Taconic Mountains

Taconic Mountains
Range
The Taconic peak Mount Greylock, highest point in Massachusetts
Country	United States
State	New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont
Region	western New England, eastern New York
Range	Appalachian Mountains
Highest point	Equinox Mountain
- location	Bennington County, Vermont
- elevation	3,850 ft (1,173 m)
Biome	Northern hardwood forest, Appalachian balds, Taiga, Pitch Pine/Scrub Oak uplands
Geology	Thrust fault
Orogeny	Taconic Orogeny
Period	440 million years
Orogenies of the northeast United States

The Taconic Mountains or Taconic Range are a physiographic section of the larger New England province and part of the Appalachian Mountains, running along the eastern border of New York State and adjacent New England from northwest Connecticut to western Massachusetts, north to central western Vermont in the town of Brandon, after which they lose prominence and dwindle into scattered hills and isolated peaks which continue north toward Burlington, Vermont. To the south, they fade into the Hudson Highlands range.^[1][2][3][4]

In Massachusetts and Connecticut, the Taconic Mountains are often popularly grouped as part of the Berkshires;^[5] in Vermont they are similarly grouped as part of the Green Mountains. However, the Taconic Mountains are geologically distinct from the Berkshires and Green Mountains.^[2]

The highest peak of the Taconic Mountains is Mount Equinox 3,816 feet (1163 m), located in Manchester, Vermont. Mount Greylock 3,492 ft (1,064 m), the highest point in Massachusetts, and Mount Frissell 2,454 feet (748 m), the highest point in Connecticut, are also part of the Taconic Mountains. The range is popular for outdoor recreation; it contains several hundred miles of trails including sections of the 2,175-mile (3,500 km) Appalachian Trail and over sixty designated areas of land protected by federal, state, county, and municipal, government agencies and non-profit organizations. Natural resource extraction has been an important industry in the Taconic Mountains; extraction industries have included marble, limestone, slate, and iron mining as well as logging and charcoaling.^{[1][2][6][7][8][9][10][11]}

History

"Taconic", a Native American name, was once transliterated as the Taghkanic or Taughannock, meaning "in the trees" and used as the name of a Lenape chieftan. Taghkanic is still used in parts of western (New York) for both features within and without the Taconic Mountains region.^[12][13]

Geology and physiography

The Taconic mountain range was formed from the collision of the North American Plate into a volcanic island arc, similar to modern-day Japan, during the late Ordovician period, around 440 million years ago.^[2]

The western side of the Taconics rise gradually from a series of hills in eastern New York to a sharp mountain crest along the west border of the New England states; the east side of the Taconics falls off abruptly where river valleys divide it from the Berkshires and Green Mountains. The total length of the range is about 200 miles (320 km) with a varying width of 5 to 20 miles (32 km).^[2][14]

The Taconic Mountains are a physiographic section of the larger New England province, which in turn is part of the larger Appalachian physiographic division.^[15]

Geography

The Taconic Mountains begin in northwest Connecticut and northeast Dutchess County, New York and extend through western Berkshire County, Massachusetts and the adjacent counties in New York, then along the border of New York and Vermont. In New York, a 12 miles (19 km) wide region of foothills gradually rises to the crest of the Taconic Mountains along the state's eastern border. To the east, the Taconic Mountains fall off abruptly, ending in the valleys of the Housatonic River, the upper Hoosic River, and the greater Valley of Vermont. The Berkshires and the Green Mountains rise to the east of the Taconics. To the west, the Taconic foothills are bordered by the Hudson River Valley and, near the northern terminus of the Taconic Mountains, they are touched on by the eastern foothills of the Adirondak Mountains in Washington County, New York.^[16]

The South Taconic Range
Because the Taconic Mountains are geologically related and contiguous with the Hudson Highlands, the southern boundary of the Taconics is difficult to define. Some notable South Taconic peaks include Mount Frissell, the south slope of which contains the highest point in Connecticut at 2,379 feet (725 m); Bear Mountain 2,326 feet (709 m), the highest mountain peak in Connecticut; Alander Mountain 2,239 feet (682 m) and Brace Mountain 2,311 feet (704 m), Mount Everett 2,624 ft (800 m), the highest point in the South Taconic subrange and the home of an upland pitch pine and scrub oak biome; and Mount Fray 1,893 feet (577 m), home of the Catamount Ski Area. Bash Bish Falls, reputedly Massachusetts' highest waterfall, is located in the South Taconic Range. The Appalachian Trail traverses the eastern escarpment of the range; the 15.7 mi (25.3 km) South Taconic Trail traverses the western escarpment. The South Taconic area is among the numerous "Last Great Places in America" designated from time to time by The Nature Conservancy, in part due to its extensive forest and vulnerability to development.

Central Segment and Upper Hoosic River Valley Region
North of Catamount Ski Area, the higher hills shift slightly west and become somewhat less prominent. North of White Hill the Green River cuts through the range. Immediately beyond this, notable summits include Bald Mountain, 1,800 feet (550 m), and Harvey Mountain 2,067 feet (630 m), 630 metres (2,067 ft), part of the newly created Harvey Mountain State Forest in New York and the site of extensive heath barrens; and Beebe Hill 1,762 feet (537 m), 537 metres (1,762 ft), with its abrupt, expansive views of the Hudson River valley from a summit firetower.

