Wills Mountain

Last updated
Wills Mountain
2WillsMtn. edited.jpg
Wills Mountain in Pennsylvania
Highest point
Elevation 2,790 feet (850 m) [1]
Prominence 1,440 feet (440 m) [2]
Coordinates 39°50.757′N78°40.925′W / 39.845950°N 78.682083°W / 39.845950; -78.682083
Geography
Location Bedford County, Pennsylvania / Allegany County, Maryland, U.S.
Parent range Allegheny Mountains, part of the Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians
Topo map USGS Hyndman (PA) Quadrangle
Climbing
Easiest route Jeep trail

Wills Mountain is a quartzite-capped ridge in the Ridge and Valley physiographic province of the Appalachian Mountains in Pennsylvania and Maryland, extending from near Bedford, Pennsylvania, to near Cumberland, Maryland. It is the northernmost of several mountain ridges included within the Wills Mountain Anticline.

Contents

Geography

An aerial view of Wills Mountain (center) in Bedford County, Pennsylvania Bedford-co-air.jpg
An aerial view of Wills Mountain (center) in Bedford County, Pennsylvania
Wills Mountain at night, viewed facing west from US Route 220 south of Bedford, Pennsylvania Wills Mtn night.jpg
Wills Mountain at night, viewed facing west from US Route 220 south of Bedford, Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania

The Pennsylvania part of Wills Mountain is in Bedford County, reaching an elevation of 2,782 feet (848 m). Although there are mountains in Pennsylvania's Appalachian Plateau that are higher, Wills Mountain is the highest in its Ridge and Valley physiographic province. Wills Mountain may have the highest prominence in Pennsylvania.[ citation needed ] The mountain ridge begins abruptly near the Juniata River just north of 2,560-foot (780 m) Kinton Knob, west of Bedford, and just south of the Pennsylvania Turnpike. The valley to the south of Kinton Knob is known as Milligans Cove, an excellent geological example of a breached anticline.

Portions of Wills Mountain, including the summit, are located in Pennsylvania State Game Lands No. 48, where access to the mountain is limited, with only jeep trails and a gravel road on the ridge. The summit, like Martin Hill to the east, has no towers or transmitters. However, access to the summit is difficult, requiring a hike of more than 1,800 ft (550 m).

Maryland

Cumberland Narrows west of Cumberland, Maryland, the water gap along Wills Creek through which the National Road crosses between Haystack Mountain (left) and Wills Mountain (right). This is the passage through the rugged Wills Mountain Anticline now used by the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad (left), Alternate U.S. Route 40 (center, left of the creek), and the CSX Railroad (right). Alt US 40 Cumberland Narrows.jpg
Cumberland Narrows west of Cumberland, Maryland, the water gap along Wills Creek through which the National Road crosses between Haystack Mountain (left) and Wills Mountain (right). This is the passage through the rugged Wills Mountain Anticline now used by the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad (left), Alternate U.S. Route 40 (center, left of the creek), and the CSX Railroad (right).

The Maryland part of Wills Mountain is located in Allegany County, where the mountain rises steeply from the Cumberland Narrows, a water gap west of Cumberland, half a mile (0.8 km) west of the mouth of Warrior Run. From there, the mountain extends northeasterly into Pennsylvania; the mountain's highest elevation in Maryland is 1,877 feet (572 m).

Haystack Mountain is on the south side of the Narrows. Geologically, the two mountains are equivalent, both being central ridges of the Wills Mountain Anticline. The Cumberland Narrows was carved into these quartzite-capped mountain ridges by Wills Creek, a Potomac River tributary, over millions of years.

The Cumberland Narrows serves as a western gateway from Cumberland to the Appalachian Plateau and the Ohio River Valley beyond. The Old National Road, now Alternate U.S. 40, passes through the Narrows, along with the former Baltimore and Ohio Railroad's main line between Baltimore/Washington and Pittsburgh, now part of the CSX system, and a former line of the Western Maryland Railroad, now used by the steam- and diesel-powered excursion trains of the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad and the Great Allegheny Passage bike trail.

A prominent rocky outcropping at the south end of Wills Mountain in the Cumberland Narrows is known as Lover's Leap.

