Haystack Mountain is a mountain ridge in the Ridge and Valley region of 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 ...

, located in western

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 ...

just west of the city of Cumberland. The mountain forms the southern wall of the

Cumberland Narrows The Cumberland Narrows (or simply The Narrows) is a water gap in western Maryland in the United States, just west of Cumberland. Wills Creek cuts through the central ridge of the Wills Mountain Anticline at a low elevation here between Wills Mo ...

Geography

Haystack Mountain rises just north of Cresaptown to the southwest of Cumberland and runs in a northeastward direction, achieving a height of before falling to a gap through which

Interstate 68 Interstate 68 (I-68) is a Interstate Highway in the US states of West Virginia and Maryland, connecting I-79 in Morgantown, West Virginia, to I-70 in Hancock, Maryland. I-68 is also Corridor E of the Appalachian Development Highway ...

passes. On the other side of the gap the mountain continues, noticeably lower in elevation, achieving a height of at its northern tip before falling precipitously into the Cumberland Narrows. Across the Narrows is

Wills Mountain Wills Mountain is a quartzite-capped ridge in the Ridge and Valley physiographic province of the Appalachian Mountains in Pennsylvania and Maryland, United States, extending from near Bedford, Pennsylvania, to near Cumberland, Maryland. It is t ...

Geologically 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 ...

, the two mountains are equivalent.

History

The original route for the

National Road The National Road (also known as the Cumberland Road) was the first major improved highway in the United States built by the federal government. Built between 1811 and 1837, the road connected the Potomac and Ohio Rivers and was a main tran ...

ascended over Haystack Mountain, through the gap which I-68 now traverses, following an American Indian pathways known as

Nemacolin's Path 450px, Braddock's Road, General Braddock's March (points 1–10) follows or parallels (and improves upon) Chief Nemacolin's Trail from the Potomac River to the Monogahela. The route from the summit to Redstone Creek, which could be used by wago ...

. This path was chosen by

General Braddock Major-General Edward Braddock (January 1695 – 13 July 1755) was a British officer and commander-in-chief for the Thirteen Colonies during the start of the French and Indian War (1754–1763), the North American front of what is known in Europe ...

during the

French and Indian war The French and Indian War (1754–1763) was a theater of the Seven Years' War, which pitted the North American colonies of the British Empire against those of the French, each side being supported by various Native American tribes. At the ...

, and was later used as part of the

. Remnants of the road can still be viewed today. This road was used by thousands of travelers who struggled to safely climb the mountain with their possessions stowed in creaky wagons. Travelers faced even greater dangers descending Haystack Mountain, due to its steeper grade, near present-day Sunset Drive. The road continued toward today's LaVale Plaza and ascended to the Clarysville Inn, an important wagon stand and stage house between

LaVale, Maryland LaVale is a census-designated place (CDP) in Allegany County, Maryland, United States. It is part of the Cumberland, MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 3,551 at the 2010 census. Geography LaVale is located at , in the shad ...

and

Frostburg, Maryland Frostburg is a city in Allegany County, Maryland, United States, and is at the head of the Georges Creek Valley. It is part of the Cumberland, MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area. Located west of Cumberland, the town is one of the first cities ...

. The National Highway (modern day U.S. Route 40) was later routed around Haystack Mountain through the

References

External links

The National Road
{{Mountains of Maryland Landforms of Allegany County, Maryland Landforms of Garrett County, Maryland Ridges of Maryland