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53-512: Bald Knob's elevation— only 21 feet (6.4 m) lower than the highest point in the Alleghenies, Spruce Knob )—gives it a unique hemiboreal ecosystem. While the lower and middle elevations of the mountain are populated by oak , hickory , birch , beech and maple , the summit dome was historically dominated by red spruce . Rowan , eastern hemlock , and balsam fir also occur above 4,000 feet (1,200 m), though they are not as common as

106-589: A massif of mountains in Northeastern New York which form a circular dome approximately 160 miles (260 km) wide and covering about 5,000 square miles (13,000 km ). The region contains more than 100 peaks, including Mount Marcy , which is the highest point in New York at 5,344 feet (1,629 m). The Adirondack High Peaks , a traditional list of 46 peaks over 4,000 feet (1,200 m), are popular hiking destinations. There are over 200 named lakes with

159-616: A projectile point of red-brown chert found in 2007 at the edge of Tupper Lake. During an interval of roughly 11,000 years following the end of the Last Glacial Period, the climate of the Adirondacks gradually warmed, with the area's tundra being replaced by forests that were now able to grow. During the transition between the Archaic and Woodland (1000 BC – AD 1000) periods, multiple different groups replaced

212-426: A 10,000 feet (ca. 3,048 m) thick layer of ice to completely melt. Evidence of this period includes: Soils in the area are generally thin, sandy, acidic, and infertile, having developed since the glacial retreat. The climate is strongly continental , with high humidity and precipitation year-round. The Adirondacks typically experience pleasantly warm, rainy weather in the summer (June–August), with temperatures in

265-527: A comeback on the mountain; however, it will take many years for the area to fully recover. The mountaintop can be reached by hiking but is more commonly reached by riding the Cass Scenic Railroad , which transports visitors via old logging railroads to a 4,730 feet (1,440 m) sub-peak approximately 1 ⁄ 4 mile (0.40 km) north of Bald Knob. Bald Knob generally experiences mild summers and cold winters. The summit and west facing slopes of

318-622: A dominance of sugar maple ( Acer saccharum ), American beech ( Fagus grandifolia ), and yellow birch ( Betula lutea ). Other characteristic species of the mixed mesophytic forest region are also present: tuliptree ( Liriodendron tulipifera ), basswood ( Tilia heterophylla , T.floridana , T. neglecta ), chestnut ( Castanea dentata ), yellow buckeye ( Aesculus flava ), red oak ( Quercus borealis ), white oak ( Q. alba ), and eastern hemlock ( Tsuga canadensis ). The upper reaches of Spruce Mountain also include areas termed northern hardwood and northern evergreen forest types. The former

371-544: A spur of the main mountain — to the east. The ridgelines of Spruce Mountain and Timber Ridge continue to the north of US Route 33 as Hoffman Ridge and Smith Mountain, respectively. To the south (south of West Virginia 28 ) the line continues as Big Mountain. Prominent peaks of Spruce Mountain, north to south, are Horse Rock (4,536 ft; 1,383 m), Spruce Mountain Peak (4,586 ft; 1,398 m), Picea Benchmark (4,613 ft; 1,406 m), and Spruce Knob itself. Spruce Knob

424-556: A volcanic arc (now known as the Blue Ridge Mountains ) which eventually collided with the North American Plate. The arc fused onto the continent and the land to the west was uplifted. The accumulation of shells and other hard parts of marine organisms (made of CaCO 3 , calcium carbonate ) at the bottom of the shallow inland sea cemented into a layer of Greenbrier Limestone . The shallow inland sea began to retreat with

477-415: Is accessible both via trails and a paved Forest Service road, and is crowned with a stone lookout tower amid a mixture of boulder fields, meadows and trees. A handicap-accessible nature trail one-half mile (0.80 km) long circles the topmost part of the mountain. High west winds near the summit have gnarled the spruce there like Krummholz , flagged with limbs only on their leeward (eastward) side. As

530-671: Is bounded by three other provinces: the St. Lawrence (Champlain) on the north, northeast; the Appalachian Plateau to the south, southwest; and the Valley and Ridge to the southeast. The entire region lies within Adirondack Park , a New York state protected area of over 6,000,000 acres (2,400,000 ha). The park was established in 1892 by the state legislature to protect the region's natural resources and to provide recreational opportunities for

