Higby Mountain or Mount Higby , is a traprock mountain ridge located east of Meriden, 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. Higby Mountain is known for its high cliff faces, unique microclimate ecosystems, and rare plant communities. It rises steeply above the Quinnipiac River valley and the city of Meriden to the west as a continuous long ledge. The mountain is traversed by the Mattabesett Trail. Geography Located within the towns of Middletown, Meriden, and Middlefield, Higby Mountain is long by wide at its widest point, although rugged topography makes the actual square mileage much larger. Higby Mountain is an important aquifer; two reservoirs and one pond lie at the base of it: Higby Mountain Reservoir at its east foot; Adder Reservoir, on the upper eastern slope; and Black Pond between Besek Mountain and Higby Mountain. The mountain forms a conspicuous, sharp long cliffline visible throughout the upper Quinnipiac River Valley and metropolitan Meriden. Camel's Hump, est. , also called The Pinnacle is a prominent southern high point on the ridge just above a shallow gap called Preston Notch. (The Pinnacle should not be confused with a similarly named peak on Talcott Mountain, or with Pinnacle Rock of Farmington, Connecticut, both part of the Metacomet Ridge to the north of Higby Mountain). Interstate 91 cuts through the gap between Higby Mountain and Chauncey Peak to the north. The Metacomet Ridge continues northwest from Higby Mountain as Chauncey Peak and south as Besek Mountain. A line of smaller hills extends from the Higby Mountain ridgeline north into Middletown; most notable of these is Fall Hill from which tumbles the high Westfield Falls, visible from Interstate 91 just north of Higby Mountain. The north and east sides of Higby Mountain drain into Fall Brook, then Sawmill Brook, then the Mattabesett River, thence to the Connecticut River and Long Island Sound. The west and south side drain into Harbor Brook thence into the Quinnipiac River and Long Island Sound. Geology and ecology Higby 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