Monument Mountain (reservation)
- This article is about the open space reservation. For the mountain on which the reservation is located, see Monument Mountain (Berkshire County, Massachusetts)
Monument Mountain |
Open Space Preserve |
Country |
United States |
State |
Massachusetts |
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Location |
Great Barrington, Massachusetts |
- elevation |
500.5 m (1,642 ft) |
- coordinates |
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Biome |
Mountain ridge, talus slopes,
upland forests |
Geology |
The Berkshires;
quartzite, metamorphic rock |
Plant |
Red Oak, Eastern Black Oak, Sugar Maple,
Eastern Hemlock, Eastern White Pine,
Red Pine, Mountain Laurel,
Black Birch |
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Founded |
1899 |
Management |
The Trustees of Reservations |
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Area |
503 acres (204 ha) |
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Website: Monument Mountain
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Monument Mountain is the name of a popular 503-acre (204 ha) open space reservation located in Great Barrington, Massachusetts on the southeast side of Monument Mountain. The reservation is centered around the 1,642 feet (500 m) subordinate summit of Squaw Peak. It is managed by The Trustees of Reservations, a non-profit conservation organization and is notable for its expansive views of the Housatonic River Valley, The Berkshires, the Taconic Mountains, and the Catskill Mountains of New York from the knife-edge summit of Squaw Peak. Monument Mountain, composed of erosion resistant quartzite, is of The Berkshires geology. The reservation receives over 20,000 visitors a year.
History
Monument Mountain has been the subject of art and literature since as early as 1815 when the poet William Cullen Bryant penned "Monument Mountain," an account of the story of a Mohican woman who allegedly leapt from what is now called Squaw Peak. In 1850, Nathaniel Hawthorne and Herman Melville picnicked on the mountain; a thunderstorm forced them to seek cover in a boulder cave where they engaged in a lengthy discussion which inspired some of Melville's ideas for his novel Moby Dick.
In the 1930s, red pines were planted on the reservation; by that time much of the mountain had been heavily logged for the charcoal industry in support of iron foundries in Falls Village, Connecticut and Lenox, Massachusetts.
The reservation was acquired as the gift of Helen C. Butler in 1899 and John Butler Swann in 1980. Additional parcels were purchased in 1985 and 1986.
Recreation
A trailhead parking lot is located on Massachusetts Route 7 north of Great Barrington center. The trail system consists of the Hickey Trail and Indian Monument Trail which form a loop around Squaw Peak; and Squaw Peak Trail which ascends the knife edge summit between the other two trails. An unnamed waterfall is located to along the Hickey Trail. Devil's Pulpit, part of Squaw Peak, is a free-standing pillar of stone visible from the Squaw Peak Trail.
The reservation is open to hiking, picnicking, and hunting (in season).
References
External links
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Federal |
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State |
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State Parks:
Reservations
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State Parks:
Other
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Wildlife
Management Areas
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Agawam Lake · Agawam Mill Pond · Ashby · Ashfield Hawley · Attitash · Ayer Game Farm · Baddacook Pond · Bakers Pond · Bay Circuit Trail · Bearse Pond · Becket · Bennett · Birch Hill · Black Brook · Blackstone / West River · Bolton Flats · Boxboro Station · Brayton Point Salt Marsh · Breakneck Brook · Brewer Brook · Bullock Ledge · Burrage Pond · Canoe River · Catamount · Chalet · Chase Garden Creek Salt Marsh · Childs River · Chockalog Swamp · Church Homestead · Clapps Pond · Clinton Bluff · Concord River · Connecticut River · Cook Pond · Copicut · Coy Hill · Crane Pond · Cummington · Cusky Pond · Dartmoor Farm · Darwin Scott Memorial · Day Mountain · Deerfield River · Dogfish Bar Beach Coastal · Dolomite Ledges · Dunstable Brook · E. Kent Swift · Eagle Island · East Mountain · Eastham Salt Marsh · Elbow Meadow · English Salt Marsh · Eugene D. Moran · Facing Rock · Fairfield Brook · Farmington River · Fish Brook · Fisherville Pond · Fisk Forestdale Lot · Fisk Meadows · Five Mile River · Flagg Swamp · Flint Pond · Four Chimneys · Fox Den · Fox Island Salt Marsh · Frances A. Crane · Freetown Swamp · George L. Darey Housatonic Valley · Glen Echo Lake · Gosnold · Grassy Pond (Dennis) · Grassy Pond (Plymouth) · Green River (Franklin County) · Green River (Berkshire County) · Greenfield River · Halfway Pond · Hamilton · Hancock · Harlow / Cooks Pond · Haskell Swamp · Hauk Swamp · Hawksnest State Park · Hawley · Head Of The Plains · Herman Covey · High Ridge · Hinsdale Flats · Hiram H. Fox · Hockomock Swamp · Hog Pond Lot · Honey Pot · Hoosatonic River · Hoosic River · Hop Brook · Housatonic River · Hubbard Brook · Hunting Hills · Hyannis Ponds · Ipswich River · John J. Kelly · Jug End Fen · Jug End · Kampoosa Fen · Katama Plains · Knops Pond · Konkapot River · Lackey Pond · Lake Lorraine · Lake Rohunta · Lake Snipatuit · Lake Warner · Lanesboro · Lawrence Brook · Lawrence Pond Lot · Leadmine · Leyden · Lilly Pond · Little Alum Pond · Long Sought For Pond · Maple Hill · Maple Springs · Martha Deering · Martin H. Burns · Mascuppic Lake · Mashpee Pine Barrens · Mashpee Pond Lot · Mashpee River · Massachusetts Military Reservation · Mckinstry Brook · Meetinghouse Swamp · Merrill Pond · Miacomet Heath · Mill River · Millers River · Mine Brook · Montague Plains · Montague · Moose Brook · Moose Brook · Moose Hill · Mossy Pond · Mount Watatic Reservation · Mt. Esther · Mt. Toby Highlands · Mt. Toby · Mt. Tom · Muddy Brook · Muddy Pond · Mulpus Brook · Nashua River · Natty Brook · Nemasket River · Nissitissit River · Noquochoke · Nordeen Marsh · North Brookfield · North Shore Salt Marsh · Northboro · Oakham · Olivers Pond · Orange · Otis · Packard Pond · Palmer · Pantry Brook · Pauchaug Brook · Peru · Peterson Swamp · Phillipston · Podunk Marsh · Poland Brook · Popple Camp · Popponesset Beach · Poutwater Pond · Powell Brook · Prince River · Provincetown Route 6 Corridor · Purchade Brook · Quaboag · Quacumquasit · Quag Pond Bog · Quashnet River · Quashnet Woods State Reservation · Quinapoxet River · Quinsigamond Marsh · Quisset · Raccoon Hill · Rainbow Beach · Red Brook · Richardson · Robbins Pond · Rochester · Rocky Gutter · Rowe · Salisbury Salt Marsh · Salisbury Salt Marsh · Sandwich Game Farm · Sandy Pond · Satan's Kingdom · Savage Hill · Savoy · Sawmill River · Scorton Creek Coastal · SE Mass Bioreserve · Sevenmile River · Shattuck Brook · Sheperds Island · Shubael Pond · Sibley Brook · Sly Pond · South Barrier Beach · South Meadow Pond · South Shore Salt Marsh · South Triangle Pond · Southampton · Southwick · Spectacle Pond · Springhill Lot · Sputtermill Pond · Squannacook River · Stafford Hill · Sudbury River · Sunderland Islands · Taconic Mountain · Taunton River · Taunton River · Tekoa Mountain · Thad Ellis · Thayer Pond · Three Mile Pond · Townsend · Townsend Hill · Trapfall Brook · Triangle Pond · Tully Brook · Tully Mountain · Tully River · Wakeby Pond · Wales · Walnut Hill · Ware River · Warwick · Wendell · West Meadows · Westboro · Westfield River · Westfield · Weymouth Back River · Whately Great Swamp · Whately Ponds · Whately · Wilbraham Game Farm · William Forward · Williams River · Williamsburg · Winimusset · Wolf Swamp ·
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Wildlife
Sanctuaries
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Billingsgate Island · Carr Island · E. Howe Forbush · Egg Rock · Grace A. Robson · J.C. Phillips · Knight · Penikese Island · Ram Island (Salisbury) · Ram Island (Mattapoisett) · Susan B. Minns · Tarpaulin Cove · Watatic Mountain ·
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Private |
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Roger and Virginia Drury Preserve · Tatkon Preserve · McElwain-Olsen Preserve · Reed Brook Preserve · Hawley Bog Preserve · Stacy Mountain Preserve · Greene Swamp Preserve · Black Pond Bog Nature Preserve · Halfway Pond Island Preserve · Grassy Pond Preserve · Boat Meadow Preserve · Sandy Neck Preserve · Hockomock Swamp · David H. Smith Preserve and Fire Trail · Hoft Farm Preserve · Katama Plains Preserve · Francis Newhall Woods Nature and Wildlife Preserve · Miacomet Moors Preserve · Homer-Watcha Preserve ·
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Other
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Concord Land Conservation Trust · Harvard Forest · Lincoln Land Conservation Trust ·
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