583-561: Is caused by a hot spot in the Earth's crust . A recent study has revealed a column of seismically slow materials about 50–80 km deep beneath the Adirondack Mountains, which was interpreted to be the upwelling asthenosphere contributing to the uplift of the mountains. The occurrence of earthquake swarms near the center of the massif at Blue Mountain Lake may be evidence of this. Some of

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636-660: Is the highest Allegheny Mountain point both in the state and the entire range, which spans four states. Spruce Mountain lies mostly within the Spruce Knob–Seneca Rocks National Recreation Area , a U.S. National Recreation Area (NRA) located within the Monongahela National Forest (MNF) in Pendleton County . It extends from the vicinity of Onego in the north to near Cherry Grove in the south. Brushy Run separates Timber Ridge —

689-528: Is the highest point in the eastern United States between the Adirondacks of New York and Mount Rogers (part of the Blue Ridge Mountains ) in southern Virginia . The summit of Spruce Knob has a definite alpine feel, much more so than most other mountains of the southern Appalachians . The upper few hundred feet are covered in a dense spruce forest, a relic boreal forest environment similar to those found in northern New England and Canada . The summit

742-477: Is the most common tree species on the summit. The lower altitudes are populated by oak , hickory , birch , beech and maple . Bald eagles , hawks and peregrine falcons have been seen on the mountain. Mammals such as black bear , white-tailed deer , weasel , porcupine , skunk and rabbit are also found. The important presence of ruffed grouse ( Bonasa umbellus ) on the Mountain has been acknowledged by

795-639: Is typical in the southern Appalachians, the highest point on a ridge is frequently referred to as a knob or dome. Spruce Knob is the highest point along a ridge known as the Allegheny Front . Dropping steeply to the east, it offers views of the Germany Valley and North Fork Mountain ; to the west is the Allegheny Plateau . It also is the highest point in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed . Like

848-443: Is typified by red oak, white ash ( Fraxinus americana ), basswood ( Tilia spp.), red maple ( Acer rubrum ), and cherry ( Prunus spp.). The latter is dominated by the Mountain's eponymous red spruce ( Picea rubens ). While not extending above the timberline , the stunted tree growth high on this windy mountaintop is relatively open. The summit was named for the spruce trees which grow there. Red spruce ( Picea rubens )

901-601: The Algonquians who allied with the French. Another early use of the name, spelled Rontaks , was in 1729 by French missionary Joseph-François Lafitau . He explained that the word was used by the Iroquois as a derogatory term for groups of Algonquians who did not practice agriculture and therefore sometimes had to eat tree bark to survive harsh winters. The Mohawks had no written language, so Europeans used various phonetic spellings of

954-613: The sedimentary rock was changed into metamorphic rock . It is these Proterozoic minerals and lithologies that make up the core of the massif. Minerals of interest include: The Adirondacks are uplifted by a hot spot in the Canadian Shield in contrast to other mountain ranges in New York which are a part of the Appalachian chain (not to be confused with the cultural region of Appalachia). Around 600 million years ago, as Laurentia drifted away from Baltica (European Craton),

1007-479: The 20th century failed for numerous reasons, including poaching, vehicle collisions, and conservation incompetence. Nearly 60 percent of the park is covered with northern hardwood forest . Above 2,600 feet (790 meters), conditions are too poor for hardwoods to thrive, and the trees become mixed with or replaced by balsam fir and red spruce . Above 3,500 feet (1,100 meters) black spruce replace red. Higher still, only trees short enough to be covered in snow during

1060-539: The Adirondack Mountains as hunting grounds. According to Haudenosaunee historian Rick Hill, the region was considered a ' Dish with One Spoon ,' symbolizing shared hunting resources between the groups. A group of Algonquian people, known as the Mahicans, also occupied the region, particularly the Hudson River Valley. These were the groups that the first European explorers of the area encountered. European presence in

1113-486: The Adirondack mountains. Because local Iroquoian and Algonquian tribes had been decimated first by smallpox and measles in the 1600s, then by wars with encroaching European settlers, there likely were very few people living in the region by the time Pownhall wrote his description. It is only relatively recently that numerous archaeological finds have definitively shown that Native Americans were indeed very present in

