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59-673: The Bowl is situated among sloping hills of the Taconic Range to the west and north and the Berkshire Hills to the east. From the north there is an impressive view over the lake and Housatonic River plain to Monument Mountain seven miles to the south. The portion of the Taconic Range bordering the lake is known as Yokun Ridge . The lake is 1 3 ⁄ 4 miles long, about 3 ⁄ 4 miles wide, and its shoreline totals approximately 6 miles (10 km). The primary inflow into

118-702: A 5.5 foot (1.7 m) drawdown is a major milestone in improving and restoring the health of the Bowl. It represents a triumph of cooperation between the Board of Selectmen and the SBA." NHESP subsequently determined that a species of snail common in some other states, but present only in Stockbridge Bowl and nearby Laurel Lake. would be endangered by such a significant drawdown, and has withdrawn its approval of it. SBA's fundraising efforts, and Town and State contributions, have generated

177-551: A beach owned by the BSO on the northern shore of the lake. Residents of the Town of Stockbridge may use the Town Beach on the southeast corner of the Bowl. Each September, during the annual Josh Billings RunAground , a team triathlon event, the middle leg of the race requires canoers and kayakers to navigate one and three-quarters times around the perimeter of the lake. Up to 550 teams compete in

236-418: A dam and the filling of the reservoir behind it places a new weight on the floor and sides of a valley. The stress of the water increases linearly with its depth. Water also pushes against the upstream face of the dam, a nonrigid structure that under stress behaves semiplastically, and causes greater need for adjustment (flexibility) near the base of the dam than at shallower water levels. Thus the stress level of

295-483: A fund that will be used to support additional efforts to improve lake habitat. Some dredging to remove silt that has accumulated in the lake bottom, and hydro raking to control waterlilies is anticipated to begin as early as 2019. The SBA is also working to secure the necessary approval for the use of herbicides in common and effective use in other lakes that, by interfering with photosynthesis, can prevent plant overgrowth without interfering with animal life. The SBA owns

354-434: A simple embankment of well-compacted earth. A homogeneous rolled-earth dam is entirely constructed of one type of material but may contain a drain layer to collect seep water. A zoned-earth dam has distinct parts or zones of dissimilar material, typically a shell of locally plentiful material with a watertight clay core. Modern zoned-earth embankments employ filter and drain zones to collect and remove seep water and preserve

413-404: A small sustained overtopping flow can remove thousands of tons of overburden soil from the mass of the dam within hours. The removal of this mass unbalances the forces that stabilize the dam against its reservoir as the mass of water still impounded behind the dam presses against the lightened mass of the embankment, made lighter by surface erosion. As the mass of the dam erodes, the force exerted by

472-686: A thick suspension of earth, rocks and water. Therefore, safety requirements for the spillway are high, and require it to be capable of containing a maximum flood stage. It is common for its specifications to be written such that it can contain at least a one-hundred-year flood. A number of embankment dam overtopping protection systems were developed in the early 21st century. These techniques include concrete overtopping protection systems, timber cribs , sheet-piles , riprap and gabions , Reinforced Earth , minimum energy loss weirs , embankment overflow stepped spillways , and precast concrete block protection systems. All dams are prone to seepage underneath

531-510: A variety of rare and endangered species; and Mount Philo 968 feet (295 m), home of Mount Philo State Park with its mountaintop campground. Natural resource extraction has been an important industry in the Taconic Mountains; extraction industries have included marble , limestone , slate , and iron mining as well as logging and charcoaling . Along with various state properties, some mentioned elsewhere in this article,

590-441: Is a large artificial dam . It is typically created by the placement and compaction of a complex semi- plastic mound of various compositions of soil or rock. It has a semi-pervious waterproof natural covering for its surface and a dense, impervious core. This makes the dam impervious to surface or seepage erosion . Such a dam is composed of fragmented independent material particles. The friction and interaction of particles binds

