1640 who went out for business in what was then the wilderness of south Wethersfield. He became lost and other residents took up a search making noise and uttering ‘lamentations’ until he was found on a mountain in Berlin.”
All Things Lamentation Mountain State Park
CFPA’s Mattabesett Trail
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Section 1: Berlin Turnpike to Country Club Road
CTMQ’s State Parks, Reserves, Preserves, Forests, NAPs, WMAs, & Campsites
CTMQ’s Mattabesett Trail Intro
David Vogt says
April 30, 2024 at 3:05 pmI believe the ridge and summit are actually east of the state park. There is a conveyance bill HB 5520 going through the legislature to sell 2.7 acres of this state park to a wealthy private land owner in Meriden who has been encroaching on the state land for many years. If passed this would remove access to the road that leads from the Berlin Turnpike to the state park and the ridge above including the New England Trail.