Ragged Mountain, est., is a traprock mountain ridge located 3mi west of New Britain, Connecticut in the town of Southington and Berlin, Connecticut. It is part of the narrow, linear Metacomet Ridge that extends from Long Island Sound near New Haven, Connecticut, north through the Connecticut River Valley of Massachusetts to the Vermont border. The mountain, a popular hiking and rock climbing attraction located between metropolitan Hartford and Meriden, is known for expansive vistas, vertical cliff faces, mountain ridge reservoirs, unique microclimate ecosystems, and rare plant communities. Ragged Mountain is traversed by the 51mi Metacomet Trail.GeographyOccupying an area roughly 2.5by, Ragged Mountain rises steeply above the Quinnipiac River valley to the west. The mountain consists of a series of high bluffs and several lower tiers of ledges. The Metacomet Ridge continues north from Ragged Mountain as Bradley Mountain and south as Short Mountain and the Hanging Hills. Four bodies of water are located on the mountain: Shuttle Meadow Reservoir to the north between Ragged Mountain and Bradley Mountain; Wassel Reservoir nestled between the bluffs in the center of Ragged Mountain; a smaller holding pond associated with Wassel Reservoir (South Wassel Reservoir, a.k.a. Hart Pond); and the two Hart's Ponds, on the southeast slope of the mountain. The mountain also contains boulder caves and a waterfall. Wassel Reservoir is named for RMSN David Wassel, a submariner in the U.S. Navy who was lost in the accidental sinking of the USS Thresher off the coast of Massachusetts.