Geology

The Landsat program of Wills Mountain in 2016 Wills Mountain LC08 L1TP 016032 20161114 20170219 01 T1.jpg
The Landsat program of Wills Mountain in 2016

Wills Mountain is capped by the erosion-resistant Silurian Tuscarora quartzite. The mountain stands in the center of the Wills Mountain Anticline, a geological structure that extends from southern Pennsylvania through Maryland and West Virginia into Virginia. In this anticline, the Tuscarora and various other rock strata are bent upward, with the erosion-resistant Tuscarora capping the mountain's ridgetop, and more easily eroded Silurian limestones and shales on the mountain's slopes. [3]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bedford County, Pennsylvania</span> County in Pennsylvania, United States

Bedford County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 47,577. The county seat is Bedford. The county is part of the Southwest Pennsylvania region of the state.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bedford Township, Pennsylvania</span> Township in Pennsylvania, United States

Bedford Township is a township in Bedford County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 5,107 at the 2020 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Allegheny Plateau</span> Dissected plateau in the eastern United States

The Allegheny Plateau is a large dissected plateau area of the Appalachian Mountains in western and central New York, northern and western Pennsylvania, northern and western West Virginia, and eastern Ohio. It is divided into the unglaciated Allegheny Plateau and the glaciated Allegheny Plateau.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cumberland Mountains</span> Mountain range in the southeastern United States

The Cumberland Mountains are a mountain range in the southeastern section of the Appalachian Mountains. They are located in western Virginia, southwestern West Virginia, the eastern edges of Kentucky, and eastern middle Tennessee, including the Crab Orchard Mountains. Their highest peak, with an elevation of 4,223 feet (1,287 m) above mean sea level, is High Knob, which is located near Norton, Virginia.

The Potomac Highlands of West Virginia centers on five West Virginian counties in the upper Potomac River watershed in the western portion of the state's Eastern Panhandle, bordering Maryland and Virginia. Because of geographical proximity, similar topography and landscapes, and shared culture and history, the Potomac Highlands region also includes Pocahontas, Randolph, and Tucker counties, even though they are in the Monongahela River or New River watersheds and not that of the Potomac River.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bald Eagle Mountain</span>

Bald Eagle Mountain – once known locally as Muncy Mountain – is a stratigraphic ridge in the Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians of central Pennsylvania, United States, running east of the Allegheny Front and northwest of Mount Nittany. It lies along the southeast side of Bald Eagle Creek and south of the West Branch Susquehanna River, and is the westernmost ridge in its section of the Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians. The ridge line separates the West Branch Susquehanna Valley from the Nippenose and White Deer Hole valleys, and Bald Eagle Valley from Nittany Valley.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North Fork Mountain</span>

North Fork Mountain is a quartzite-capped mountain ridge in the Ridge and Valley physiographic province of the Allegheny Mountains, also known as the High Alleghenies or Potomac Highlands, of eastern West Virginia. Kile Knob, at 4,588 feet, is the mountain's highest point, and Panther Knob and Pike Knob are nearly as high.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brush Mountain (Blair County, Pennsylvania)</span>

Brush Mountain is a stratigraphic ridge in the Appalachian Mountains of central Pennsylvania, United States, lying east of the Allegheny Front and west of Tussey Mountain. It runs along the southeast side of the Little Juniata River and forms a horseshoe around Sinking Run, and is the westernmost ridge in its section of the Ridge-and-valley Appalachians. The western ridge line separates the Logan Valley from the Sinking Valley.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cumberland Narrows</span> Water gap in Maryland, United States

The Cumberland Narrows is a water gap in western Maryland in the United States, just west of Cumberland. Wills Creek cuts through the central ridge of the Wills Mountain Anticline at a low elevation here between Wills Mountain to the north and Haystack Mountain to the south. Cliffs and talus of the two mountains' Tuscarora quartzite caprock are prominent within the Narrows. A prominent rocky outcropping at the south end of Wills Mountain in the Cumberland Narrows is known as Lover's Leap.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tussey Mountain</span>

Tussey Mountain is a stratigraphic ridge in central Pennsylvania, United States, trending east of the Bald Eagle, Brush, Dunning and Evitts Mountain ridges. Its southern foot just crosses the Mason–Dixon line near Flintstone, Maryland, running north 130 km (80 mi) to the Seven Mountains of central Pennsylvania, near Tusseyville, making it one of the longest named ridges in this section of the Ridge-and-valley Appalachians.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geology of Pennsylvania</span> Overview of the geology of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania

