Mount Tom State Park

Mount Tom State Park
Mount Tom State Park
	Mount Tom Tower
	Location in Connecticut Mount Tom State Park (the United States)
Location	Litchfield, Morris & Washington, Connecticut, United States
Coordinates	41°41′29″N 73°16′35″W / 41.69139°N 73.27639°W
Area	231 acres (93 ha)
Elevation	981 ft (299 m)
Designation	Connecticut state park
Established	1915
Administrator	Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection
Website	Mount Tom State Park
	Mount Tom Tower
	U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Location	Mount Tom State Park, Litchfield County, Connecticut
Area	20 acres (8.1 ha)
Built	1921
Built by	John DaRoss from Litchfield, CT
Architect	Alfred M. Turner
Architectural style	Late 19th and 20th Century Revivals/Jacobean Revival
NRHP reference No.	93001247
Added to NRHP	December 12, 1993

Mount Tom State Park is a public recreation area lying south of US Route 202 in the towns of Washington, Litchfield, and Morris, Connecticut. The state park occupies 231 acres (93 ha) on the southwest shore of Mount Tom Pond^[4] and is home to the Mount Tom Tower, which was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1993.^[5] It is managed by the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.^[3]

History[edit]

The park is one of the oldest in the Connecticut state park system, having been among the 15 created between 1913 and 1918 by Connecticut's first State Park Commission.^[6] The park's land had been donated in 1911 for use as a state park by Charles H. Senff. Following Senff's death, his widow, Gustavia A. Senff, saw the transfer of the property through to completion, with the state legislature finalizing the action in 1917. It was the first to open.^[5]

Mount Tom Tower[edit]

A condition of the Senff gift was that a permanent observation tower be maintained at the summit of Mount Tom. The State Park Commission recommended that a stone tower be built to replace a wooden structure that had stood at the spot since 1888. The commission's secretary, Alfred M. Turner, drew up plans which were not closely followed. John DaRoss (John DaRoss & Sons) of Litchfield constructed the tower of rough black gneiss found at the site.^{[citation needed]} The tower stands 34 feet (10 m) high and 15 feet (4.6 m) in diameter; it was completed in 1921. Visitors can climb to the top for views that extend to Mount Everett in Massachusetts, the Catskills in New York, and Long Island Sound.^[5]

Geology[edit]

The park is notable for the presence of the metamorphic rocks gneiss and schist, the minerals quartz, garnet and hornblende, and boulders carried to the site by Ice Age glaciers.^[7]

Activities and amenities[edit]

The park offers fishing, swimming, and canoeing on 56-acre (23 ha) Mount Tom Pond,^[8] hiking the nearly one-mile-long loop trail that ascends Mount Tom to the observation tower, and picnicking.^[3]

References[edit]

^ ^a ^b "Mount Tom State Park". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
^ "Appendix A: List of State Parks and Forests" (PDF). State Parks and Forests: Funding. Staff Findings and Recommendations. Connecticut General Assembly. January 23, 2014. p. A-2. Retrieved March 20, 2014.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Mount Tom State Park". State Parks and Forests. Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. August 10, 2016. Retrieved September 29, 2016.
^ "Mount Tom State Park Map" (PDF). State Parks and Forests. Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. January 27, 2016. Retrieved April 24, 2021.
^ ^a ^b ^c Ransom, David F. (June 19, 1993). "Mount Tom Tower". National Register of Historic Places Registration Form. National Park Service. Retrieved May 12, 2014.
^ "Connecticut State Parks: A Centennial Overview" (PDF). Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. July 2014. Retrieved April 24, 2021.
^ "The Geology of Mount Tom State Park". State Parks and Forests. Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. Retrieved April 24, 2021.
^ "Mount Tom Pond" (PDF). Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. September 2011. Retrieved September 29, 2017.

External links[edit]

Mount Tom State Park Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection
Mount Tom State Park Map Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection

[gnis-1] "Mount Tom State Park". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.

