Long Mountain, feet above sea level, is a traprock mountain of the Holyoke Range, part of the greater

Metacomet Ridge The Metacomet Ridge, Metacomet Ridge Mountains, or Metacomet Range of southern New England is a narrow and steep fault-block mountain ridge known for its extensive cliff faces, scenic vistas, microclimate ecosystems, and rare or endangered plants ...

which stretches from

Long Island Sound Long Island Sound is a sound (geography), marine sound and tidal estuary of the Atlantic Ocean. It lies predominantly between the U.S. state of Connecticut to the north and Long Island in New York (state), New York to the south. From west to east, ...

to nearly the

Vermont Vermont () is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, New York (state), New York to the west, and the Provinces and territories of Ca ...

border. The mountain rises steeply from the surrounding landscape below and consists of five distinct peaks, from east to west: , , , , the high point, and the eastern summit, . It is located within the towns of Amherst and

Granby, Massachusetts Granby is a New England town, town in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 6,110 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Springfield metropolitan area, Massachuset ...

. The Metacomet-Monadnock Trail and the Robert Frost Trail traverse the mountain. The Holyoke Range continues to the west as Mount Norwottuck and to the east as Harris Mountain.

Geology and ecology

Long Mountain, like much of the Metacomet Ridge, is composed of

basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...

, also called traprock, a

volcanic A volcano is commonly defined as a vent or fissure in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often fo ...

rock. The mountain formed near the end of the

Triassic Period The Triassic ( ; sometimes symbolized 🝈) is a geologic period and system which spans 50.5 million years from the end of the Permian Period 251.902 million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Jurassic Period 201.4 Mya. The Triassic is the ...

with the

rifting In geology, a rift is a linear zone where the lithosphere is being pulled apart and is an example of extensional tectonics. Typical rift features are a central linear Fault (geology), downfaulted depression, called a graben, or more commonly ...

apart of the

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

n continent from

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

and

Eurasia Eurasia ( , ) is a continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. According to some geographers, Physical geography, physiographically, Eurasia is a single supercontinent. The concept of Europe and Asia as distinct continents d ...

Lava Lava is molten or partially molten rock (magma) that has been expelled from the interior of a terrestrial planet (such as Earth) or a Natural satellite, moon onto its surface. Lava may be erupted at a volcano or through a Fissure vent, fractu ...

welled up from the rift and solidified into sheets of strata hundreds of feet thick. Subsequent

faulting In geology, a fault is a planar fracture or discontinuity in a volume of rock across which there has been significant displacement as a result of rock-mass movements. Large faults within Earth's crust result from the action of plate tectonic ...

and

earthquake An earthquakealso called a quake, tremor, or tembloris the shaking of the Earth's surface resulting from a sudden release of energy in the lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from those so weak they ...

activity tilted the strata, creating the steep ridge and talus slopes of Long Mountain. Hot, dry upper slopes, cool, moist ravines, and mineral-rich ledges of basalt talus produce a combination of

microclimate A microclimate (or micro-climate) is a local set of atmosphere of Earth, atmospheric conditions that differ from those in the surrounding areas, often slightly but sometimes substantially. The term may refer to areas as small as a few square m ...

ecosystems on the mountain that support plant and animal species uncommon in greater Massachusetts.

Recreation

Several trails are located on Long Mountain, most notably the Metacomet-Monadnock Trail and the Robert Frost Trail which share the same footway on the mountain. Several ledges near the summit provide views of greater Amherst region and the Fort River valley. Most of Long Mountain has been conserved as part of the Mount Holyoke Range State Park; local conservations commissions and private land holders own the remaining acreage. The nearest trailhead to the summit is located on Harris Mountain Road precisely as it crosses the Granby to Amherst boundary line. This location can be accessed either via Bay Road in Amherst or Batchelor Street in Granby. The trail leading to the west leads to the summit.

References

* ''The Metacomet-Monadnock Trail Guide''. 9th Edition. The Appalachian Mountain Club. Amherst, Massachusetts, 1999. * Farnsworth, Elizabeth J
"Metacomet-Mattabesett Trail Natural Resource Assessment."
2004. PDF file. Cited Nov. 20, 2007. *

Raymo, Chet Chet Raymo (born September 17, 1936, in Chattanooga, Tennessee) is a noted writer, educator and naturalist. He is Professor Emeritus of Physics at Stonehill College, in Easton, Massachusetts. His weekly newspaper column "Science Musings" appeare ...

and Raymo, Maureen E. ''Written in Stone: A Geologic History of the Northeastern United States''. Globe Pequot, Chester, Connecticut, 1989.

External links

Mount Holyoke Range State Park map

*
The Kestrel Trust

The Valley Land Fund

Friends of the Mount Holyoke Range

Natural resource assessment of the Metacomet Ridge

{{Mountains of Massachusetts Mountains of Hampshire County, Massachusetts Holyoke Range Geography of Amherst, Massachusetts Granby, Massachusetts