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1166-441: The Adirondacks before European contact, hunting, making pottery, and practicing agriculture. The European impression of a wild region devoid of human connection set up a narrative about wilderness that would persist through the next 200-some years of the region's history. While society's perception of the Adirondacks' value changed, they were always seen as a land of natural resources and physical beauty, not of human history. First

1219-519: The Adirondacks have been referred to as "new mountains from old rocks." It is theorized that there is a hotspot beneath the region, which causes continued uplift at the rate of 1.5–3 centimetres ( 5 ⁄ 8 – 1 + 1 ⁄ 8  in) annually. The Adirondack mountain range has such unusual characteristics compared to the area around it that it is divided into its own province within the Appalachian Highlands physiographic division. It

1272-648: The Adirondacks were Paleo-Indians who arrived around the 14th millennium BC following the end of the Last Glacial Period . The earliest migrants arrived from the St. Lawrence River Valley to the north, and settled along the shores of the Champlain Sea . During the Archaic Period (8000–1000 BC) this semi-nomadic hunter-gatherer Laurentian culture inhabited the Adirondacks; evidence of their presence includes

1325-680: The Laurentian culture—including the Sylvan Lake, River, Middlesex, Point Peninsula, and Owasco cultures. By the time of the Owasco culture c.  1 AD , maize and beans were being cultivated in the uplands of the Adirondacks. The first Iroquoian peoples, the Mohawk (or Kanyengehaga) and the Oneida (or Oneyotdehaga), arrived in the Adirondack region between 4,000 and 1,200 years ago. Both groups claimed

1378-587: The Mountain; the larger (43 sites) is nearest the lake. Paved access is from U.S. Route 33 / West Virginia Route 28 about 2 miles (3.2 km) south of Riverton . Briery Gap Road (County Route 33/4), Forest Road 112 and Forest Road 104 have been reconstructed and paved to provide a hard-surfaced road to the summit. Forest Roads 104 and 112 are not maintained in the winter. Impassable conditions can be expected any time from mid-October to mid-April. Adirondacks The Adirondack Mountains ( / ˌ æ d ɪ ˈ r ɒ n d æ k / AD -i- RON -dak ) are

1431-513: The area began to be pulled apart forming the Iapetus Ocean . Faults developed, running north to northeast which formed valleys and deep lakes. Examples visible today include the grabens Lake George and Schroon Lake . By this time the Grenville mountains had been eroded away and the area was covered by a shallow sea. Several thousand feet of sediment accumulated on the sea bed. Trilobites were

1484-422: The area began with a battle between Samuel de Champlain and a group of Mohawks, in what is now Ticonderoga in 1609. The Jesuit missionary Isaac Jogues became the first recorded European to travel through the center of the Adirondacks, as the captive of a Mohawk hunting party, in 1642. The early European perception of the Adirondacks was of a vast, inhospitable wilderness. One map of the area from 1771 shows

1537-502: The area was an inhospitable tangle, then a lucrative store of lumber. After the American Revolutionary War , New York State gained ownership of most of the land in the region. Needing money to discharge war debts, the government sold nearly all the original public acreage about 7 million acres for pennies an acre. Lumbermen were welcomed to the interior, with few restraints, resulting in massive deforestation . Later,

1590-532: The earthquakes have exceeded 5 on the Richter magnitude scale . Starting about 2.5 million years ago, a cycle of Pleistocene glacial and interglacial periods began which covered the area in ice. During the most recent episode, the Laurentide Ice Sheet covered most of northern North America between about 95,000 and c. 20,000 years ago. After this the climate warmed, but it took nearly 10,000 years for

1643-504: The entirety of the MNF, most of the original Spruce Mountain upland forest was completely denuded by logging around the turn of the 20th century and now consists of second- or third-growth forest. (The only documented exception to this on the Mountain is the 17-acre (69,000 m ) North Spruce Mountain Old Growth Site. ) The present second-growth forest of Spruce Mountain is characterized by

Bald Knob (West Virginia) - Misplaced Pages Continue

1696-585: The establishment of the 1,750-acre (7.1 km ) Spruce Mountain Grouse Management Area by the MNF Spruce Knob is within the Spruce Knob–Seneca Rocks National Recreation Area , which in turn is part of Monongahela National Forest . Established in 1965, it was the first National Recreation Area designated by the U.S. Forest Service and includes more than 100,000 acres (40,000 ha). There are over 75 miles (121 km) of hiking trails around