[pristaff-2] "Appendix A: List of State Parks and Forests" (PDF). State Parks and Forests: Funding. Staff Findings and Recommendations. Connecticut General Assembly. January 23, 2014. p. A-2. Retrieved March 20, 2014.

[DEEP-3] "Mount Tom State Park". State Parks and Forests. Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. August 10, 2016. Retrieved September 29, 2016.

[DEEPmap-4] "Mount Tom State Park Map" (PDF). State Parks and Forests. Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. January 27, 2016. Retrieved April 24, 2021.

[registration-5] Ransom, David F. (June 19, 1993). "Mount Tom Tower". National Register of Historic Places Registration Form. National Park Service. Retrieved May 12, 2014.

[centennial-6] "Connecticut State Parks: A Centennial Overview" (PDF). Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. July 2014. Retrieved April 24, 2021.

[geology-7] "The Geology of Mount Tom State Park". State Parks and Forests. Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. Retrieved April 24, 2021.

[bathmap-8] "Mount Tom Pond" (PDF). Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. September 2011. Retrieved September 29, 2017.

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v t e Protected areas of Connecticut
National Park Service	Weir Farm National Historical Park
National Wildlife Refuges	Silvio O. Conte Stewart B. McKinney
National Trails	Appalachian Trail New England National Scenic Trail Washington–Rochambeau Revolutionary Route
Wild and Scenic Rivers	Ashaway River Eightmile River Farmington River Green Fall River Housatonic River Pawcatuck River Salmon Brook Shunock River Wood River
State Parks	Above All Air Line Beaver Brook Becket Hill State Park Reserve Beckley Furnace Industrial Monument Bennett's Pond Bigelow Hollow Black Rock Bluff Point Bolton Notch Brainard Homestead Burr Pond Camp Columbia Campbell Falls Chatfield Hollow Collis P. Huntington Connecticut Valley Railroad Dart Island State Park Day Pond Dennis Hill Devil's Hopyard Dinosaur Eagle Landing Farm River Farmington Canal Fort Griswold Battlefield Fort Trumbull Gardner Lake Gay City George Dudley Seymour George Waldo Gillette Castle Haddam Island Haddam Meadows Haley Farm Hammonasset Beach Harkness Memorial Haystack Mountain Higganum Reservoir Hop River State Park Trail Hopemead Hopeville Pond Horse Guard Housatonic Meadows Humaston Brook Hurd Indian Well John A. Minetto Kent Falls Kettletown Killingly Pond Lake Waramaug Lamentation Mountain Larkin State Park Trail Lovers Leap Macedonia Brook Machimoodus Mansfield Hollow Mashamoquet Brook Mianus River Millers Pond Minnie Island Mohawk Mountain Mono Pond Moosup Valley State Park Trail Mooween Mount Bushnell Mount Riga Mount Tom Old Furnace Osbornedale Penwood Platt Hill Pomeroy Putnam Memorial Quaddick Quinebaug Lake Quinnipiac River River Highlands Rocky Glen Rocky Neck Ross Pond Salt Rock State Campground Satan's Kingdom State Recreation Area Scantic River Selden Neck Seth Low Pierrepont Sherwood Island Silver Sands Sleeping Giant Southford Falls Squantz Pond Stillwater Pond Stoddard Hill Stratton Brook Sunnybrook Sunrise Talcott Mountain Tri-Mountain Trout Brook Valley Wadsworth Falls West Rock Ridge Wharton Brook Whittemore Glen Windsor Locks Canal State Park Trail Windsor Meadows Wooster Mountain
