Mount Nonotuck
Mountain in Massachusetts, United States
title: "Mount Nonotuck" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["mount-tom-range", "geography-of-holyoke,-massachusetts", "mountains-of-massachusetts", "mountains-of-hampden-county,-massachusetts"] description: "Mountain in Massachusetts, United States" topic_path: "geography" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Nonotuck" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Mountain in Massachusetts, United States ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox mountain"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Mount Nonotuck |
| photo | File:Dry Knoll and Mount Nonotuck, Mount Tom Range.JPG |
| photo_caption | The northern portion of the Mount Tom Range, with Mount Nonotuck visible to the right |
| elevation_ft | 827 |
| location | Holyoke, Massachusetts |
| range | Mount Tom Range / Metacomet Ridge |
| coordinates | |
| type | fault-block igneous |
| age | 200 Ma |
| easiest_route | Auto road |
| :: |
| name = Mount Nonotuck | photo = File:Dry Knoll and Mount Nonotuck, Mount Tom Range.JPG | photo_caption = The northern portion of the Mount Tom Range, with Mount Nonotuck visible to the right | elevation_ft = 827 | prominence = | listing = | location = Holyoke, Massachusetts | range = Mount Tom Range / Metacomet Ridge | coordinates = | topo = | type = fault-block igneous | age = 200 Ma | volcanic_arc/belt = | last_eruption = | first_ascent = | easiest_route = Auto road
Mount Nonotuck, 827 ft, is the northernmost peak of the Mount Tom Range of traprock mountains located in the Connecticut River Valley of Massachusetts and part of the larger Metacomet Ridge which stretches from Long Island Sound to nearly the Vermont border. Rugged and considered scenic, the peak rises steeply from the river valley 700 ft below. It is located within the town of Holyoke.
The 110 mi Metacomet-Monadnock Trail, maintained by the Berkshire Chapter of the Appalachian Mountain Club, crosses Mt. Nonotuck, and a seasonal auto road (closed to vehicles indefinitely due to deteriorating conditions, hikers still welcome) climbs to a small parking lot just beneath the summit. During the winter, the auto road is often used for cross country skiing.
History
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b4/Eyre_house.jpg" caption="Connecticut River Oxbow]] (now a lake), immortalized by the famous landscape painter [[Thomas Cole]] just before natural flooding and erosion separated it from the Connecticut River, is visible from the ruins.[http://www.chronos-historical.org/mtholyoke/ ''Mt. Holyoke Range Historical Timeline''] Cited November 27, 2007.Roque, Oswaldo Rodriguez (1982). "The Oxbow" by Thomas Cole: Iconography of an American Landscape Painting. Metropolitan Museum Journal. pp. 63-7."] ::
Geology and ecology
Mount Nonotuck, like much of the Metacomet Ridge, is composed of basalt, also called traprock, a volcanic rock. The mountain formed near the end of the Triassic Period with the rifting apart of the North American continent from Africa and Eurasia. Lava welled up from the rift and solidified into sheets of strata hundreds of feet thick. Subsequent faulting and earthquake activity tilted the strata, creating the cliffs and ridges of Mount Nonotuck. Hot, dry upper slopes, cool, moist ravines, and mineral-rich ledges of basalt talus produce a combination of microclimate ecosystems on the mountain that support plant and animal species uncommon in greater Massachusetts. (See Metacomet Ridge for more information on the geology and ecosystem of Mount Nonotuck).
References
References
- ''The Metacomet-Monadnock Trail Guide''. 9th Edition. The Appalachian Mountain Club. Amherst, Massachusetts, 1999.
- Ryan, Christopher. "Mt. Tom Reservation" 3rd ed. Map. Hamilton I. Newall Printing, Amherst, Massachusetts. 1994.
- [http://www.chronos-historical.org/mtholyoke/ ''Mt. Holyoke Range Historical Timeline''] Cited November 27, 2007.
- Roque, Oswaldo Rodriguez (1982). "The Oxbow" by Thomas Cole: Iconography of an American Landscape Painting. Metropolitan Museum Journal. pp. 63-7.
- [[Raymo, Chet]] and [[Raymo, Maureen E.]] ''Written in Stone: A Geologic History of the Northeastern United States''. Globe Pequot, Chester, Connecticut, 1989.
- Farnsworth, Elizabeth J. "[http://www.mmmtrail.org/NaturalResourcesAssessmentFinal.pdf Metacomet-Mattabesett Trail Natural Resource Assessment.] {{webarchive. link. (2007-08-07 " 2004. PDF wefile cited November 1, 2007.)
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