649-619: Is a large dam on the Indus River in Pakistan , about 50 km (31 mi) northwest of Islamabad . Its height of 485 ft (148 m) above the river bed and 95 sq mi (250 km ) reservoir make it the largest earth-filled dam in the world. The principal element of the project is an embankment 9,000 feet (2,700 m) long with a maximum height of 465 feet (142 m). The dam used approximately 200 million cubic yards (152.8 million cu. meters) of fill, which makes it one of

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708-552: Is forbidden. January–March, if the lake has frozen, ice-fishing is common. The State stocks it with trout twice yearly and there is a high population of typical still-water fish. The Bowl is also home to the Mahkeenak Boating Club, a venerable sailing and social club with a three-story boathouse on the western side of the lake. When not performing or practicing, many members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra enjoy

767-690: Is larger than the current Taconic Mountains, extending westward toward the Hudson River . It formed during the Ordovician period in the collision of the North American Plate into a volcanic island arc . Geologist E-An Zen proved this allochthon's existence in 1966 via a study of the region's faulting, although it had been proposed around 1906 by Rudolf Ruedemann and separately by Arthur Keith , each using concepts associated with French geologist Marcel Alexandre Bertrand . Their proposals regarding

826-412: Is likely from a Delaware word meaning "in the trees". The spelling "Taghkanic", among several variant transliterations, is current for about a half-dozen locales, mostly within the immediate region. As written English, the term appears in a 1685 petition for the right to purchase land in western Massachusetts. Timothy Dwight IV used the name "Taughkannuc Mountain" in an account of his 1781 ascent of

885-721: Is now occupied by the Kripalu Center , a yoga , health and wellness retreat center. Nearby Wheatleigh is another remnant of the Gilded Age that is now a resort. As a Great Pond, the lake is owned by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The Town of Stockbridge maintains it and, since 1946, has been assisted by the Stockbridge Bowl Association in protecting and restoring the ecology of Stockbridge Bowl. The Association or "SBA" has approximately 350 members who live in or near

944-661: The Berkshire Natural Resources Council and the Nature Conservancy have been active in the region. The U.S. Forest Service has designated several areas within the Taconics under its Forest Legacy Program , which affords subsidies for the acquisition of conservation easement, although practical effects have been limited. Minor fragments of the Green Mountain National Forest are located in

1003-672: The Taconic Skyline Trail )s. North of the Massachusetts border, the profile of the Taconic Range is cut by the Hoosic River in the vicinity of Bennington, Vermont . Mount Anthony 2,320 feet (710 m), notable for its caves and as the location of the former Southern Vermont College , stands as a satellite peak above the surrounding eroded terrain. North of Bennington, the range gradually rises to its highest prominence with peaks such as Mount Equinox 3,850 feet (1,170 m),

1062-623: The "Josh." The first leg of the Josh is a 28-mile (45 km) bike race which starts in Great Barrington ; and, the final leg is a six-mile foot race that begins at the water's edge in Camp Mah-Kee-Nac and ends at the main gate to Tanglewood. The shoreline is the site of more than 450 private cottages. Estates from the Gilded Age and their historic sites are adjacent to the lake. and numerous in

1121-443: The 19th century. This area includes a locally significant and expansive area of undisturbed forest, although only a fraction is assured protection from development. Mount Washington State Forest and Taconic State Park are among the larger public properties within the immediate region. The highest summit here is Mount Everett 2,624 feet (800 m), home of a pitch pine and scrub oak biome . Others include Mount Frissell ,

1180-592: The 20th century, it became attached to the theory of an Ordovician mountain-building event involving much of what is now eastern North America named the " Taconic Orogeny ". The range is part of the Taconic Allochthon , a local rock structure which traveled to its current position from about 25 miles to the east through low-angle thrusting. Rocks of this allochthon are older than the strata lying beneath, and consist of slate , phyllite , and schist , "plus some minor lenses of limestone ." The Taconic allochthon