State Forests	Algonquin American Legion Centennial Watershed Cockaponset Enders James L. Goodwin Housatonic Massacoe Mattatuck Meshomasic Mohawk Mohegan Nassahegon Natchaug Nathan Hale Naugatuck Nehantic Nepaug Nipmuck Nye-Holman Pachaug Paugnut Paugussett People's Pootatuck Quaddick Salmon River Shenipsit Topsmead Tunxis Wyantenock
Wildlife Management Areas	Aldo Leopold WMA Assekonk WMA Babcock Pond WMA Barber Pond WMA Barn Island WMA Bartlett Brook WMA Bear Hill WMA Belding WMA Bishops Swamp WMA Black Pond WMA Candlewood Hill WMA Cedar Swamp WMA Charles E. Wheeler WMA Cromwell Meadows WMA Durham Meadows WMA East River Marsh WMA East Swamp WMA Eightmile River WMA Franklin Swamp WMA Goshen WMA Great Harbor WMA Higganum Meadows WMA Housatonic River WMA King's Island Coop WMA Kollar WMA Larson Lot WMA Little River Fish and Wildlife Area Lord's Cove WMA Maromas Coop WMA Meadow Brook WMA Menunketesuck WMA Messerschmidt WMA Newgate WMA Nod Brook WMA Nott Island WMA Pease Brook WMA Plum Bank WMA Quinebaug River WMA Quinnipiac River Marsh WMA Ragged Rock WMA Raymond Brook Marsh WMA Robbins Swamp WMA Roger Tory Peterson Wildlife Area Roraback WMA Rose Hill WMA Ross Marsh WMA Salmon River Cove and Haddam Neck WMA Sessions Woods WMA Simsbury WMA Skiff Mountain Coop WMA James V. Spignesi WMA Stanley Works WMA Suffield WMA Talbot WMA Tankerhoosen WMA Wangunk Meadows WMA Wopowog WMA Zemko Pond WMA
Reservoirs	Aspetuck Reservoir Barkhamsted Reservoir Beaver Dam Lake Candlewood Lake Easton Reservoir Far Mill Reservoir Hemlock Reservoir Hop Brook Lake Lake Lillinonah Mansfield Hollow Lake Means Brook Saugatuck Reservoir Trap Falls Reservoir West Hartford Reservoir West Pequonnock Reservoir Lake Zoar
Private	Aspetuck Land Trust Aton Forest Audubon Center at Bent of the River Bartlett Arboretum and Gardens Bear Mountain Beckley Bog Branford Land Trust Case Mountain Cathedral Pines Connecticut Audubon Society Center at Fairfield Connecticut College Arboretum Devil's Den Preserve Earthplace Great Mountain Forest Higby Mountain Highstead Arboretum Joshua's Tract Conservation and Historic Trust McLean Game Refuge New Canaan Nature Center Peter's Rock Pine Mountain Reserve Saltonstall Mountain Stamford Museum & Nature Center Steep Rock Association Weantinoge Heritage Land Trust White Memorial Foundation Woodcock Nature Center Yale-Myers Forest
Trails	American Legion State Forest Trails Aspetuck Valley Trail Blue-Blazed Trails Chatfield Trail Hancock Brook Trail Housatonic Range Trail Lillinonah Trail Mattabesett Trail Menunkatuck Trail Metacomet Trail Narragansett Trail Natchaug Trail Naugatuck Trail Nehantic Trail Nipmuck Trail Paugussett Trail Pequot Trail Quinnipiac Trail Regicides Trail Salmon River Trail Shenipsit Trail Tunxis Trail Westwoods Trails Whitestone Cliffs Trail Zoar Trail
Nature centers	List of nature centers in Connecticut
Local Government Forest/Parks	Bear Mountain Reservation Beardsley Park Burr Farm Protected Open Space East Rock Park Gurski Farm Protected Open Space Happy Landings Protected Open Space Lighthouse Point Park Lillinonah Woods Mill River Park Old Bridge Sanctuary Pleasure Beach Roosevelt Forest Salt Meadow Park Seaside Park Webb Mountain Discovery Zone Webb Mountain Park
Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection