Mount Ascutney is a mountain in the U.S. state of

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 ...

. At , it is the second-highest peak in Windsor County. (The highest peak in the county is Gillespie Peak in the

Joseph Battell Wilderness The Joseph Battell Wilderness is one of eight wilderness areas in the Green Mountain National Forest in the U.S. state of Vermont. The wilderness area, created by the New England Wilderness Act of 2006, is named in honor of Joseph Battell (1839& ...

.) Mount Ascutney is a monadnock that rises abruptly from the surrounding lowlands. For example, the Windsor Trail is to the summit with of elevation gain and an overall 18% grade. Particularly noteworthy are the mountain's

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...

outcrops, one of which, near the summit, serves as a launching point for

hang-glider Hang gliding is an air sport or recreational activity in which a pilot flies a light, non-motorised foot-launched heavier-than-air aircraft called a hang glider. Most modern hang gliders are made of an aluminium alloy or composite frame covered ...

s. The mountain's base straddles several villages — Ascutney, Brownsville,

Windsor Windsor may refer to: Places Australia * Windsor, New South Wales ** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area * Windsor, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland **Shire of Windsor, a former local government authority around Wi ...

, and West Windsor — and it is located only several miles off exit 8 on

Interstate 91 Interstate 91 (I-91) is an Interstate Highway in the New England region of the United States. It provides the primary north–south thoroughfare in the western part of the region. The Interstate generally follows the course of the Connecti ...

in Mount Ascutney State Park. The mountain itself is visible from the top of

Mount Washington Mount Washington is the highest peak in the Northeastern United States at and the most topographically prominent mountain east of the Mississippi River. The mountain is notorious for its erratic weather. On the afternoon of April 12, 1934 ...

, seventy miles away.

Location and description

Mt. Ascutney is located in the southeastern section of Windsor County, in the

Connecticut River Valley The Connecticut River is the longest river in the New England region of the United States, flowing roughly southward for through four states. It rises 300 yards (270 m) south of the U.S. border with Quebec, Canada, and discharges at Long Island ...

. The village of Ascutney, in the town of Weathersfield, is to the south. To the north lie the towns of

and West Windsor. The village of Brownsville, in the town of West Windsor, sits at the northwestern base of the mountain. To the east lie the

Connecticut River The Connecticut River is the longest river in the New England region of the United States, flowing roughly southward for through four states. It rises 300 yards (270 m) south of the U.S. border with Quebec, Canada, and discharges at Long Island ...

and the city of

Claremont, New Hampshire Claremont is the only city in Sullivan County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 12,949 at the 2020 census. History Pre-colonial native populations Before colonial settlement, the Upper Connecticut River Valley was home to the Pe ...

. To the immediate west stands another, smaller mountain, fittingly named Little Ascutney Mountain.

Etymology and naming dispute

Since the Colonial era, the mountain has primarily been referred to as "Mount Ascutney" (or such variant spellings as "Aschutney"), a name made official by the U.S. Board on Geologic Names in 1960. While various folk etymologies exist, many modern sources trace the name "Ascutney" to the

Abenaki The Abenaki (Abenaki: ''Wαpánahki'') are an Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands of Canada and the United States. They are an Algonquian-speaking people and part of the Wabanaki Confederacy. The Eastern Abenaki language was predom ...

word ''Ascutegnik'', a word meaning "at the end of the river fork," which was the name of a settlement near where the Sugar River meets the

. However, the use of the Abenaki word ''Kaskadenak'' (pronounced: ''Cas-Cad-Nac)''–which means "mountain of the rocky summit" or "wide mountain"–as a name of the mountain has long been attested, and the Board on Geologic Names acknowledges the name as an official variant. In 2016, Hartland resident Robert Hutchins petitioned the Board to change the official name to Kaskadenak, garnering the support of Chief Paul Bunnell of the Koasek Traditional Band of the Abenaki Nation among others. In July 2018, the State of Vermont Board of Libraries, which has the statutory authority to name geographical features, heard arguments to officially rename the mountain to Mount Kaskadenak. The Board of Libraries voted 5–0 to reject the name change, citing the testimony of town managers who reported local opposition at meetings on the name change and the results of polling. The Board also cited an email from Smithsonian linguist

Ives Goddard Robert Hale Ives Goddard III (born 1941) is a linguist and a curator emeritus in the Department of Anthropology of the National Museum of Natural History at the Smithsonian Institution. He is widely considered the leading expert on the Algonqui ...

