Mount Wachusett | |
---|---|
Highest point | |
Elevation | 2,006 ft (611 m) |
Prominence | 922 ft (281 m) |
Coordinates | 42°29′20″N71°53′15″W / 42.48889°N 71.88750°W |
Naming | |
English translation | "Near the mountain", "Mountain place" |
Language of name | Natick Indian |
Geography | |
Country | United States |
State | Massachusetts |
County | Worcester County |
Towns | |
Geology | |
Rock age | 250 million years |
Mountain type(s) | Metamorphic rock; monadnock |
Climbing | |
Easiest route | Auto road, ski lift, or Pine Hill trail. |
Mount Wachusett is a mountain in Massachusetts. It straddles towns of Princeton and Westminster, in Worcester County. It is the highest point in Massachusetts east of the Connecticut River. The mountain is named after a Native American term meaning "near the mountain" or "mountain place". The mountain is a popular hiking and skiing destination (see 'Wachusett Mountain Ski Area"). An automobile road, open spring to fall, ascends to the summit. Views from the top of Mount Wachusett include Mount Monadnock to the north, Mount Greylock to the west, southern Vermont to the northwest, and Boston to the east. The mountain is traversed by the 92 mi (148 km) Midstate Trail. It is also home to the Wachusett Mountain State Reservation.
A band of old growth forest along rock ledges 500 feet (150 m) below the summit supports trees from 150 to 370 years old. [1] Covering 220 acres (89 ha), it is the largest known old growth forest east of the Connecticut River in Massachusetts.
Mount Wachusett is a (formerly) glaciated monadnock: a single mountain on a relatively flat landscape. Glacial activity that shaped the mountain can be seen at Balance Rock on the northeast side of the mountain: two large boulders were stacked one on top of each other by moving glaciers thousands of years ago.
Mount Wachusett is bordered to the south by Little Wachusett Mountain and Brown Hill, to the north by Church Rock, to the east by Pine Hill, and to the northeast by the Crow Hills. The nearest mountain of comparable size is Mount Watatic, 1,832 feet (558 m), 12 mi (19 km) to the north on the New Hampshire border in Ashburnham, Massachusetts.
The west side of Mount Wachusett drains into the east branch of the Ware River, thence into the Chicopee River, the Connecticut River, and Long Island Sound. The south side drains into the Quinapoxet River, the Nashua River, thence the Merrimack River and the Atlantic Ocean. The east side drains into the Stillwater River, thence the Nashua River. The north side drains into the Nashua River through a series of small reservoirs.
Mount Wachusett is home to a 25-trail ski area serviced by 3 high-speed quads, 1 fixed-grip triple and 3 carpet lifts. It features approximately 1,000 feet (300 m) of vertical, a 50,000-square-foot (4,600 m2) base lodge, 100% snowmaking and night skiing on 18 trails. The mountain also maintains a terrain park and a jump called the Main Event. Due to its location, it is a popular skiing destination for residents of nearby Worcester and Boston. The ski area is located within the boundaries of the Wachusett Mountain State Reservation on a 450-acre (1.8 km2) lease parcel on the northern slopes of the mountain.
There is an annual 6.2 mile (10 km) road race [2] each May sponsored by the Central Mass Striders.
Stands of old-growth hardwood forest on Mount Wachusett became the object of a 2003 court ruling in favor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in joint contract with the ski area regarding plans for a ski slope expansion into an environmental buffer zone around the old growth stand. The old growth forest contains trees over 350 years old; the buffer zone contained mature trees about half that age. The Sierra Club and other conservation organizations criticized the ruling and two members of Earth First! staged a sit-in protest by climbing into the crowns of several of the trees in the area slated to be clear cut. [3] [4] As of 2007 wording on the website of the Wachusett Mountain Ski Area included strong language prohibiting skiers and snow boarders from entering the old growth area: "Anyone found entering old growth areas will have their lift ticket revoked. Subsequent offenses will be subject to fines." [5]
Before European colonialism, Wachusett was the home of the Nipmuc tribe. The tribe has been confined to a four-and-a-half acre reservation outside Grafton, Massachusetts, which began as a praying town in 1654. [6] The general feeling towards the ski resort among Nipmucs is that it is an injustice. Some hope to someday use the mountain as a proper Nipmuc cultural center. [7] During King Philip's War in 1676, Native Americans brought their captive, Mary Rowlandson, to Wachusett to release her to the colonists at Redemption Rock.