1239-466: The Bowl is from the northeast through Lily Brook. The drainage is from the southwest by Larrywaug Brook, which is a tributary to the Housatonic River. At its deepest, the lake is 48 feet (15 m) deep. The lake is artificially impounded by a dam at the end of a natural outlet a half mile from the lake's southwest corner. Three-acre Kwuniikwat Island is at the southwest end of the lake. The island

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1298-792: The Northern Taconics. Multi-partner collaboratives that have targeted the Taconic Mountains with limited results and include the New England Wildlands and Woodlands Collaborative, a regional conservation agenda for the New England states produced by representatives of dozens of non-profits and academic institutions and, more specifically, the Taconic Crest Project, which involves the states of New York, Massachusetts, and Vermont in collaboration with local land trusts and The Nature Conservancy. Earthen dam An embankment dam

1357-529: The Taconic Mountains are the foothills of the Lake Bomoseen region west of Birdseye and Grandpa's Knob, notable for their extensive slate quarrying operations. North of Grandpa's Knob, the Taconic Range soon diminishes into scattered hills which extend north into the Burlington, Vermont region. Isolated summits in this area include Snake Mountain 1,281 feet (390 m), a Nature Conservancy preserve featuring

1416-724: The Taconics' central segment includes New York's Beebe Hill and Harvey Mt. State Forest, Berlin State Forest, Pittsfield State Forest and the contiguous Taconic Ridge State Forest and Taconic Trail State Park in New York and Massachusetts, respectively, as well as the Mount Greylock State Reservation . Within this segment are also three long-distance trails (the Appalachian Trail , the Taconic Crest Trail , and

1475-610: The Taconics, however, were viewed as unproven and controversial until Zen's work. An earlier and largely separate dispute over the age of the Taconic Mountains based on the region's sparse fossil record began in the 1830s and centered on the theory of Ebenezer Emmons of Williams College that the range was older than its surroundings with a distinct geology he named "the Taconic System." In opposing Emmons' theory, James Hall of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute initially gained prominent support from famed international scientists of

1534-407: The area. Seranak Cottage, above the lake's north side, is a 34-room house owned by the Boston Symphony Orchestra. This was formerly the summer home of Serge Koussevitzky , the music director of the orchestra and the founder of Tanglewood Music Center . The Shadow Brook Farm Historic District is part of the former Shadowbrook estate, once owned by Andrew Carnegie , and where he died. His homesite

1593-616: The asphalt make such dams especially suited to earthquake regions. For the Moglicë Hydro Power Plant in Albania the Norwegian power company Statkraft built an asphalt-core rock-fill dam. Upon completion in 2018 the 320 m long, 150 m high and 460 m wide dam is anticipated to be the world's highest of its kind. A concrete-face rock-fill dam (CFRD) is a rock-fill dam with concrete slabs on its upstream face. This design provides

1652-589: The city of Rutland; these include Herrick Mountain 2,726 feet (831 m); Grandpa's Knob 1,976 feet (602 m), the former site of the Smith–Putnam wind turbine , the first large-scale electricity-producing wind turbine ; and the butte -like Bird Mountain (also called Birdseye Mountain) 2,216 feet (675 m), home of the Bird Mountain Wildlife Management Area and notable as an important raptor migration path and nesting site. Also part of

1711-536: The concrete slab as an impervious wall to prevent leakage and also a structure without concern for uplift pressure. In addition, the CFRD design is flexible for topography, faster to construct and less costly than earth-fill dams. The CFRD concept originated during the California Gold Rush in the 1860s when miners constructed rock-fill timber-face dams for sluice operations . The timber was later replaced by concrete as

1770-406: The core is separated using a filter. Filters are specifically graded soil designed to prevent the migration of fine grain soil particles. When suitable building material is at hand, transport is minimized, leading to cost savings during construction. Rock-fill dams are resistant to damage from earthquakes . However, inadequate quality control during construction can lead to poor compaction and sand in

