Holy Mount, , is a prominent peak 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 ...

, formerly used as the location of religious ceremonies by a nearby Shaker community.

Geography

The mountain is located in Pittsfield State Forest and is traversed by the loop Shaker Trail which begins at the historic

Hancock Shaker Village Hancock Shaker Village is a former Shaker commune in Hancock and Pittsfield, Massachusetts. It emerged in the towns of Hancock, Pittsfield, and Richmond in the 1780s, organized in 1790, and was active until 1960. It was the third of nineteen maj ...

. The mountain is wooded with northern hardwood tree species. In addition to the main summit, the mountain has two other peaks, a western spur called Mount Lebanon and an unnamed northern peak . Most of Holy Mount is located within

Hancock, Massachusetts Hancock is a town in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 757 at the 2020 census. History Hancock was first settled in 1762 as the Plantati ...

, but the lower western slopes are within the town of

New Lebanon, New York New Lebanon is a town in Columbia County, New York, United States, southeast of Albany. In 1910, 1,378 people lived in New Lebanon. The population was 2,305 at the 2010 census. The town of New Lebanon is in the northeastern corner of Columbia ...

. The Taconic ridgeline continues north from Holy Mount as

Doll Mountain Doll Mountain, , is a prominent peak in the Taconic Mountains of western Massachusetts. The mountain is located in Pittsfield State Forest. The summit is wooded and trailless, but the multi-use Doll Mountain Trail traverses its northern slopes. Th ...

, south as an unnamed mountain, and to the east as Shaker Mountain. It is bordered by The Knob to the west across the Wyomanock Creek valley. The west side of the mountain drains into Wyomanock Creek, then 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 into 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 east side drains into Shaker Brook, thence to the Housatonic River and Long Island Sound. Twin Ponds and Cranberry Pond, two highland water bodies, located on the southwest shoulder of the mountain and are visited by the

Taconic Skyline Trail The Taconic Skyline Trail is a multi-use trail in the Taconic Mountains of Berkshire County, Massachusetts. The trail extends from U.S. Route 20 in Hancock, Massachusetts, less than east of the New York border, north along the ridgecrest of ...

and

Taconic Crest Trail The Taconic Crest Trail is a hiking trail in the Taconic Mountains in the northeastern United States. The trail extends from U.S. Route 20 in Hancock, Massachusetts, less than east of the New York border, north along the ridgecrest of the Taco ...

Citations

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 ...

.
Commonwealth Connections proposal PDF download
Retrieved March 2, 2008. * ''AMC Massachusetts and Rhode Island Trail Guide'' (1989). Boston:

.
"Greenways and Trails"
Massachusetts DCR. Retrieved February 22, 2008.

External links

Pittsfield State Forest map

Massachusetts DCR. Mountains of Berkshire County, Massachusetts Taconic Mountains Mountains of Columbia County, New York Protected areas of Columbia County, New York Mountains of New York (state) {{ColumbiaCountyNY-geo-stub