, who proposed that the origin of the name "Ascutney" was the Abenaki word ''kskatena'' and wrote that

"Ascutney ��and Cascadnac (from Western Abenaki kaskadenak) are both authentic names meaning 'wide mountain.' Both names reflect variable features of the local Native American language and of English from different times."

Viewing the mountain

Vermont Route 131 Vermont Route 131 (VT 131) is a state highway in Windsor County, Vermont, United States. It starts at VT 103 in Cavendish and terminates at a junction with U.S. Route 5 (US 5) and VT 12 in the town of Weathersfield. ...

follows the south face of the mountain, and provides some good views of Ascutney. Similarly, Vermont Routes 44 and 44-A follow the north face, and provide a number of views of that side of the mountain. The north-south route of Interstate 91 runs just east of the mountain and provides extensive views of both the north and south faces.

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

Routes 12 and 12-A provide good views of the east face. Viewing of the west face is difficult, due to the presence, immediately to the west, of Little Ascutney Mountain. At longer distance, the mountain is visible from many locations quite a few miles away, particularly hilltops and other mountains. Ascutney can be viewed from select locations on the

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native A ...

campus, among them the upper floors of Rauner Library and the Steele Chemistry Building.

Cornish Colony

From the late 1880s to 1930, a community of artists thrived in Cornish and

Plainfield, New Hampshire Plainfield is a town in Sullivan County, New Hampshire, United States. At the time of the 2020 census, the town had a population of 2,459. The town is home to the Helen Woodruff Smith Bird Sanctuary and Annie Duncan State Forest. The village of P ...

as well as

Windsor, Vermont Windsor is a town in Windsor County, Vermont, United States. As the "Birthplace of Vermont", the town is where the Constitution of Vermont was adopted in 1777, thus marking the founding of the Vermont Republic, a sovereign state until 1791, when ...

. Besides

Augustus Saint-Gaudens Augustus Saint-Gaudens (; March 1, 1848 – August 3, 1907) was an American sculptor of the Beaux-Arts generation who embodied the ideals of the American Renaissance. From a French-Irish family, Saint-Gaudens was raised in New York City, he trave ...

, other artists built their homes specifically sited towards the mountain, and it became the focal point of many expansive gardens and Italianate villas.

Maxfield Parrish Maxfield Parrish (July 25, 1870 – March 30, 1966) was an American painter and illustration, illustrator active in the first half of the 20th century. He is known for his distinctive saturated hues and idealized neo-classical imagery. His ...

, Charles Platt,

Thomas Dewing Thomas Wilmer Dewing (May 4, 1851November 5, 1938) was an American painter working at the turn of the 20th century. Schooled in Paris, Dewing was noted for his figure paintings of aristocratic women. He was a founding member of the Ten America ...

, and

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...

(the writer) all built homes to view the mountain. Many of these houses remain, view intact, and the estate Augustus Saint Gaudens is now a national park, with, of course, a lovely view.

Geology

Mount Ascutney is part of the White Mountain plutonic-volcanic series of igneous rocks. These rocks intruded from

Triassic The Triassic ( ) is a geologic period and system which spans 50.6 million years from the end of the Permian Period 251.902 million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Jurassic Period 201.36 Mya. The Triassic is the first and shortest period ...

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of th ...

time in southern Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont with the relatively young Ascutney

pluton In geology, an igneous intrusion (or intrusive body or simply intrusion) is a body of intrusive igneous rock that forms by crystallization of magma slowly cooling below the surface of the Earth. Intrusions have a wide variety of forms and com ...

intruding at ~122 MA (K/Ar date on

biotite Biotite is a common group of phyllosilicate minerals within the mica group, with the approximate chemical formula . It is primarily a solid-solution series between the iron-endmember annite, and the magnesium-endmember phlogopite; more alumino ...

). The Ascutney pluton is about 8 km × 4 km in map area and intrudes into Precambrian basement gneisses of the Chester dome and overlying Paleozoic metasedimentary rocks. The pluton emplacement is probably related to the formation of transform faults and/or fracture zones during (failed) Mesozoic rifting. The petrology of the pluton consists of three stocks which are gabbro-diorite, syenite and granite. There are also a partial ring dike and a number of other dikes in the area. The last glacier broke material off the mountain and distributed it southward into Massachusetts. The trail it left is known as the "Mount Ascutney Train."