1829-502: The crest shifts west once again to hills contained within Pittsfield State Forest and the contiguous Balance Rock Park and Bates Memorial State Park, where heights include Holy Mount 1,968 feet (600 m), (once the location of religious rituals practiced by a former Shaker community) and Berry Hill 2,200 feet (670 m), notable for its extensive stands of wild azalea . North of Jiminy Peak 2,392 feet (729 m),

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1888-406: The dam must be calculated in advance of building to ensure that its break level threshold is not exceeded. Overtopping or overflow of an embankment dam beyond its spillway capacity will cause its eventual failure . The erosion of the dam's material by overtopping runoff will remove masses of material whose weight holds the dam in place and against the hydraulic forces acting to move the dam. Even

1947-486: The dam, but embankment dams are prone to seepage through the dam as well; for example, the Usoi landslide dam leaks 35-80 cubic meters per second. Sufficiently fast seepage can dislodge a dam's component particles, which results in faster seepage, which turns into a runaway feedback loop that can destroy the dam in a piping-type failure. Seepage monitoring is therefore an essential safety consideration. gn and Construction in

2006-491: The dam. The core can be of clay, concrete, or asphalt concrete . This type of dam is a good choice for sites with wide valleys. They can be built on hard rock or softer soils. For a rock-fill dam, rock-fill is blasted using explosives to break the rock. Additionally, the rock pieces may need to be crushed into smaller grades to get the right range of size for use in an embankment dam. Earth-fill dams, also called earthen dams, rolled-earth dams or earth dams, are constructed as

2065-500: The day, including Louis Agassiz and Charles Lyell . Emmons died in 1863, yet as late as the 1880s two leading geologists of the era James Dwight Dana (Yale University) and Jules Marcou wrote of their continued and sometimes bitter disagreements over Emmons' theory. This early phase of ideas about the Taconic Mountains is compared with the Great Devonian Controversy that preoccupied British geologists for part of

2124-452: The design was applied to irrigation and power schemes. As CFRD designs grew in height during the 1960s, the fill was compacted and the slab's horizontal and vertical joints were replaced with improved vertical joints. In the last few decades, design has become popular. The tallest CFRD in the world is the 233 m-tall (764 ft) Shuibuya Dam in China , completed in 2008. The building of

2183-522: The east by a series of valleys, principally those of the Housatonic River , Battenkill River and Otter Creek . The Taconics' highest point is Mount Equinox in Vermont at 3,840 feet (1,170 m); among many other summits are Dorset Mountain , Mount Greylock and Mount Everett . Forests are predominately maple-beech-birch with some spruce-fir at higher elevations, "and oak and hickory common to

2242-543: The east, composed of schist and phyllite , is dominated by the 7-mile (11 km) escarpment of Tinmouth Mountain 2,835 feet (864 m), overlooking the Valley of Vermont to the east in the town of Tinmouth . A field of less descript ridges and peaks lies between these two summits. Near the end of the range, in the vicinity of Rutland, Vermont , the Taconic Mountains show several prominent peaks with dramatic, irregular cliff faces clearly visible from U.S. Route 4 west of

2301-566: The embankment which can lead to liquefaction of the rock-fill during an earthquake. Liquefaction potential can be reduced by keeping susceptible material from being saturated, and by providing adequate compaction during construction. An example of a rock-fill dam is New Melones Dam in California or the Fierza Dam in Albania . A core that is growing in popularity is asphalt concrete . The majority of such dams are built with rock and/or gravel as

2360-526: The high point of the Taconic Mountains, and Dorset Mountain 3,770 feet (1,150 m), a New England 100 Highest list summit. Other notable summits include Grass Mountain 3,109 feet (948 m), a New England Fifty Finest list mountain; and Mount Aeolus 3,230 feet (980 m), the location of several defunct marble quarries and the site of Aeolus Cave an important bat hibernaculum . Designated hiking trails are located on Mount Equinox, Dorset Mountain, and Mount Aeolus, and several other peaks within

