The Sky’s the Limit 2015 Hiking Challenge #2
Haystack Mountain State Park, Tower
Norfolk
May 24, 2015
My love for Norfolk is well-documented on this website. I love its goofy claim to fame – “The Icebox of Connecticut,” its affinity for curling, its beautiful and eclectic “downtown,” and its state parks. The inaugural “Sky’s the Limit Challenge” features two Norfolk parks, and I love them both.
I’ve also been to both Norfolk parks a bunch of times, but this was the first time Hoang or the boys climbed to the top of Haystack. We drove up to the parking lot along the fun little park road. It’s always reminded me of the Pyrenees, with its short stone walls, skinniness, and serpentine twists. The hike to the tower is about half a mile, half of which can be pretty steep at times. The views from the tower are, obviously, beautiful.
More in-depth pages on the tower and park at the bottom.
The first third of the hike (from the upper lot) is flat.
Then it is not.
I’ll assume Calvin said something like, “I climb up better than you, Mama.”
The 34 foot high stone tower at the summit of Haystack Mountain (1716 feet above sea level) allows visitors to see the Berkshires, and peaks in Massachusetts, New York, and the Green Mountains of Vermont.
Loads of Red (a.k.a. Eastern) Columbine along the way and at the top.
The crew at the tower
Hoang, contemplating life with her boys…
Her boys at the top…
… And at the bottom.
Here is a short video of Calvin getting to the top of the tower:
CTMQ’s Sky’s the Limit Challenge Page
DEEP’s Sky’s the Limit Challenge Page
CTMQ’s page on Haystack Mountain’s Tower
CTMQ’s page on Haystack Mountain State Park
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