Lyon Mountain is a
mountain
A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited Summit (topography), summit area, and ...
located in
Clinton County Clinton County may refer to:
*Counties named for George Clinton, first and third Governor of New York, and later the fourth Vice President of the United States:
**Clinton County, New York
**Clinton County, Ohio
*Counties named for DeWitt Clinton, s ...
,
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
, the county’s high point. It is named for Nathaniel Lyon, an early settler of the area who moved from
Vermont
Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...
in 1803 and died circa 1850. The mountain is within New York's
Adirondack Park
The Adirondack Park is a part of New York's Forest Preserve in northeastern New York, United States. The park was established in 1892 for “the free use of all the people for their health and pleasure”, and for watershed protection. The park ...
.
Lyon Mountain Mountain Fire Observation Station, built in 1917, still stands atop the mountain, and can be accessed by hikers.
Drainage
The mountain lies within the
watershed
Watershed is a hydrological term, which has been adopted in other fields in a more or less figurative sense. It may refer to:
Hydrology
* Drainage divide, the line that separates neighbouring drainage basins
* Drainage basin, called a "watershe ...
of the
Saint Lawrence River
The St. Lawrence River (french: Fleuve Saint-Laurent, ) is a large river in the middle latitudes of North America. Its headwaters begin flowing from Lake Ontario in a (roughly) northeasterly direction, into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, connectin ...
, and drains into the
Gulf of Saint Lawrence. It’s northeast slopes drain into Chazy Lake, the
source of the
Great Chazy River
Chazy River is the name of two tributaries of Lake Champlain in Clinton County, New York in the United States.
The more northerly river is the Great Chazy River, which empties into Lake Champlain at King Bay in the Town of Champlain.
The more so ...
, then
Lake Champlain
, native_name_lang =
, image = Champlainmap.svg
, caption = Lake Champlain-River Richelieu watershed
, image_bathymetry =
, caption_bathymetry =
, location = New York/Vermont in the United States; and Quebec in Canada
, coords =
, type =
, ...
, which drains into
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
's
Richelieu River, thence into the Saint Lawrence River. The southeast slopes drain into Smithkill Brook, thence into True Brook, the
Saranac River, and Lake Champlain. The southwest end of Lyon drains into Cold Brook, thence into the North Branch of the Saranac River. The west slopes of Lyon drain into Standish Brook, thence into Middle Kiln Brook, Upper and Lower Chateaugay Lakes, the source of the
Chateaugay River
The Chateauguay River (or Chateaugay River in the United States, moh, Oshahrhè:’onKaronhí:io Delaronde and Jordan Engel, The Decolonial Atlas, Haudenosaunee Country in Mohawk, February 4, 201Link/ref>) is a tributary of the South Shore of th ...
, which drains into the Saint Lawrence River in Canada. The northwest slopes of Lyon drain into Separator Brook, thence into Upper Chateaugay Lake.
History
A fire lookout station was established in April 1910, without a fire tower, as the summit of Lyon Mountain was bare at that time. In 1917, the
New York State Conservation Commission erected a
Aermotor LS40 steel
fire lookout tower
A fire lookout tower, fire tower or lookout tower, provides housing and protection for a person known as a "fire lookout" whose duty it is to search for wildfires in the wilderness. It is a small building, usually on the summit of a mountain or ...
on the mountain. The tower ceased fire lookout operations at the end of the 1988 fire season. It was officially closed in early 1989, when the
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (informally referred to as NYSDEC, DEC, EnCon or NYSENCON) is a department of New York state government. The department guides and regulates the conservation, improvement, and protection ...
determined that airplanes were more effective for spotting fires than fire towers. The tower and surrounding land belonged to timber company
Domtar until January 2005, when Domtar sold of its holdings around Lyon Mountain to
The Nature Conservancy
The Nature Conservancy (TNC) is a global environmental organization headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. it works via affiliates or branches in 79 countries and territories, as well as across every state in the US.
Founded in 1951, The Natu ...
; the land has since been sold to New York State.
See also
*
List of mountains in New York
There are three major mountain ranges in New York: the Adirondack Mountains, the Catskill Mountains, and part of the Appalachian Mountains.
Adirondack Mountains
The Adirondack Mountains are sometimes considered part of the Appalachians but, geo ...
References
Mountains of Clinton County, New York
Geography of Clinton County, New York
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