2419-453: The integrity of the downstream shell zone. An outdated method of zoned earth dam construction used a hydraulic fill to produce a watertight core. Rolled-earth dams may also employ a watertight facing or core in the manner of a rock-fill dam. The frozen-core dam is a temporary earth dam occasionally used in high latitudes by circulating a coolant through pipes inside the dam to maintain a watertight region of permafrost within it. Tarbela Dam

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2478-587: The island at the southwest corner of the lake, and in 2018 renamed it "Kwuniikwat," to honor the historical presence in the area of the Stockbridge-Muncie tribe of Mohicans, and their traditions of stewardship for their lands. The 340-foot (100 m)-long earthen Stockbridge Bowl Dam was completed in 1880. It is owned by the Town Of Stockbridge. A 2008 inspection found the dam in "satisfactory" condition. Lydia Sigourney 's poem The Stockbridge Bowl

2537-448: The lake free of them. Stockbridge Bowl is the largest lake within the Town of Stockbridge, with a public boat ramp making the lake accessible to all, provided that any vessel being launched into the Bowl must be thoroughly washed first to remove all possible Zebra Mussel contamination. Throughout the year, the lake is extensively used by scullers, canoers, kayakers, sailers, swimmers, waterskiers, powerboaters, and fishermen. Using Jet-skis

2596-449: The largest man-made structures in the world. Because earthen dams can be constructed from local materials, they can be cost-effective in regions where the cost of producing or bringing in concrete would be prohibitive. Rock -fill dams are embankments of compacted free-draining granular earth with an impervious zone. The earth used often contains a high percentage of large particles, hence the term "rock-fill". The impervious zone may be on

2655-483: The late fall. Such a drawdown has been successful in many other lakes in the Berkshires and elsewhere to limit the growth of an invasive Eurasian Water Milfoil. The four-foot diameter diversion drain cost $ 1 million to engineer, to get regulatory approval and to install. The SBA worked closely with the Town to raise the funds needed for this project. Richard Seltzer, President of the SBA, noted that "The ability to achieve

2714-523: The northeast of Harvey Mountain is West Stockbridge Mountain and the Lenox Mountain massif; taken together, modern conservationists have named these two separate areas Yokun Ridge , an 9-mile (14 km) zone extending from the Massachusetts Turnpike to the southerly neighborhoods of Pittsfield at elevations ranging between roughly 1,000 and 2,000 feet (300 and 610 m). At Pittsfield,

2773-435: The particles together into a stable mass rather than by the use of a cementing substance. Embankment dams come in two types: the earth-filled dam (also called an earthen dam or terrain dam ) made of compacted earth, and the rock-filled dam . A cross-section of an embankment dam shows a shape like a bank, or hill. Most have a central section or core composed of an impermeable material to stop water from seeping through

2832-424: The primary fill. Almost 100 dams of this design have now been built worldwide since the first such dam was completed in 1962. All asphalt-concrete core dams built so far have an excellent performance record. The type of asphalt used is a viscoelastic - plastic material that can adjust to the movements and deformations imposed on the embankment as a whole, and to settlement of the foundation. The flexible properties of

2891-620: The range; the 21.3-mile (34.3 km) South Taconic Trail traverses the western escarpment, passing near Bash Bish Falls , reputedly Massachusetts' highest waterfall. From Catamount Ski Area north to the Hoosic River Valley, a straight-line distance of about 50 miles, the crest initially shifts slightly west. Notable summits in the southern part of this segment are Bald Mountain, 1,768 feet (539 m), and Harvey Mountain, 2,057 feet (627 m), as well as Beebe Hill , 1,726 feet (526 m), with its summit fire tower. Several miles to

