South Slope of Mount Frissell

The highest point in Connecticut is on the southern shoulder of Mount Frissell which crosses the state’s northern border at 2,380 feet above sea level, but the official plaque was incorrectly placed on a different mountain.

Less than two miles away westward, Bear Mountain was originally thought to be the state’s highest point. So sure were the original surveyors that a plaque was set in and a tower built to commemorate it in 1885. And while it is the highest summit in the state, a later survey, found Bear Mountain to actually be 57 feet lower than a site on Mount Frissell. A marker known to highpointers as “The Green Stake” was placed at the point, and is still a destination for hikers.

The standard trail to the correctly-placed green stake weaves across the Connecticut-Massachusetts border and leads over the top of Round Mountain, with views of the Taconic Range along the way. Follow the red blazes in the trees to the Green Stake and the true highest ground in Connecticut.