TSTL’15.3: Dennis Hill

The Sky’s the Limit 2015 Hiking Challenge #3
Dennis Hill State Park, Pavilion Overlook
Norfolk
May 24, 2015

There are other CTMQ pages about Dennis Hill (a subsequent visit with the family and one about the former observation deck.) And someday, I’ll beef this one up with the trails around the park.

If you’re going to do the Challenge before it ends in 2015, of course you’re going to do Dennis Hill and Haystack Mountain on the same day. After all, they are only 10 minutes away from each other. And heck, even if you’re not doing the Challenge, I highly encourage you to go to both state parks, preferably in mid-October when the foliage is at its peak.

Dennis Hill… Conquered.

I’ve been to both parks multiple times for multiple reasons – and have been awed each time. Especially at Dennis Hill. I just love this place. In fact, I’m so love-blind for Dennis Hill, when we were driving up the winding road to the top, I mused, “Man, I hope there is parking and an open picnic table for lunch!”

I’m so cute sometimes. I tend to forget that this is 2015 and people don’t go to beautiful hilltops on perfect days just to enjoy the moment anymore. There were 3 motorcyclists at the top and an otherwise completely empty lot. (This was the Sunday before Memorial Day, so I really thought there’d be people up there.) We’ve already completed all 14 Challenge points as I write this, and now I’m thinking about how many people I saw at each one. Heublein and Sleeping Giant were, by far, the most crowded hikes. We saw exactly zero people at Lovers Leap, Hurd, and West Rock. That last one was especially weird since it’s a drive-up in a populous city… but it was overcast? What is wrong with people?

Speaking of drive-ups, that’s all we did here. There are trails to hike around the side of the hill, and a hiker’s lot at the bottom, but one “big” hike for the boys was enough on this day. And hey, it counts.

Anyway, I’ve written more about Dennis Hill (with some cooler pictures) in the links below.