2950-484: The region. Immediately north of Danby, Vermont , the Taconic Range broadens and becomes lower. It exhibits several parallel ridgelines, dominated to the west by mountains composed of slate and similar rock, most notably the ridgeline of Saint Catherine Mountain 1,200 feet (370 m), with its conspicuous 5-mile (8.0 km) long cliff face visible from Wells and Poultney . The area around Lake Saint Catherine contains extensive slate quarries. The ridgeline to

3009-501: The reservoir begins to move the entire structure. The embankment, having almost no elastic strength, would begin to break into separate pieces, allowing the impounded reservoir water to flow between them, eroding and removing even more material as it passes through. In the final stages of failure, the remaining pieces of the embankment would offer almost no resistance to the flow of the water and continue to fracture into smaller and smaller sections of earth or rock until they disintegrate into

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3068-517: The south and at lower elevations." Parts of the Taconics are in the New England-Acadian forests ecoregion . Although mostly private property, the Taconics contain a half-dozen sizable state forests and parks, as well as many preserves of lesser acreage protected by land trusts. Several hundred miles of trails are within these mountains, including parts of the Appalachian Trail . Taconic

3127-513: The south slope of which contains the highest point in Connecticut at 2,379 feet (725 m); Bear Mountain 2,326 feet (709 m), the highest mountain peak in Connecticut; Alander Mountain 2,239 feet (682 m), Brace Mountain 2,311 feet (704 m),; and Mount Fray 1,893 feet (577 m), home of the Catamount Ski Area . The Appalachian Trail traverses the eastern escarpment of

3186-543: The summit later named Mount Everett . Dwight's account was deemed the "first recorded ascent" of that peak in a 1989 text on regional hiking history. The term first entered geological literature in 1819 with Chester Dewey 's "Sketch of the Mineralogy and Geology of the Vicinity of Williams' College". It gained prominence in the field when Dewey's protégé Emmons proposed the existence of a "Taconic System" in 1839 (see above). In

3245-404: The upstream face and made of masonry , concrete , plastic membrane, steel sheet piles, timber or other material. The impervious zone may also be inside the embankment, in which case it is referred to as a "core". In the instances where clay is used as the impervious material, the dam is referred to as a "composite" dam. To prevent internal erosion of clay into the rock fill due to seepage forces,

3304-457: The valley of Kinderhook Creek cuts through the hills. Here the westernmost ridgeline is dominated by Misery Mountain and Berlin Mountain 2,818 feet (859 m) and extending into Pownal, Vermont . In this vicinity is Mount Greylock 3,491 feet (1,064 m), the highest point in Massachusetts and the long ridge of 2,621 feet (799 m) Brodie Mountain . Significant public property within

3363-410: The watershed of the Bowl. SBA has taken an active role in promoting safe use of the lake and in controlling the quality of the lake. After receiving preliminary approval from MassWildlife's Natural Heritage & Endangered Species Program ( NHESP ), in 2012, the SBA spearheaded the installation of a 255 foot long diversion drain which could allow the water level in the Bowl to be drawn down 5.5 feet in

3422-738: Was named in 2018 by the Stockbridge-Munsee tribe. The lake suffers from eutrophication due to excess nutrients blamed on runoff from development and septic systems in the immediate area. Invasive species are also impacting the lake's eco-system. These include the Eurasian Water Milfoil . Native water lilies, plentiful at the southwest corner of the lake, impact passage to the outlet and dam. Strategies to counter these problems to date have included periodic partial drainage and harvesting of lake weed during summer months. Boat inspections for Zebra mussels have, to date, succeeded in keeping

3481-551: Was published in her Scenes in my Native Land, 1845 together with some descriptive text. Taconic Range The Taconic Mountains ( / t ə ˈ k ɒ n ɪ k / ) are a 150-mile-long sub-range of the Appalachian Mountains lying on the eastern border of New York State and adjacent New England. The range, which played a role in the history of geological science, is separated from the Berkshires and Green Mountains to

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