Hang gliding

Mount Ascutney is a hang gliding site in New England. Notable for its excellent soaring, it is not unusual for hang gliders to fly from Mt. Ascutney to nearby states. Some trips can stretch to the New Hampshire or

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

coastline, a flight of over 90 miles.

Bronson Farm

Actor

Charles Bronson Charles Bronson (born Charles Dennis Buchinsky; November 3, 1921 – August 30, 2003) was an American actor. Known for his "granite features and brawny physique," he gained international fame for his starring roles in action, Western, and war ...

owned a farm near the mountain he and his wife named Zuleika, after their daughter. His remains were buried at Brownsville Cemetery in West Windsor, near the foot of the mountain, after his 2003 death.

Wildlife

Wild turkey The wild turkey (''Meleagris gallopavo'') is an Upland game bird, upland ground bird native to North America, one of two extant species of Turkey (bird), turkey and the heaviest member of the order Galliformes. It is the ancestor to the domestic ...

deer Deer or true deer are hoofed ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. The two main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the elk (wapiti), the red deer, and the fallow deer; and the Capreolinae, including the reindeer ...

porcupine Porcupines are large rodents with coats of sharp spines, or quills, that protect them against predation. The term covers two families of animals: the Old World porcupines of family Hystricidae, and the New World porcupines of family, Erethizont ...

s, and a wide variety of birds are commonly seen on Mt. Ascutney. The mountain is a favorite area for viewing

migrating birds Bird migration is the regular seasonal movement, often north and south along a flyway, between breeding and wintering grounds. Many species of bird migrate. Migration carries high costs in predation and mortality, including from hunting by ...

, which use the Connecticut River as a navigation pathway. More rarely seen wildlife includes

moose The moose (in North America) or elk (in Eurasia) (''Alces alces'') is a member of the New World deer subfamily and is the only species in the genus ''Alces''. It is the largest and heaviest extant species in the deer family. Most adult mal ...

, black bears,

bobcat The bobcat (''Lynx rufus''), also known as the red lynx, is a medium-sized cat native to North America. It ranges from southern Canada through most of the contiguous United States to Oaxaca in Mexico. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUC ...

s and

fishers Fisher is an archaic term for a fisherman, revived as gender-neutral. Fisher, Fishers or The Fisher may also refer to: Places Australia *Division of Fisher, an electoral district in the Australian House of Representatives, in Queensland *Elect ...

Hiking trails

The mountain features four principal hiking trails, three of which are named for the town from which that trail originates: * The Weathersfield Trail — The one trail on the south face of the mountain, the base of this trail is located in a parking lot at the end of Cascade Falls Rd, off of Vermont Route 131 in Weathersfield. Highlights of this trail include Cascade Falls, the largest

waterfall A waterfall is a point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf. Waterfalls can be formed in several wa ...

on the mountain, and the mountain's one launch platform for

hang glider Hang gliding is an air sport or recreational activity in which a pilot flies a light, non-motorised foot-launched heavier-than-air aircraft called a hang glider. Most modern hang gliders are made of an aluminium alloy or composite frame covered ...

s. * The Windsor Trail – This trail originates from a small parking area off Vermont Route 44-A just east of the junction with Vermont Route 44. About 1/3 of the way up, the trail comes to a small

, approximately 2/3 of the way up the trail comes to a small log

lean-to A lean-to is a type of simple structure originally added to an existing building with the rafters "leaning" against another wall. Free-standing lean-to structures are generally used as shelters. One traditional type of lean-to is known by its Finn ...

shelter. Near the top, it merges with the Brownsville Trail. * The Brownsville Trail – This trail begins at a parking area along Vermont Route 44, a little over a mile west of junction with Vermont Route 44-A. The lower end of the trail follows an abandoned

logging road A gravel road is a type of unpaved road surfaced with gravel that has been brought to the site from a quarry or stream bed. They are common in less-developed nations, and also in the rural areas of developed nations such as Canada and the Unite ...

for some distance – the road terminating at the location of an old

quarry A quarry is a type of open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some jurisdictions to reduce their envi ...

