The Bear Pond Mountains are a sub-range in the

Appalachian Mountains The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, (french: Appalaches), are a system of mountains in eastern to northeastern North America. The Appalachians first formed roughly 480 million years ago during the Ordovician Period. They ...

, that straddle

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

and

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. These mountains are a part of the

Ridge and Valley Appalachians The Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians, also called the Ridge and Valley Province or the Valley and Ridge Appalachians, are a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian division and are also a belt within the Appalachian Mountains extending ...

and reach their highest point at

Cross Mountain (Pennsylvania) Cross Mountain is the highest peak in the Bear Pond Mountains, a sub range of the Appalachian Mountains. This grouping of mountains straddle the Maryland and Pennsylvania border. Cross Mountain and Hearthstone Mountain which is on the Maryland s ...

. A unique geologic feature known as the "Punchbowl" occurs in this range. This feature was created by the weathered shales of the

Ordovician The Ordovician ( ) is a geologic period and System (geology), system, the second of six periods of the Paleozoic Era (geology), Era. The Ordovician spans 41.6 million years from the end of the Cambrian Period million years ago (Mya) to the start ...

age in the center of a south-plunging anticline, having been eroded to expose a large amphitheater-like feature (punchbowl). Cross and Hearthstone Mountain are made of hard resistant quartzite of the

Tuscarora Formation The Silurian Tuscarora Formation — also known as Tuscarora Sandstone or Tuscarora Quartzite — is a mapped bedrock unit in Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, and Virginia, USA. Description The Tuscarora is a thin- to thick-bedded fine-gr ...

of the

Silurian The Silurian ( ) is a geologic period and system spanning 24.6 million years from the end of the Ordovician Period, at million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Devonian Period, Mya. The Silurian is the shortest period of the Paleozo ...

age, which form the walls of the bowl.

Whitetail Ski Resort Whitetail Mountain Resort is a four-season resort located on Two Top Mountain, a mountain in the Bear Pond Mountains of Pennsylvania. The resort opened for skiing in 1991, and was acquired a few years later by Snow Time, Inc., the company which ...

is also located in this range on Two Top Mountain. The chief summits of the Bear Pond Mountains are the following: *

*Hearthstone Mountain *Two Top Mountain *Mount Mollica 1,776 feet (541 m) *Mount Fallon 1,764 feet (537 m) *Kasie's Knob *Fairview Mountain *Gillian's Knob *Bullskin Mountain *Rickard Mountain *Powell Mountain *Sword Mountain *Abe Mills Mountain *Johnson Mountain

References

Alan R. Geyer (1979) "''Outstanding Geologic Features of Pennsylvania''",

Geological Survey of Pennsylvania Geology () is a branch of natural science concerned with Earth and other astronomical objects, the features or rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other E ...

* {{Mountains of Pennsylvania Mountain ranges of Pennsylvania Mountain ranges of Maryland Landforms of Washington County, Maryland Landforms of Franklin County, Pennsylvania