Mohawk Trail

The Mohawk Trail ascends to the summit of Mohawk Mountain at 1,683 feet, the highest peak in Connecticut's state park system and the dominant landform of the Litchfield Hills in the state's northwestern corner. The trail begins in the valley near the Mohawk ski area and climbs relentlessly through a dense mixed forest of northern hardwoods—sugar maple, yellow birch, American beech—that transitions to red spruce and balsam fir in the cooler upper elevations, a boreal community more typical of Vermont than Connecticut. The forest is particularly magnificent in October when the sugar maple canopy ignites in the intense orange and gold that makes the Litchfield Hills one of New England's premier fall foliage destinations. Scattered boulders deposited by the Laurentide Ice Sheet litter the forest floor with increasing frequency as elevation increases, and the final approach to the summit crosses open ledge with 360-degree views spanning the Hudson Highlands to the west, the Berkshires to the north, and the Taconic Range to the northwest. The ski area infrastructure is visible below and to the north, but the natural character of the summit area remains largely intact. Black bears are resident in the Mohawk State Forest surrounding the park, and fresh sign in the form of claw marks on beech trees and overturned logs is frequently encountered on the upper trail. The Connecticut Audubon Society has documented Bicknell's thrush nesting near the summit in recent years.