The name Wachusett has been adopted for the names of institutions, businesses, structures, geographic features, and other miscellaneous uses:
It is also the title of Henry David Thoreau's A Walk to Wachusett, which describes the transcendentalist author's experiences during his four-day walk from Concord to the mountain and back.
Mount Monadnock, or Grand Monadnock, is a mountain in the town of Jaffrey, New Hampshire. It is the most prominent mountain peak in southern New Hampshire and is the highest point in Cheshire County. It lies 38 miles (61 km) southwest of Concord and 62 miles (100 km) northwest of Boston. At 3,165 feet (965 m), Mount Monadnock is nearly 1,000 feet (305 m) higher than any other mountain peak within 30 miles (48 km) and rises 2,000 feet (610 m) above the surrounding landscape. Monadnock's bare, isolated, and rocky summit provides expansive views. It is known for being featured in the writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau.
Wachusett Mountain is an alpine ski area in the northeastern United States, located on Mount Wachusett, in the towns of Princeton and Westminster, Worcester County, Massachusetts. The mountain has 25 trails served by eight lifts, including three high-speed chairlifts and four magic-carpet lifts, and a triple chairlift.
The Midstate Trail is a scenic footpath which runs 92 miles (148 km) through Worcester County, Massachusetts, from the Rhode Island border to the New Hampshire border, approximately 45 miles (72 km) west of Boston. The trail is considered highly accessible, scenic, and remarkably rural despite its proximity to urban Boston. The trail includes the summits of Mount Wachusett and Mount Watatic, as well as many interesting geologic, historic, and natural features.
Mount Watatic is a 1,832-foot (558 m) monadnock located just south of the Massachusetts–New Hampshire border, in the United States, at the southern end of the Wapack Range. It lies in Ashburnham, Massachusetts and Ashby, Massachusetts. The 22-mile (35 km) Wapack Trail and the 92-mile (148 km) Midstate Trail both cross the mountain.
The Metacomet-Monadnock Trail is a 114-mile-long (183 km) hiking trail that traverses the Metacomet Ridge of the Pioneer Valley region of Massachusetts and the central uplands of Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire. Although less than 70 miles (110 km) from Boston and other large population centers, the trail is considered remarkably rural and scenic and includes many areas of unique ecologic, historic, and geologic interest. Notable features include waterfalls, dramatic cliff faces, exposed mountain summits, woodlands, swamps, lakes, river floodplain, farmland, significant historic sites, and the summits of Mount Monadnock, Mount Tom and Mount Holyoke. The Metacomet-Monadnock Trail is maintained largely through the efforts of the Western Massachusetts Chapter of the Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC). Much of the trail is a portion of the New England National Scenic Trail.
Mount Grace, 1,617 feet (493 m), is a prominent monadnock located in north central Massachusetts in the town of Warwick, approximately two miles south of the New Hampshire border. The mountain is rugged and largely wooded, but a firetower on the summit provides expansive views of the surrounding rural countryside. Little Mount Grace, 1,226 feet (374 m), is the southern summit of the mountain. Mount Grace supports a predominantly northern hardwood forest as well as stands of red spruce near its summit.
The Quinapoxet River is part of the Nashua River watershed in northern Massachusetts in the United States. It is part of the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority water system supplying drinking water to the greater Boston area.
Temple Mountain is a 2,045-foot (623 m) mountain in the Wapack Range in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, United States.
Peaked Mountain is a nature reserve located in Monson, Massachusetts. The property is approximately 2,000 acres (8.1 km2) and is owned by The Trustees of Reservations, a non-profit conservation organization. The principal landowners of its western slope, Leonard and Roslyn Harrington and Richard Elliott, have long permitted the public to hike through their properties to the summit. Concerned about the mountain's future, they sought the assistance of The Trustees of Reservations in developing a long-term strategy for protecting the mountain and securing public access after their lifetimes.
The Heart of New England Council is a Boy Scouts of America council serving Cub Scout packs, Scouts BSA troops, Exploring posts and Venturing crews in central Massachusetts with administrative support, program resources, activities, events, and camping properties.
