King's Pinnacle

The Pinnacle is one of the two main peaks located within Crowder's Mountain State Park. The other peak is Crowder's Mountain. The park is located in the western Piedmont of North Carolina between the cities of Kings Mountain and Gastonia.

The Pinnacle may also be incorrectly referred to as "Kings Pinnacle". This misnomer comes from a blending with the name of the ridge that continues south of The Pinnacle, Kings Mountain. Some of this derives from the idea that the profile of The Pinnacle resembles a crown. The name "Kings Pinnacle" does not appear on the USGS quadrangle for the area while "The Pinnacle" and "Kings Mountain" do appear.

The monadnock is the remnant of a quartzite ridge which formed approximately 400-500 million years ago. The softer material that once covered and surrounded the has been gradually worn down to its present height of 1,705 feet (520 meters) above sea level. The monadnock abruptly rises some 800 feet above the surrounding countryside. The Pinnacle is part of the Kings Mountain Belt, a string of monadnocks and rock types along the piedmont of the Carolinas, many of which can be seen from the summit.

The Pinnacle and nearby Crowders Mountain separated the hunting lands of the Cherokee and Catawba Indians. The Battle of Kings Mountain, an important American victory over the British Army during the American Revolution, was fought southwest of the mountain in 1780 in what is now Kings Mountain National Military Park.

Several hiking trails lead to the mountain's summit, from which it is possible to view the much higher Appalachian Mountains far to the west and north, and the skyscrapers of Charlotte, North Carolina some 30 miles to the east.

External links

• Crowder's Mountain State Park website
• George, Jefferson. Tower struggle: Antenna request latest battle for those fighting to minimize park intrusions. The Charlotte Observer