Monument Mountain is a long

quartzite Quartzite is a hard, non- foliated metamorphic rock which was originally pure quartz sandstone.Essentials of Geology, 3rd Edition, Stephen Marshak, p 182 Sandstone is converted into quartzite through heating and pressure usually related to tect ...

ridgeline located in Great Barrington and

Stockbridge, Massachusetts Stockbridge is a town in Berkshire County in Western Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts, Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 2,018 at the 2020 census. A year-round resort area, Stockbridge is h ...

in the

Berkshires The Berkshires () are a highland geologic region located in the western parts of Massachusetts and northwest Connecticut. The term "Berkshires" is normally used by locals in reference to the portion of the Vermont-based Green Mountains that ex ...

geology. Beside the high point, , the mountain has several distinct features, most notably the open, knife-edge ''Peeskawso Peak,'' located on the southeast side of the mountain within the Monument Mountain reservation managed by

The Trustees of Reservations The Trustees of Reservations is a non-profit land conservation and historic preservation organization dedicated to preserving natural and historical places in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It is the oldest land conservation nonprofit orga ...

. The mountain receives over 20,000 visitors per year. ''Devil's Pulpit,'' part of Peeskawso Peak, is a free-standing pillar of stone. ''Flag Rock'', located on the southwest side of the mountain, is an open ledge overlooking the village of Housatonic. The only official trails on the mountain ascend Peeskawso Peak from a parking lot on

Massachusetts Route 7 U.S. Route 7 (US 7) in of Massachusetts is a section of the larger federal route extending from southern Connecticut to the northernmost part of Vermont. Within Massachusetts, the entire route in Massachusetts is within Berkshire Coun ...

north of Great Barrington center. There is no fee for members of The Trustees and a parking fee of $5 for non-members. An unnamed waterfall is located to the northeast of Peeskawso Peak along the Hickey Trail. Views from Peeskawso Peak include the Housatonic River Valley,

The Berkshires The Berkshires () are a highland geologic region located in the western parts of Massachusetts and northwest Connecticut. The term "Berkshires" is normally used by locals in reference to the portion of the Vermont-based Green Mountains that ex ...

, the

Taconic Mountains The Taconic Mountains or Taconic Range () are a range of the Appalachian Mountains, running along the eastern border of New York State and adjacent New England from northwest Connecticut to western Massachusetts, north to central western Vermont. ...

, and the

Catskill Mountains The Catskill Mountains, also known as the Catskills, are a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Mountains, located in southeastern New York. As a cultural and geographic region, the Catskills are generally defined as those areas c ...

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 west side of Monument Mountain drains into the

Housatonic River The Housatonic River ( ) is a river, approximately long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed April 1, 2011 in western Massachusetts and western Connecticut in the United S ...

thence into

Long Island Sound Long Island Sound is a 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 to the south. From west to east, the sound stretches from the Eas ...

. The east side of Monument Mountain drains into Konkapot Brook thence into the Housatonic River.

References

External links

Monument Mountain
The Trustees of Reservations
Trail map
Great Barrington, Massachusetts Mountains of Berkshire County, Massachusetts Rock formations of Massachusetts Stockbridge, Massachusetts {{BerkshireCountyMA-geo-stub