Bare Mountain (Massachusetts) - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Alternate spelling: should not be confused with Bear Mountain.

Bare Mountain, 1014 feet (309 m) above sea level, is a prominent peak of the Holyoke Range

Holyoke Range

The Holyoke Range or Mount Holyoke Range is a traprock mountain range located in the Connecticut River Valley of Massachusetts. It is a sub-range of the narrow, linear Metacomet Ridge that extends from Long Island Sound near New Haven, Connecticut north through the Connecticut River Valley of...

of traprock mountains located in the Connecticut River Valley of Massachusetts

Massachusetts

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...

, and part of the greater Metacomet Ridge

Metacomet Ridge

The Metacomet Ridge, Metacomet Ridge Mountains, or Metacomet Range of southern New England, United States, is a narrow and steep fault-block mountain ridge known for its extensive cliff faces, scenic vistas, microclimate ecosystems, and communities of plants considered rare or endangered...

that stretches from Long Island Sound

Long Island Sound

Long Island Sound is an estuary of the Atlantic Ocean, located in the United States between Connecticut to the north and Long Island, New York to the south. The mouth of the Connecticut River at Old Saybrook, Connecticut, empties into the sound. On its western end the sound is bounded by the Bronx...

to nearly the Vermont

Vermont

Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...

border. The peak rises steeply from the river valley 1000 feet (304.8 m) below; its bald summit offers sweeping views. Bare Mountain is located within the towns of Amherst

Amherst, Massachusetts

Amherst is a town in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States in the Connecticut River valley. As of the 2010 census, the population was 37,819, making it the largest community in Hampshire County . The town is home to Amherst College, Hampshire College, and the University of Massachusetts...

and South Hadley, Massachusetts

South Hadley, Massachusetts

South Hadley is a town in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 17,514 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area....

and is traversed by the 110 miles (177 km) Metacomet-Monadnock Trail

Metacomet-Monadnock Trail

The Metacomet-Monadnock Trail is a hiking trail that traverses the Metacomet Ridge of the Pioneer Valley region of Massachusetts and the central uplands of Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire...

Description and history

A hiking destination popular among local college students, Bare Mountain offers a 270° vista over the surrounding valleys to the north and south, and a bird's eye view across Mount Norwottuck

Mount Norwottuck

Mount Norwottuck, feet above sea level, is the highest peak of the Holyoke Range of traprock mountains located in the Connecticut River Valley of Massachusetts and part of the greater Metacomet Ridge which stretches from Long Island Sound to nearly the Vermont border. The peak rises steeply from...

and the eastern peaks of the Holyoke Range. Also visible from the top are the Round Mountain quarry and the campuses of the University of Massachusetts Amherst

University of Massachusetts Amherst

The University of Massachusetts Amherst is a public research and land-grant university in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States and the flagship of the University of Massachusetts system...

and Hampshire College

Hampshire College

Hampshire College is a private liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1965 as an experiment in alternative education, in association with four other colleges in the Pioneer Valley: Amherst College, Smith College, Mount Holyoke College, and the University of Massachusetts...

to the north and Westover Joint Air Reserve Base

Westover Joint Air Reserve Base

Westover Air Reserve Base is an Air Force Reserve Command installation located in the Massachusetts communities of Chicopee and Ludlow, near the city of Springfield, Massachusetts. Westover hosts the largest Air Reserve Base in the world in terms of area...

to the south. A prime example of a basalt

Basalt

Basalt is a common extrusive volcanic rock. It is usually grey to black and fine-grained due to rapid cooling of lava at the surface of a planet. It may be porphyritic containing larger crystals in a fine matrix, or vesicular, or frothy scoria. Unweathered basalt is black or grey...

talus

Scree

Scree, also called talus, is a term given to an accumulation of broken rock fragments at the base of crags, mountain cliffs, or valley shoulders. Landforms associated with these materials are sometimes called scree slopes or talus piles...

slope is located on the east side of the mountain, along the Metacomet-Monadnock Trail

Metacomet-Monadnock Trail

The Metacomet-Monadnock Trail is a hiking trail that traverses the Metacomet Ridge of the Pioneer Valley region of Massachusetts and the central uplands of Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire...

.

The next peak to its west is called Mount Hitchcock. This peak once had a tower on it, but it has since been taken down.

The Five Colleges

Five Colleges (Massachusetts)

The Five Colleges comprises four liberal arts colleges and one university in the Connecticut River Pioneer Valley of Western Massachusetts, totaling approximately 28,000 students. The schools belong to a consortium called Five Colleges, Incorporated, established in 1965...

Library Depository is located on the north side of the mountain, within a subterranean bunker formerly occupied by the United States Air Force Strategic Air Command

Strategic Air Command

The Strategic Air Command was both a Major Command of the United States Air Force and a "specified command" of the United States Department of Defense. SAC was the operational establishment in charge of America's land-based strategic bomber aircraft and land-based intercontinental ballistic...

Geology and ecology

Bare Mountain, like much of the Metacomet Ridge, is composed of basalt

Basalt

, also called traprock, a volcanic rock. The mountain formed near the end of the Triassic Period when North America

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

was rifting apart from Africa

Africa

Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...

and Eurasia

Eurasia

Eurasia is a continent or supercontinent comprising the traditional continents of Europe and Asia ; covering about 52,990,000 km2 or about 10.6% of the Earth's surface located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres...

. Lava

Lava

Lava refers both to molten rock expelled by a volcano during an eruption and the resulting rock after solidification and cooling. This molten rock is formed in the interior of some planets, including Earth, and some of their satellites. When first erupted from a volcanic vent, lava is a liquid at...

welled up from the rift and solidified into sheets of strata hundreds of feet thick. Subsequent faulting and earthquake

Earthquake

An earthquake is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves. The seismicity, seismism or seismic activity of an area refers to the frequency, type and size of earthquakes experienced over a period of time...

activity tilted the strata, creating the dramatic cliffs and ridges of Bare Mountain. Hot, dry upper slopes, cool, moist ravines, and mineral-rich ledges of basalt talus

Scree

produce a combination of microclimate

Microclimate

A microclimate is a local atmospheric zone where the climate differs from the surrounding area. The term may refer to areas as small as a few square feet or as large as many square miles...

ecosystems on the mountain that support plant and animal species uncommon in greater Massachusetts. (See Metacomet Ridge

Metacomet Ridge

) for more information on the geology and ecosystem of Bare Mountain.

< West	East >
Seven Sisters Seven Sisters (Massachusetts) The Seven Sisters, part of the Holyoke Range and located within the Pioneer Valley region of Massachusetts, are a series of basalt ridgeline knobs between Mount Holyoke and Mount Hitchcock . The knobs offer scenic clifftop views interspersed with oak savanna woodlands... (no image)	Round Mountain Round Mountain (Massachusetts) Round Mountain, above sea level, was a peak of the Holyoke Range of traprock mountains located in the Connecticut River Valley of Massachusetts, and part of the greater Metacomet Ridge that stretches from Long Island Sound to nearly the Vermont border... (no longer existent, no image)

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

Description and history

Geology and ecology

See also

External links