Boston Hollow

Last updated March 16, 2019

Boston Hollow is a deep ravine in Ashford, Connecticut. It is a unique location in several ways. In geological terms it is an ancient fault in the Central Maine Terrane of the eastern highlands of Connecticut. More specifically, it lays within the Bigelow Brook Formation which consists of high grade pelitic schists and gneisses. Although there are many faults in this region, none is as deeply cleft, well pronounced, nor well preserved as this hollow.^{[ citation needed ]}

A ravine is a landform that is narrower than a canyon and is often the product of streamcutting erosion. Ravines are typically classified as larger in scale than gullies, although smaller than valleys.

Ashford, Connecticut Town in Connecticut, United States

Ashford is a town in Windham County, Connecticut, United States. It is part of the Connecticut Quiet Corner. The population was 4,317 at the 2010 census. It was founded in 1714. Eastford was a part of Ashford until 1847, when the former split off to organize its own town. For this reason North Ashford is located in northeast Eastford.

Geology is an earth science concerned with the solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Geology can also refer to the study of the solid features of any terrestrial planet or natural satellite such as Mars or the Moon. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other earth sciences, including hydrology and the atmospheric sciences, and so is treated as one major aspect of integrated earth system science and planetary science.

Accessibility

Boston Hollow is approached from the southwest, from Westford, by unpaved Boston Hollow Road. This is a portion of the historic Center Turnpike, constructed in 1827, that was formerly a major route from Boston to Hartford. The road follows a nearly straight course through the bottom of the hollow beside a little, unnamed brook for about two thirds of its passage. Then the brook peters out and a height of land is achieved. Continuing along the road towards the northeast, another swath in the ground forms but this is rarely filled with water. The second gully leads into a swamp at the end of the hollow. Near the end of the hollow a ten-acre (4 ha) parcel of land is situated. This land has an inactive gravel pit against the hollow wall. The only house in the area is located just past this land. The brook and the second swath as well as the house and the private land are all on the west side of the hollow. ^{[ citation needed ]}

Boston is the capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city proper covers 48 square miles (124 km²) with an estimated population of 685,094 in 2017, making it also the most populous city in New England. Boston is the seat of Suffolk County as well, although the county government was disbanded on July 1, 1999. The city is the economic and cultural anchor of a substantially larger metropolitan area known as Greater Boston, a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) home to a census-estimated 4.8 million people in 2016 and ranking as the tenth-largest such area in the country. As a combined statistical area (CSA), this wider commuting region is home to some 8.2 million people, making it the sixth-largest in the United States.

Hartford is the capital city of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. The city is nicknamed the "Insurance Capital of the World", as it hosts many insurance company headquarters and is the region's major industry. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford area of Connecticut. Census estimates since the 2010 United States Census have indicated that Hartford is the fourth-largest city in Connecticut, behind the coastal cities of Bridgeport, New Haven, and Stamford.

A gully is a landform created by running water, eroding sharply into soil, typically on a hillside. Gullies resemble large ditches or small valleys, but are metres to tens of metres in depth and width. When the gully formation is in process, the water flow rate can be substantial, causing a significant deep cutting action into soil.

Geography

The geography of Boston Hollow is characterized by the deep fault-cleft running almost perfectly straight in the northeast direction. The basement of the hollow is approximately 630 feet (190 m) above sea level at the southern head, and 600 feet (180 m) at the swamp at the northern exit. The height of land is about 700 feet (210 m) above sea level. The hollow defined by the distance the road passes through its bottom is nearly one mile (1.6 m) long. The elevation change through the bottom of the hollow is therefore quite gradual. The width of the base from wall to wall varies from 100 to 500 feet (30 to 150 m). ^{[ citation needed ]}

Mean sea level (MSL) is an average level of the surface of one or more of Earth's oceans from which heights such as elevation may be measured. MSL is a type of vertical datum – a standardised geodetic datum – that is used, for example, as a chart datum in cartography and marine navigation, or, in aviation, as the standard sea level at which atmospheric pressure is measured to calibrate altitude and, consequently, aircraft flight levels. A common and relatively straightforward mean sea-level standard is the midpoint between a mean low and mean high tide at a particular location.

On the west side there are swampy and stagnant wetlands through much of the course of the hollow brook as the water flow is too little and the incline is too slight to adequately drain the area. On either side of the low land the walls of the hollow rise swiftly. On the west side they rise most steeply to a height of about 850 feet (260 m). The elevation gain is so rapid that a hike up the steep faces is in fact a climb. Towards the middle-northern end of the western hollow the wall is sheer rock for spaces of more than twenty feet (6 m) vertically and these overhangs are at such an incline that they form concave overhangs beneath which angular blocks of fallen stone lie. The top of the west ridge is undulating with there being several extant peaks or heights. This massif has no proper name.^{[ citation needed ]}

Rock or stone is a natural substance, a solid aggregate of one or more minerals or mineraloids. For example, granite, a common rock, is a combination of the minerals quartz, feldspar and biotite. The Earth's outer solid layer, the lithosphere, is made of rock.

