720 ft (220 m) above sea level, is a traprock massif with several distinct summits, located 7 mi (11 km) northeast of New Haven, Connecticut.

It is part of the Metacomet Ridge that extends from the Long Island Sound near New Haven, north through the Connecticut River Valley of Massachusetts to the Vermont border.

The origin of Totoket Mountain and the Metacomet Ridge dates back 200 million years ago with the rifting apart of North America from Eurasia in the process that would ultimately create the Atlantic Ocean.

In the area that is now the Metacomet Ridge and surrounding sedimentary rock basin, massive basalt (traprock) lava flows spread across the prehistoric rift valley, some of them several hundred feet thick, over a period of 20 million years.

Subsequent erosion, glaciation, and uplift exposed the weather resistant edge of the traprock lava sheets, creating the cliffline of the Metacomet Ridge as it is today.

Talus slopes beneath cliffs accumulate minerals that support alkaline-loving plant species uncommon in surrounding acidic southern New England.

The 50 mile (80k) Mattabesett Trail (managed by the Connecticut Forest and Park Association), passes over Bluff Head and through the Northwoods area.

The balance of the landscape is relatively rural, with farmland and semi-rural home development in the center of the ridge and some conservation land on the northeast bluffs.

A large quarry operates on the southwest side of the mountain, but expansion is restricted by watershed property to the east and housing to the north.