Farmington Mountain, , is a traprock ridge located southwest of Hartford, Connecticut, in the town of Farmington. 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. Farmington Mountain is known for its microclimate ecosystems, rare plant communities, and for the historic Hill-Stead Museum. Farmington Mountain is traversed by the Metacomet Trail. Geography Roughly long by wide, Farmington Mountain rises steeply above the town of Farmington to the west. The mountain consists of an upper summit ridge with two distinct peaks and a lower plateau and ledge that hangs just above the center of Farmington. This ledge is contiguous with the lower ridges of Talcott Mountain to the north and Rattlesnake Mountain to the south. The Metacomet Ridge continues north and south from Farmington Mountain over those peaks. The wooded ridgeline of Farmington Mountain is less distinct that its neighboring peaks on the Metacomet Ridge. Nonetheless, the mountain contains a number of prominent features. The historic Hill-Stead Museum, known for its French Impressionist masterpieces, architecture, and stately grounds is located on the northern part of the ridgeline. The southern half of the mountain is made up of largely wooded cliffs; the Farmington Reservoir is nestled between the ridge high point and the edge of the lower plateau. Other parts of the mountain are occupied by suburban housing. The east side of Farmington Mountain drains into Trout Brook, then to the Park River, thence into the Connecticut River and Long Island Sound; the west side into the Farmington River, thence to the Connecticut River. Geology and ecology Farmington Mountain, like much of the Metacomet Ridge, is composed of basalt, also called traprock, a volcanic rock. The mountain formed near the end of the Triassic Period with the rifting apart of the North American continent from Africa and Eurasia. Lava welled up from the rift and solidified into sheets of strata hundreds of feet thick. Subsequent faulting and earthquake activity tilted the strata, creating the cliffs and ridgeline of Farmington Mountain. Hot, dry upper slopes, cool, moist ravines, and mineral-rich ledges of basalt talus produce a combination of microclimate ecosystems on the mountain that support plant and animal species uncommon in greater Connecticut. Farmington Mountain is also an important raptor migration path. (See Metacomet Ridge for more information on the geology