. The trail offers many good viewing opportunities to the north and west. * The Futures Trail – This trail begins in the campground at Mt. Ascutney State Park on Route 44A, one mile west of the junction with

U.S. Route 5 U.S. Route 5 (US 5) is a north–south United States highway running through the New England states of Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Vermont. Significant cities along the route include New Haven, Connecticut; Hartford, Connecticut; and Spring ...

in Ascutney. This is the longest trail on Mt. Ascutney – 4.6 miles, covering a wide variety of forest and geography before it connects to the Windsor Trail near the summit. Highlights of this trail include Bare Rock Vista (1.0 mile) and the Steam Donkey – a steam powered machine used for cable logging in the early 1900s (3.5 miles). This trail can also be accessed at two points along the State Park Mountain Road for a shorter hike to summit. At the top, a relatively level trail follows the

ridge A ridge or a mountain ridge is a geographical feature consisting of a chain of mountains or hills that form a continuous elevated crest for an extended distance. The sides of the ridge slope away from the narrow top on either side. The line ...

line and crosses the

summit A summit is a point on a surface that is higher in elevation than all points immediately adjacent to it. The topography, topographic terms acme, apex, peak (mountain peak), and zenith are synonymous. The term (mountain top) is generally used ...

. The top of the mountain is well below the

tree line The tree line is the edge of the habitat at which trees are capable of growing. It is found at high elevations and high latitudes. Beyond the tree line, trees cannot tolerate the environmental conditions (usually cold temperatures, extreme snowp ...

and is therefore covered in forest. There are a number of rocky cliffs allow good viewing, one lookout in particular The Nowlan Lookout is named for a local American sculptor

Lawrence Nowlan Lawrence Joseph Nowlan Jr. (January 11, 1965 – July 30, 2013) was an American sculptor and figurative artist known for his statues of notable individuals, including Harry Kalas and Jackie Gleason. Nowlan also designed memorials, including the f ...

. There is an

observation tower An observation tower is a structure used to view events from a long distance and to create a full 360 degree range of vision to conduct long distance observations. Observation towers are usually at least tall and are made from stone, iron, an ...

, as well. There are also two large

communications tower Radio masts and towers are typically tall structures designed to support antennas for telecommunications and broadcasting, including television. There are two main types: guyed and self-supporting structures. They are among the tallest human-made ...

s. The summit can also be reached via a short trail from the parking lot at the end of the only road up the mountain, the Mt. Ascutney State Park Mountain Road.

Skiing and the Ascutney Mountain Resort

Mt. Ascutney was home to the

Ascutney Mountain Resort Ascutney Mountain Resort was a downhill ski area on the western side of Mount Ascutney in Brownsville, Vermont that operated from 1946 until 2010. It was purchased by local communities and the Trust for Public Land in 2015, with plans to reopen a ...

, which was a

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 ...

located on the mountain's northwest face, in the village of Brownsville. The ski area closed in 2010, and is now a nature preserve with plans to reopen a smaller ski area. Opening after the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

skiing Skiing is the use of skis to glide on snow. Variations of purpose include basic transport, a recreational activity, or a competitive winter sport. Many types of competitive skiing events are recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IO ...

facilities originally consisted of just one

rope tow A surface lift is a type of cable transport for snow sports in which skiers and snowboarders remain on the ground as they are pulled uphill. While they were once prevalent, they have been overtaken in popularity by higher-capacity and higher-co ...

. The resort property was purchased by IHG Resorts in 2008 andcontinues to renovate and improve the property. The mountain and trails were purchased by a non-profit organization Vermont Outdoors and is now operated as town forest for Brownsville Vermont. The trails accommodate the entire family, but expert and intermediate skiers found themselves most at home at the resort, whose trails averaged from medium grade to steep, and were often icy from the mountain's often harsh winds. The ski resort's primary competitors were Killington, Okemo,

Mount Sunapee Mount Sunapee (or Sunapee Mountain on federal maps) is a mountain ridge in the towns of Newbury and Goshen in western New Hampshire, United States. Its highest peak, at the north end of the mountain, is above sea level. The mountain has three ...

, and Stratton.

References

External links

Windsor Mt. Ascutney Region Chamber of Commerce
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ascutney, Mount Mountains of Vermont Brownsville, Vermont Weathersfield, Vermont West Windsor, Vermont Windsor, Vermont Inselbergs of North America Mountains of Windsor County, Vermont Protected areas of Windsor County, Vermont Vermont placenames of Native American origin