Monument Mountain

Monument Mountain IUCN Category V - Protected Landscape / Seascape
View of the area
location	Massachusetts , United States
surface	204 ha
WDPA ID	55553950
Geographical location	42 ° 16 ′  N , 73 ° 21 ′  W Coordinates: 42 ° 16 ′ 25 "  N , 73 ° 21 ′ 8"  W
Setup date	1899
administration	The Trustees of Reservations

Monument Mountain is the name of a 503  acres (2  km² ) nature reserve around the mountain of the same name near Great Barrington in the state of Massachusetts in the United States . It is managed by The Trustees of Reservations organization.

history

Monument Mountain has been an inspiration to poets, writers and painters for more than 200 years. For example, during his ten-year stay in Great Barrington from 1815 to 1825 , William Cullen Bryant wrote his lyrical poem Monument Mountain , which tells the story of a Mahican girl whose forbidden love for her cousin drove her to suicide by throwing herself off the hill. According to the poem, the Indians established at this point as a memorial ( monument ) a hillside grave , after which the mountain was eventually named.

A well documented hike took Nathaniel Hawthorne and Herman Melville up the mountain on August 5, 1850. A thunderstorm forced them to seek shelter in a cave. A lively discussion ensued between them, from which Melville took away a multitude of ideas for his new book Moby Dick , which he dedicated to Hawthorne.

The forest on the mountain flanks today had already been completely cut down to produce fuel for iron smelting furnaces in the valley. In addition, the wood was processed into coal directly on site, which can still be recognized today by the round mounds of earth that are spread over the entire area.

The first parts of today's protected area were assigned to the trustees in 1899. Another donation was made in 1980, and additional properties were purchased in 1985 and 1986.

Protected area

From Squaw Peak at 1,642  ft (500.5  m ) altitude there is a good view of the southern Berkshire Mountains and the expansive Housatonic River Valley . On a clear day you can see Mount Greylock near the Vermont border in the north and the Catskill Mountains in New York in the west . In addition to the natural beauty, the geology of the area is also noteworthy as the mountain is mainly composed of pile-shaped quartzite that rises abruptly from the valley.

Every year more than 20,000 visitors climb the mountain. You have the Indian Monument Trail (1.51  mi (2.4  km )), the Hickey Trail (0.83 mi (1.3 km)), and the Squaw Peak Trail (0.62 mi (1 km)) three circular hiking trails available.

See also

• List of protected areas of the Trustees of Reservations

Individual evidence

1. ^ Property History. The Trustees of Reservations , accessed March 15, 2014 . 
2. ↑ About Monument Mountain. The Trustees of Reservations , accessed March 15, 2014 . 

Web links

• Monument Mountain in the United States Geological Survey's Geographic Names Information System
• Monument Mountain on TripAdvisor