1749-505: The first freeze usually occurs in September; however, freezing temperatures can occur anytime throughout the year. Current weather conditions for both the summit and base of the mountain at the town of Cass are available below. While most of Back Allegheny Mountain is owned by Monongahela National Forest , the summit at Bald Knob itself is part of Cass Scenic Railroad State Park . Most visitors to Bald Knob come via train from Cass , but

1802-503: The highest point in the landscape. Spruce Knob (Spruce Mountain) is the westernmost extent of this intense folding and faulting. To the west, the Allegheny Plateau is composed of more gently sloping hills and dendritic drainages. Spruce Knob's climate can be classified as cold continental or highland . Summers are cool and often damp, with thunderstorms common both in spring and summer. Winters are cold and snowy, with an average of around 180 inches (4.6 m) of annual snowfall leaving

1855-491: The more recent human history of the Adirondack region, see Adirondack Park . The rocks of the Adirondack mountains originated about two billion years ago as 50,000 feet (ca. 15,240 m) thick sediments at the bottom of a sea located near the equator . Because of plate tectonics these collided with Laurentia (the precursor of modern North America) in a mountain building episode known as the Grenville orogeny . During this time

1908-495: The mountain and a small 25-acre (10 ha) lake well stocked with trout on the west side of the mountain. Two campgrounds are also on the mountain. Hiking trails — Huckleberry Trail, Lumberjack Trail, Spruce Mountain Trail — extend the length of the ridge. There are over 75 miles (121 km) of trails around the Mountain and a small 25 acres (10 hectares) lake well stocked with trout on the west side. There are also two campgrounds on

1961-601: The mountain receive an average of 60 inches (1,500 mm) of precipitation per year and 180 inches (4,600 mm) of snowfall. The annual record snowfall is over 300 inches (7,600 mm). Temperatures in the area have been known to reach −40 degrees Fahrenheit (−40 °C). Winter conditions can occur anytime from early October through early May. Snowfall has been observed in the higher elevations in every month except July. Federal troops observed snowfall on August 13, 1861, at nearby Fort Milroy . The last freeze usually occurs in May and

2014-573: The mountain. When the North American and African Plates finally collided around 250 mya, it caused a massive uplift that folded and faulted these layers of sedimentary rock. Spruce Knob was originally in the bottom (syncline) of one of these folds, but over time cracks in the Pottsville Conglomerate in the higher elevations allowed it to erode quickly, and the softer layers of shale and limestone were quick to follow. This left Spruce Knob as

2067-504: The number of smaller lakes, ponds, and other bodies of water reaching over 3,000. Among the named lakes around the mountains are Lake George , Lake Placid , and Lake Tear of the Clouds . The region has over 1,200 miles (1,900 km) of river. Although the mountains are formed from ancient rocks more than 1 billion years old, geologically, the mountains are relatively young and were created during recent periods of glaciation. Because of this,

2120-573: The principal life-form of the sea bed, and fossil tracks can be seen in the Potsdam sandstone floor of the Paul Smiths Visitor Interpretive Center. About 10 million years ago, the region began to be uplifted. It has been lifted about 7000 feet (ca. 2,134 meters) and is continuing at about 2 millimeters per year, which is greater than the rate of denudation . The cause of the uplift is unknown, but geologists theorize that it

2173-420: The public. It covers over 20 percent of New York state's land area. The word Adirondack is thought to come from the Mohawk word atirǫ́·taks meaning "eaters of trees". The earliest written use of the name was in 1635 by Harmen Meyndertsz van den Bogaert in his Mohawk to Dutch glossary, found in his Journey into Mohawk Country . He spelled it Adirondakx and said that it stood for Frenchmen, meaning

Bald Knob (West Virginia) - Misplaced Pages Continue

2226-566: The range of 66–73 °F (19–23 °C), cooler than the rest of New York State due to the higher elevation. Summer evenings in the Adirondacks are chilly, with temperatures ranging on average between 45–54 °F (7–12 °C). Winters (December–March) are long, cold, snowy and harsh, with temperatures ranging from 18 to 23 °F (−8 to −5 °C). Winter nights are frigid, with temperatures between −2 and 4 °F (−19 and −16 °C). Spring (April–May) and fall (September–November) are short transitional seasons. The Adirondack Mountains form

