Mount Bigelow (also called the Bigelow Range and Bigelow Mountain) is a long mountain ridge with several summits. It is located in Franklin County and Somerset County,

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...

. It is one of Maine's highest summits. The mountain is named after Major Timothy Bigelow who climbed the rugged summit in late October 1775 "for the purpose of observation." Major Bigelow was one of Colonel

Benedict Arnold Benedict Arnold ( Brandt (1994), p. 4June 14, 1801) was an American military officer who served during the Revolutionary War. He fought with distinction for the American Continental Army and rose to the rank of major general before defect ...

's four division commanders during the 1775 Invasion of Canada. The expeditionary force passed along the Dead River on the northern edge of the Bigelow Range, now dammed into Flagstaff Lake. The highest summit of Bigelow Mountain is West Peak, at . Subpeaks include Avery Peak (Myron H. Avery Peak) at , The Horns at , Cranberry Peak at , and Little Bigelow Mountain at about . Bigelow Mountain is part of the Rangeley-Stratton mountain range, which also includes

Sugarloaf Mountain Sugarloaf Mountain ( pt, Pão de Açúcar, ) is a peak situated in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, at the mouth of Guanabara Bay on a peninsula that juts out into the Atlantic Ocean. Rising above the harbor, the peak is named for its resemblance to ...

, Crocker Mountain, Saddleback Mountain, Mount Abraham and

Mount Redington Mount Redington is a mountain located in Franklin County, Maine. Redington is flanked to the northeast by South Crocker Mountain and to the west by Black Nubble. Redington stands just northeast of the U.S. Navy Survival Escape and Evasion Trai ...

. The

Appalachian Trail The Appalachian Trail (also called the A.T.), is a hiking trail in the Eastern United States, extending almost between Springer Mountain in Georgia and Mount Katahdin in Maine, and passing through 14 states.Gailey, Chris (2006)"Appalachian Tr ...

traverses Bigelow Mountain. Much of the mountain and surrounding area is part of the

Bigelow Preserve Bigelow Mountain Preserve is a state-owned nature preserve in the western part of the U.S. state of Maine. Located in the village of Stratton within Eustis, Franklin County, Maine, the preserve was created in 1976 in order to stop a proposed de ...

, created in 1976 in response to a massive proposed

ski resort A ski resort is a resort developed for skiing, snowboarding, and other winter sports. In Europe, most ski resorts are towns or villages in or adjacent to a ski area – a mountainous area with pistes (ski trails) and a ski lift system. In North ...

. The Maine Appalachian Trail Club (MATC) maintains the trails on Bigelow Mountain and stations seasonal caretakers at the popular backcountry campsites at Horns Pond and Bigelow Col. The

Appalachian Mountain Club Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC) is the oldest outdoor group in the United States. Created in 1876 to explore and preserve the White Mountains in New Hampshire, it has expanded throughout the northeastern U.S., with 12 chapters stretching from Ma ...

considers both the West Peak and Avery Peak of Bigelow to be "

four-thousand footers Four-thousand footers (sometimes abbreviated 4ks) are a group of forty-eight mountains in New Hampshire at least above sea level. To qualify for inclusion a peak must also meet the more technical criterion of topographic prominence important in t ...

" because Avery Peak rises more than in

topographic prominence In topography, prominence (also referred to as autonomous height, relative height, and shoulder drop in US English, and drop or relative height in British English) measures the height of a mountain or hill's summit relative to the lowest contou ...

above the col that adjoins it to the higher West Peak. By this same criteria, the South Horn of Bigelow, while under , qualifies for the New England Hundred Highest list. In 1975, Bigelow Mountain was designated as a National Natural Landmark by the National Park Service.

Gallery

Image:Bigelow_Avery_Peak_Maine.JPG, Mount Bigelow, Avery Peak Image:The Bigelows Little Bigelow Mt Maine.JPG, Little Bigelow Mountain Image:South Horn and North Horn Bigelows Maine.JPG, South Horn and North Horn Image:Little Bigelow Mountain Maine.JPG, Little Bigelow Mountain as seen from the summit of Burnt Mountain.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bigelow, Mount Mountains of Franklin County, Maine Mountains of Somerset County, Maine Bigelow Bigelow National Natural Landmarks in Maine

Gallery

See also

References