Mount Toby, 1,269 feet (387 m), is the highest summit of a sprawling collection of mostly wooded hills and knolls that rise from a distinct plateau-like upland in the towns of Sunderland and Leverett, Massachusetts, just east of the Connecticut River. This mountain mass, part of the Metacomet Ridge geology, is oval shaped and roughly three miles by two miles wide. Although three of the subordinate peaks have names of their own, none of them are noteworthy on their own, and the designation “Mount Toby” is most often used to describe the entire geologic mass. This article, therefore, describes the entire Mount Toby upland.
The Mount Tom Range is a traprock mountain range located in the Connecticut River Valley of Massachusetts. It is a subrange of the Appalachians and part of the Metacomet Ridge that extends from Long Island Sound near New Haven, Connecticut, north through the Connecticut River Valley of Massachusetts to nearly the Vermont border. A popular outdoor recreation resource, the range is known for its continuous west facing cliffs and its rugged, scenic character. It is also notable for its unique microclimate ecosystems and rare plant communities, as well as significant historic sites, such as the ruins of the 18th century Eyrie House located on Mount Nonotuck.
Mount Orient, 955 feet, is a south-facing high point on an upland plateau overlooking the Connecticut River Valley in Pelham, Massachusetts. Although the summit is wooded, a lower, south-facing ledge of exfoliating metamorphic rock provides views of the Holyoke Range and the east-central Pioneer Valley. Both the Metacomet-Monadnock Trail and the Robert Frost Trail (Massachusetts) traverse Mount Orient. The ledge is a popular hiking destination among college students and residents of nearby Amherst. Easiest access is via the Amethyst Brook Conservation Area parking lot on Pelham Road in east Amherst.
Gap Mountain, located in Troy, New Hampshire, United States, is a small monadnock with three summits ranging between 1,820 feet (555 m) and 1,900 feet (579 m) above sea level. The lower north and middle summits are mostly bald and offer panoramic views of the surrounding rural landscape and of the higher and more popular Mount Monadnock. The Metacomet-Monadnock Trail passes over the north and middle peaks. The higher southern summit is wooded with no views. The mountain, located entirely within the Gap Mountain Reservation managed by the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests, is named for the cleft separating the south peak from the north and middle summits.
Besek Mountain also known as Black Mountain, est. 840 feet (260 m), is a traprock mountain ridge located 4.75 miles (7.6 km) southeast 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. Besek Mountain is known for its 3-mile (4.8 km) long line of open cliffs, unique microclimate ecosystems, and rare plant communities. The mountain is traversed by the 51-mile (82 km) Mattabesett Trail, and is home to the Powder Ridge Ski Area.
Higby Mountain or Mount Higby 892 feet (272 m), is a traprock mountain ridge located 3.75 miles (6.04 km) 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 600 feet (180 m) above the Quinnipiac River valley and the city of Meriden to the west as a continuous 2-mile (3 km) long ledge. The mountain is traversed by the 50-mile (80 km) Mattabesett Trail.
Tully Mountain, 1,163 ft (354 m), is a prominent, steep-sided monadnock located in north central Massachusetts in the town of Orange. It is part of the Tully Mountain Wilderness Management Area. An exposed east facing ledge on the summit provides views of the Millers River valley, Mount Monadnock, Mount Wachusett, and the Wapack Range. The 22-mile (35 km) Tully Trail traverses the mountain.
Mount Lincoln, 1,240 feet (380 m), is a high point on the Pelham Dome or Pelham Hills, an upland plateau overlooking the Connecticut River Valley in Pelham, Massachusetts. The mountain is mostly wooded, but a fire tower located on the summit provides views of the Holyoke Range and the east-central Pioneer Valley. The summit, located within the University of Massachusetts Amherst's 1,200-acre (490 ha) Cadwell Memorial Forest, is traversed by the Metacomet-Monadnock Trail and is the home of the Five Colleges radio station beacon.
Petticoat Hill is the name of a 1,180 foot hill and a 60-acre (24 ha) open space reservation located in Williamsburg, Massachusetts in the eastern Berkshire Mountains. The reservation, occupying the east side of the hill, is managed by The Trustees of Reservations (TTOR), a non-profit conservation organization. The hill and reservation are characterized by steep slopes largely wooded with northern hardwood forest species, particularly eastern hemlock.
Wachusett Mountain State Reservation is a protected area encompassing 3,000 acres (1,200 ha) around the summit of Mount Wachusett in Massachusetts.