2279-681: The region as a blank space in the northeastern corner of New York. In 1784, Thomas Pownhall wrote that the Native Americans referred to the area as "the Dismal Wilderness, or the Habitation of Winter," and that the area was "either not much known to them, or, if known, very wisely by them kept from the Knowledge of the Europeans." He clearly had the impression that native people did not live within

2332-665: The rest of this part of the Appalachian Mountains , Spruce Knob began to form with the breakup of Pangea I between 570 and 500 mya. The African Plate separated from the North American Plate opening the Proto-Atlantic Ocean. The North American Plate stretched and thinned, allowing it to backfill with a shallow inland sea. About 50 million years later, with the Taconic Orogeny , the two plates reversed course and began to move towards each other. Mid-ocean subduction created

2385-680: The site is also accessible by Forest Road 267B, which is closed to motorized vehicles most of the year. A two-mile hike from Odey Run can easily be walked or biked to arrive at Bald Knob. For safety reasons, hiking along the railroad grade itself is not permitted. Spruce Knob Spruce Mountain , located in eastern West Virginia , is the highest ridge of the Allegheny Mountains . The whale-backed ridge extends for only 16 miles (26 km) from northeast to southwest, but several of its peaks exceed 4,500 feet (1,400 m) in elevation. The summit, Spruce Knob (4,863 ft; 1,482 m),

2438-640: The southernmost part of the Eastern forest-boreal transition ecoregion . They are heavily forested, and contain one of the southernmost distributions of the taiga ecotype in North America. The forests of the Adirondacks include spruce , pine and deciduous trees. Lumbering, once an important industry, has been much restricted by the creation of state forest preserve. The mountains include many wetlands , of which there are three kinds: Breeding birds include northern forest specialists not found anywhere else in

2491-500: The spruce. The region was extensively logged from 1900 to 1960. Red spruce, being a valuable natural resource, attracted timber companies into the area. By 1940, the mountain had been stripped of nearly all virgin red spruce. The last harvest of red spruce and eastern hemlock on Bald Knob was in 1960. The summit was one of the last places logged by the Mower Lumber Company. Today, red spruce and other high elevation flora are making

2544-511: The state, such as boreal chickadees , Canada jays , spruce grouse , black-backed woodpeckers , common loons and crossbills . Mammals include raccoons , beavers , river otters , bobcats , moose , black bears , and coyotes . Extirpated or extinct mammals that formerly roamed the Adirondacks include the eastern cougar , eastern elk , wolverine , caribou , eastern wolf , and the Canada lynx . Attempted reintroductions of elk and lynx in

2597-447: The summit access road often impassible between October and April. Blizzard conditions can develop in minutes behind cold frontal passages and last days with upslope snowfall continuing with northwest winds, making travel on the mountain dangerous during the colder months. This mountain can receive high winds year-round; red spruce deformed by constant exposure to strong westerly winds are scattered across its rocky ridges. As with almost

2650-558: The uplift. This caused fine grains of mud and silt to settle out and lithify into a layer of Mauch Chunk Shale on top of the Greenbrier Limestone. As the Blue Ridge eroded, rivers carried sediment down to the low-lying areas that formed a layer of Pottsville Conglomerate on top of the shale. The large boulders on the summit are remnants of this layer, and outcrops of both Mauch Chunk Shale and Greenbrier Limestone can be found lower on

2703-547: The wilderness character of the region became popular with the rise of the Romantic movement , and the Adirondacks became a destination for those wishing to escape the evils of city life. Rising concern over water quality and deforestation led to the creation of the Adirondack Park in 1885. In 1989, part of the Adirondack region was designated by UNESCO as the Champlain-Adirondack Biosphere Reserve . For

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2756-434: The winter can survive. A small area on the highest peaks exists above the tree line and has an alpine climate . These areas are covered by plants which occupied a large lowland tundra following the most recent period of glaciation. The amount of area covered by this ecosystem changes from year to year due to local climate changes, and has been estimated to only cover between 65–85 acres (26–34 hectares). The alpine ecosystem

2809-463: The word, including Achkokx , Rondaxe , and Adirondax. Such words were strongly associated with the region, but they were not yet considered a place name; an English map from 1761 labels the area simply Deer Hunting Country . In 1838, the mountains were named Adirondacks by Ebenezer Emmons , the State Geologist for the northern New York State Geological District. The first humans to live in

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