Judges Cave is a rock shelter among the boulders on the crest of West Rock Ridge, the long trap rock ridge that rises along the western edge of New Haven. The ridge is diabase, the same dark rock as East Rock across the city, and part of the Metacomet Ridge that runs from Long Island Sound to the Vermont border. Its open, west-facing cliffs run for seven miles.
The cave is named for two men who hid in it. Edward Whalley and his son-in-law William Goffe were among the judges who sent Charles I of England to his death in 1649. When his son was restored to the throne as Charles II in 1660, the pair fled to New Haven ahead of the prosecution they knew was coming, and agents of the king came after them. The state park records that they took refuge in the cave in 1661 and again in 1664, while those agents hunted them for capture and execution. New Haven still honors them, along with a third regicide judge, with streets that carry their names, and a plaque on the western side of the cave tells the story.
Regicide Drive climbs 1.6 miles from Wintergreen Avenue to the cave and on to the South Overlook. It is open to cars daily from Memorial Day weekend to the last weekend in October, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., and outside that season you walk or ride up. From the overlook you look out over New Haven and its harbor, East Rock Park with its Soldiers and Sailors Monument, Sleeping Giant State Park, Long Island Sound and Long Island beyond. Baldwin Drive, built along the crest north of the cave as a Works Progress Administration project in the 1930s, is open only to walkers and cyclists.
The blue-blazed Regicides Trail follows the ridge for seven miles to High Rock in Bethany, where it meets the Quinnipiac Trail. The park holds 21 miles of blazed trails in all, including 11 miles of some of the best mountain biking terrain in Connecticut. Entry and the park roads are free, and leashed dogs are welcome. The park began in 1826, when Elijah Thompson gave 50 acres for a New Haven city park, and the state took it over in 1975.
Other places on the map within a couple of hours.
