The Hanging Hills of south central Connecticut, United States, are a range of mountainous trap rock ridges overlooking the city of Meriden and the Quinnipiac River Valley 900 feet (274 m) below.

A popular outdoor recreation resource, the range is known for its microclimate ecosystems, rare plant communities, and expansive views from cliffs that rise abruptly over 700 feet (213 m) above the surrounding landscape.

[2][3] Merimere Reservoir, nestled between South Mountain and East Peak and punctuated by the rocky mass of Mine Island, is considered particularly scenic.

[6] Currently, West Peak is home to seven FM broadcast stations, WPKT, WWYZ, WKSS, WDRC-FM, WZMX, WHCN and WMRQ-FM.

Basalt is a dark colored rock, but the iron within it weathers to a rusty brown when exposed to the air, lending the ledges a distinct reddish appearance.

The basalt cliffs are the product of several massive lava flows hundreds of feet deep that welled up in faults created by the rifting apart of North America from Eurasia and Africa.

Subsequent scour by moving glacial ice plucked away the basalt from the steep southern end of the crest of the broken ridge, creating overhanging cliffs.

Stream erosion and glacial ice carved canyons along these faults, dividing the ridge into the finger-like promontories of the Hanging Hills.

Cooler north facing backslopes tend to support extensive stands of eastern hemlock interspersed with the oak-hickory forest species more common in the surrounding lowlands.

[10] From the top of the Hanging Hills' many cliffs it is possible to see much of the Quinnipiac River Valley region, Long Island Sound, and the distant higher peaks of southern New England.