Mount Fitch is the third-highest peak

List of mountains in Massachusetts This is a list of some of the mountains in the U.S. state of Massachusetts, including those in the mountain range known as the Berkshires. Mount Greylock is the highest point in the state at 3,491 feet (1,064 m) in elevation. As such, no mountains ...

in the Commonwealth of

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

at . It is located on the ridge between

Mount Greylock Mount Greylock is a mountain located in the northwest corner of Massachusetts and is the highest point in the state. Its summit is in the western part of the town of Adams (near its border with Williamstown) in Berkshire County. Geologically ...

at 3,491 feet (1,064 m) to its south and Mount Williams at 2,956 feet (901 m) to its north. The peak sits in the northwest corner of the Town of Adams (originally known as the Town of East HoosacA.L. Perry, "Origins in Williamstown", Heritage Books, 1894 on page 4) in Berkshire County. The forested summit is approximately due west of a local high-point on 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 ...

. Mount Fitch does not meet 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 ...

's prominence criterion of 200 vertical feet of separation from adjacent peaks as outlined in New England's

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 ...

list. Currently there is no side-spur trail or signage directing a hiker to the summit of Mt. Fitch from the Appalachian Trail; however, there is a wooden placard at the summit itself (pictured at right). The top is infrequently visited by hikers due to its anonymity, the bushwhack necessary to reach the top and the viewless summit.

The peak is named for

Ebenezer Fitch Ebenezer Fitch (September 26, 1756 – March 21, 1833) was an American Calvinist clergyman and educator. He was the first president of Williams College. Born in Norwich, Connecticut,George Ripley And Charles A. Dana,Ebenezer Fitch, ''The Ame ...

,Deborah E. Burns and Lauren R. Stevens, ''Most Excellent Majesty: A History of Mount Greylock'', Berkshire County Land Trust and Conservation Fund, 1988. who served as president of

Williams College Williams College is a private liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams, a colonist from the Province of Massachusetts Bay who was kill ...

in nearby

Williamstown, Massachusetts Williamstown is a town in the northern part of Berkshire County, in the northwest corner of Massachusetts, United States. It shares a border with Vermont to the north and New York to the west. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolit ...

from 1793-1815. The name and geographic significance of the peak were disparaged by R.R.R. Brooks in his 1953 history of Williamstown, " is doubtful whether more than one resident in ten knows Mt. Williams from Mt. Fitch".Robert Romano Ravi Brooks, "Williamstown: the First Two Hundred Years", Williamstown, MA: McClelland Press, page 27 In 1947, local residents Dr. Joseph Wilk and Bartlett Hendricks terminated clear cutting the summit of Mount Fitch, which remains overgrown to this date.

Geography, Geology & Ecology

see

References

External links

*http://www.peakbagger.com/peak.aspx?pid=7062 Peakbagger Website. * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQJfkGdcki8 Brief summary of locating and placing the sign. {{DEFAULTSORT:Fitch Taconic Mountains Mountains of Berkshire County, Massachusetts Mountains on the Appalachian Trail