The Geology of Pennsylvania consists of six distinct physiographic provinces, three of which are subdivided into different sections. Each province has its own economic advantages and geologic hazards and plays an important role in shaping everyday life in the state. From the southeast corner to the northwest corner of the state, they include: the Atlantic Plain Province, the Piedmont Province, the New England Province, the Ridge and Valley Province, the Appalachain Province, and the Central Lowlands Province.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Big Mountain (Pennsylvania)</span> High point on the Tuscarora Mountain ridge in south central Pennsylvania

Big Mountain is the high point on the Tuscarora Mountain ridge in south central Pennsylvania in the United States. The 2,458-foot (749 m) summit is located in the Buchanan State Forest and offers a viewshed that is one of the more stunning in the Commonwealth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tuscarora Sandstone</span> Bedrock unit in Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, and Virginia, US

The Silurian Tuscarora Formation — also known as Tuscarora Sandstone or Tuscarora Quartzite — is a mapped bedrock unit in Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, and Virginia, US.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geology of Bedford County, Pennsylvania</span>

Bedford County, Pennsylvania is situated along the western border of the Ridge and Valley physiographic province, which is characterized by folded and faulted sedimentary rocks of early to middle Paleozoic age. The northwestern border of the county is approximately at the Allegheny Front, a geological boundary between the Ridge and Valley Province and the Allegheny Plateau.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Parnell Knob</span>

Parnell Knob is a mountain in the Ridge and Valley Appalachians region of south central Pennsylvania. This knob rises above the village of St. Thomas, where Front Mountain and Broad mountain come together. It is a feature sculptured by the hard dense Tuscarora quartzite of the Silurian age. Parnell Knob is conspicuous in that it rises abruptly above the relatively level Great Appalachian Valley.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cross Mountain (Pennsylvania)</span>

Cross Mountain is the highest peak in the Bear Pond Mountains, a sub range of the Appalachian Mountains. This grouping of mountains straddle the Maryland and Pennsylvania border.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bear Pond Mountains</span> Subrange of the Appalachian Mountains

The Bear Pond Mountains are a subrange in the Appalachian Mountains, that straddle Pennsylvania and Maryland in the United States. These mountains are a part of the Ridge and Valley Appalachians and reach their highest point at Cross Mountain (Pennsylvania) 2,062 feet (628 m). A unique geologic feature known as the "Punchbowl" occurs in this range. This feature was created by the weathered shales of the Ordovician age in the center of a south-plunging anticline, having been eroded to expose a large amphitheater-like feature (punchbowl). Cross and Hearthstone Mountain are made of hard resistant quartzite of the Tuscarora Formation of the Silurian age, which form the walls of the bowl.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Allegheny Mountain (Pennsylvania)</span>

Allegheny Mountain is a stratigraphic ridge that extends northeast to southwest from south of Blue Knob to a saddle point at the Savage Mountain anticline. It merges with Negro Mountain just north of the Cambria County line where the Berlin-Salisbury basin expires.

The Ridgeley sandstone is a sandstone or quartzite of Devonian age found in the Appalachian Mountains of Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, and Virginia, United States. The Ridgeley is fine-grained, siliceous, calcareous in its lower strata, sometimes fossiliferous, and sometimes locally pebbly or conglomeritic. Varying in thickness from 12 to 500 feet, this rock slowly erodes into white quartz sand that often washes or blows away, but sometimes accumulates at large outcrops. When freshly broken, the rock is white, but outcrop surfaces are often stained yellowish by iron oxides.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dunning Mountain</span>

Dunning Mountain is a stratigraphic ridge in central Pennsylvania, United States. The mountain's north end is at McKee Gap, which separates it from Short Mountain, and where Halter Creek flows westward towards the Frankstown Branch of the Juniata River. The south end of the mountain is contiguous with Evitts Mountain, but is marked by a sharp bend to the east. The valley formed by the bend is known as "The Kettle," and the broad valley to the east of Dunning Mountain is called Morrisons Cove. The town of Roaring Spring is located at the north end of the mountain on the east side.

References

  1. Summit elevation between 2,780 and 2,800 ft.
  2. Key col elevation between 1,340 and 1,360 ft at 39°56.39′N78°39.1′W / 39.93983°N 78.6517°W .
  3. Van Diver, Bradford B. (1990). Roadside Geology of Pennsylvania. Missoula, Montana: Mountain Press. pp. viii+ 352.