Several miles to the east of Harvey Mountain a series of ridges and summits are designated The Stockbridge-Yokun Ridge Reserve and are zoned for conservation purposes by the U.S. Forest Service. The area extends from the Massachusetts Turnpike to the southerly neighborhoods of Pittsfield, and summit elevations range roughly between 1,500 and 2,000 feet (610 m).

At Pittsfield, the crest shifts west once again to hills contained within Pittfield State Forest, Balance Rock and Bates Memorial State Park, where heights include Holy Mount 1,968 feet (600 m), once the location of religious rituals practiced by a former Shaker community and Berry Hill 2,200 feet (670 m), notable for its extensive stands of wild azalea.

North of Jiminy Peak 2,392 feet (729 m), the valley of Kinderhook Creek cuts through the hills. Here the western-most ridgeline is dominated by Misery Mountain and Berlin Mountain 2,818 feet (859 m) and extending into Pownal, Vermont; the eastern-most, which terminates in Williamstown, Massachusetts is ruled by Mount Greylock 3,491 feet (1,064 m), the highest point in Massachusetts. Between these is the long ridge of Brodie Mountain. The area hosts three long distance trails (The Appalachian Trail, the Taconic Crest Trail, and the Taconic Skyline Trail) and an extensive network of smaller trails.^{[6][8][9][17][18]}

Southern Vermont
North of the Massachusetts border, the profile of the Taconic Range is cut and eroded by the Hoosic River as it turns west and then south toward its confluence with the Hudson River, and by its tributary rivers in the vicinity of Bennington, Vermont. Mount Anthony 2,320 feet (710 m), notable for its caves and as the location of Southern Vermont College, stands as a satellite peak above the surrounding eroded terrain. North of Bennington, the range gradually rises to its highest prominence with peaks such as Mount Equinox 3,850 feet (1,175 m), the high point of the Taconic Mountains, and Dorset Mountain 3,770 feet (1,150 m), a New England 100 Highest list summit. Other notable summits include Grass Mountain 3,109 feet (948 m), a New England Fifty Finest list mountain; and Mount Aeolus 3,230 feet (980 m), the location of several defunct limestone quarries and the site of an important bat hibernaculum. Designated hiking trails are located on Mount Equinox, Dorset Mountain, and Mount Aeolus, and several other peaks within the region.^{[1][19][20][21][22][23]}

Terminus of the range
Immediately north of Danby, Vermont, the Taconic Range broadens and becomes shorter. It exhibits several parallel ridgelines, dominated to the west by mountains composed of slate and similar rock, most notably the ridgeline of Saint Catherine Mountain 1,200 feet (370 m), with its conspicuous 5-mile (8.0 km) long cliff face visible from Wells and Poultney. The area around Lake Saint Catherine contains extensive slate quarries. The ridgeline to the east, composed of schist and phyllite, is dominated by the 7-mile (11 km) escarpment of Tinmouth Mountain 2,835 feet (864 m), overlooking the Valley of Vermont to the east in the town of Tinmouth. A field of less descript ridges and peaks lies between these two summits.^{[3][11][16][24]}

Near the end of the range, in the vicinity of Rutland, Vermont, the Taconic Mountains show several prominent peaks with dramatic, irregular cliff faces clearly visible from U.S. Route 4 west of the city of Rutland; these include Herrick Mountain 2,726 feet (831 m); Grandpa's Knob 1,976 feet (602 m), the former site of the world's first large-scale electricity-producing windmill; and the butte-like Bird Mountain (also called Birdseye Mountain) 2,216 feet (675 m), home of the Bird Mountain Wildlife Management Area and notable as an important raptor migration path and nesting site. Also part of the Taconic Mountains are the foothills of the Lake Bomoseen region west of Birdseye and Granpa's Knob, notable for their extensive slate quarrying operations. North of Grandpa's Knob, the Taconic Range soon diminishes into scattered hills which extend north into the Burlington, Vermont region. Isolated summits in this area include Snake Mountain (Vermont) 1,281 feet (390 m), a Nature Conservancy preserve featuring a variety of rare and endangered species; and Mount Philo 968 feet (295 m), home of Mount Philo State Park with its mountaintop campground.^{[16][25][26][27][28]}

Conservation Status

A narrow strip along the entire Western border of Massachusetts has been designated by the U.S. Forest Service for potential conservation as the "Taconic Mountains Forest Legacy Area" under its Forest Legacy Program. The designated area averages perhaps a mile in width extending east of the state line, but is considerably wider in the southern Taconics region and middle section of Berkshire County. The district in Massachusetts abut parts of New York State and Connecticut that carry similar designations under the federal program, which affords subsidies for the acquisition of conservation easements when available for purchase. [1] The "Stockbridge-Yokun Ridge Reserve was designated as such at a slightly earlier date under the same federal program, which is aimed at close coordination with state and local government authorities. ,

See also

Hudson Valley portal

• Vegetation of New England
• Yokun Ridge
• Mount Greylock
• Berkshires

References

Coordinates: 42°41′32″N 73°17′08″W / 42.69222°N 73.28556°W / 42.69222; -73.28556