A pyramidal peak, sometimes called a glacial horn in extreme cases, is an angular, sharply pointed mountain peak which results from the cirque erosion due to multiple glaciers diverging from a central point. Pyramidal peaks are often examples of nunataks.

In geology, a massif is a section of a planet's crust that is demarcated by faults or flexures. In the movement of the crust, a massif tends to retain its internal structure while being displaced as a whole. The term also refers to a group of mountains formed by such a structure.

On the east side the hollow wall rises directly from the road. This wall is steep but there is less exposed ledge than there is on the west side. After a relatively short distance of grave incline the hill rises less steeply. This hill is given the appellation Turkey Hill. However, Turkey Hill attains a greater height than the west ridge, reaching higher than 950 feet (290 m) above sea level. There are several pond-like swamps on the plateau of Turkey Hill. ^{[ citation needed ]}

A ridge or a mountain ridge is a geological feature consisting of a chain of mountains or hills that form a continuous elevated crest for some distance. The sides of the ridge slope away from narrow top on either side.The line along the crest formed by the highest points, with the terrain dropping down on either side, is called the ridgeline. Ridges are usually termed hills or mountains as well, depending on size.

In geology and physical geography, a plateau, also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland, usually consisting of relatively flat terrain, that is raised significantly above the surrounding area, often with one or more sides with steep slopes. Plateaus can be formed by a number of processes, including upwelling of volcanic magma, extrusion of lava, and erosion by water and glaciers. Plateaus are classified according to their surrounding environment as intermontane, piedmont, or continental.

The property that contains the hollow is part of the Yale-Myers Forest. This is a 7,800 acre (32 km²) forest owned by Yale University and used for teaching and scientific research as well as commercial timber production. There is also land owned by Hull Forest Products of Pomfret, CT in the area but this is not in the hollow proper. The Yale-Myers Forest is private land, but it is not posted as 'No Trespassing'. There is one marked trail that goes through the Boston Hollow. This is the Nipmuck Trail. It enters the hollow from the southeast after passing over the glacier scoured ridges and plateau of Turkey Hill. The trail crosses Boston Hollow road at the middle northern end of the Hollow and swiftly ascends the west ridge.^{[ citation needed ]}

The Yale-Myers Forest is a 7,800-acre (32 km²) forest in Northeastern Connecticut owned by Yale University and administered by the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies. Located in the towns of Union, Ashford, Eastford, and Woodstock, the forest is reputed to be the largest private landholding in the state.

Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Founded in 1701, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the nine Colonial Colleges chartered before the American Revolution. It is a member of the Ivy League.

The Nipmuck Trail is a Blue-Blazed hiking trail "system" which meanders through 34.5 miles (55.5 km) of forests in northeast Connecticut. It is maintained by the Connecticut Forest and Park Association and is considered one of the Blue-Blazed hiking trails. There are two southern trail heads in the south of the town of Mansfield, Connecticut. The southwestern terminus is at a road shoulder parking place on Puddin Lane, and the southeastern terminus is a DEEP parking lot on North Windham Road at the southeast corner of Mansfield Hollow State Park. The northern terminus is at the north end of Breakneck Pond along the Massachusetts border in Nipmuck State Forest. Camping permits may be obtained for up to five separate locations for backpacking.

On the west side of the trail for the first part of its passage on the west ridge there is a little valley or sump that is often filled with water during the winter and other wet periods. There has been ice that can be walked on in this sump as late as March, attesting to the coldness of this area. The trail ascend a series of ridges to a summit. This summit is shear bedrock and devoid of trees in the southeast direction (i.e. facing into the hollow). To the west there is a brief tree-covered plateau after which the topography slopes down to a large swamp. The trail continues after the summit in a southwest direction then turns in a serpentine arc and descends northwest of the hollow onto Barlow's Mill road.

Wildlife

The flora and fauna of the hollow include species typical of southern New England, however, more boreal species are also found in this rugged region. The base of the hollow in densely forested with hemlock trees. These evergreens block much of the little light that reaches into this narrow chasm, therefore the hollow's floor is always quite dark. above the low lands, on the hollow ridges hardwoods grow, the most common of which is red oak. The forest around the summit of the west ridge consists mainly of short red oaks. On the side of Turkey Hill facing the west ridge the tree growth is similar except that quite a few paper birch have colonised this slope whereas there are hardly any on the west ridge. The groves of paper birches make a pleasing visage in the fall when they are viewed from the summit of the west ridge.

Notable flora in Boston Hollow includes the mountain maple, a shrub-like tree that commonly grows in northern New England. Fauna consist of white-tailed deer, coyotes, and other animals of New England. It is probable that there are moose and American black bear inhabiting the dense forest preserves surrounding the hollow.

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References

External links

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Coordinates: 41°55′36″N72°09′57″W / 41.9266°N 72.1658°W / 41.9266; -72.1658

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