Brodie Mountain, , is a prominent long ridgeline in 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. ...

of western

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

, known for the former Brodie Mountain ski area, which closed in 2002. The ridge has eight well defined summits, three of which have names: Sheep's Heaven Mountain, , the ridge's southern prominatory; Beoadic Mountain, the ridge high point, just north of Sheep's Heaven; and East Mountain, located at the top of the former ski area at the center of the ridge. A northern summit, , is shown as "Brodie Mountain" on maps that predate the Brodie Mountain ski area.

Geography

The Taconic Skyline Trail formerly ran north over Sheep's Heaven Mountain to the Brodie Mountain ski area at the East Mountain summit, but has been discontinued on Brodie Mountain, although the former route, now an unsanctioned ATV trail, still exists. An older route once traversed the entire ridge from south to north, but the northern sections fell into disuse in the 1970s and are totally obscured. The former ski area, located on the east-center portion of the ridge, was purchased for 2.6 million dollars in 2004 by a developer; much of it is slated for condominium development. The Brodie Mountain ridge is located in the towns of

Hancock Hancock may refer to: Places in the United States * Hancock, Iowa * Hancock, Maine * Hancock, Maryland * Hancock, Massachusetts * Hancock, Michigan * Hancock, Minnesota * Hancock, Missouri * Hancock, New Hampshire ** Hancock (CDP), New Hampshir ...

, Lanesborough, New Ashford, and

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 ...

. It is bordered to the northeast by

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 ...

, to the south by Potter Mountain; and to the west by Misery Mountain. The southwest side drains into

Kinderhook Creek Kinderhook Creek is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed October 3, 2011 tributary to Stockport Creek, an inlet of the Hudson River in the United States. From its source in ...

, thence the

Hudson River The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between N ...

and Long Island Sound; the northwest side into the West Branch of the

Green River Green River may refer to: Rivers Canada * Green River (British Columbia), a tributary of the Lillooet River *Green River, a tributary of the Saint John River, also known by its French name of Rivière Verte *Green River (Ontario), a tributary of ...

, the Green River, the

Hoosic River The Hoosic River, also known as the Hoosac, the Hoosick (primarily in New York) and the Hoosuck (mostly archaic), is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed October 3, 2011 tri ...

, thence the Hudson River; the northeast side into East Brook, thence Green River; and the southeast side into Town Brook, the West Branch of the Housatonic River, thence the Housatonic River and Long Island Sound. The mountain is forested in northern hardwood species; its geology is

Ordovician The Ordovician ( ) is a geologic period and system, the second of six periods of the Paleozoic Era. The Ordovician spans 41.6 million years from the end of the Cambrian Period million years ago (Mya) to the start of the Silurian Period Mya. T ...

phyllite Phyllite ( ) is a type of foliated metamorphic rock created from slate that is further metamorphosed so that very fine grained white mica achieves a preferred orientation.Stephen Marshak ''Essentials of Geology'', 3rd ed. It is primarily compo ...

Wind Farm

The Berkshire Wind Power Project, the largest operating wind farm in Massachusetts, began operation on the southern portion of the Brodie Mountain ridge in 2011. The facility consists of ten turbines capable of producing a total of fifteen megawatts of electricity, and is owned by the Berkshire Wind Power Cooperative Corporation, a non-profit, public power corporation.

References

*''Massachusetts Trail Guide'' (2004). Boston:

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 ...

. *''AMC Massachusetts and Rhode Island Trail Guide'' (1989). Boston:

. *Drohan, Glenn Drohan (August 5, 2004)
"Silverleaf buys Brodie for $2.6 million"
iBerkshire.com. Retrieved March 13, 2008.

External links

{{Mountains of Massachusetts Mountains of Berkshire County, Massachusetts Taconic Mountains

Geography

Wind Farm

See also

References

External links