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Blue Mountain (Pennsylvania)

Ridge in Pennsylvania, United States

Field	Value
name	Blue Mountain{{cite gnis	id = 1193708	name = Blue Mountain	access-date = 2009-02-07
quote	1193708 Name: Blue Mountain 40.1245315 -77.6663793 400728N 0773959W Roxbury
other_name	Kittatinny Mountain (and nine others:
photo	Blue Mountain Ridge (Pennsylvania).jpg
photo_size	390
photo_caption	The "Great Wall" of Blue Mountain in Pennsylvania in February 2008
country	United States
subdivision1	Pennsylvania
borders_on
geology
age	Silurian
orogeny	Appalachian Mountains
area_km2	---
length_mi	150
length_orientation	northeast-southwest to SSW 150 mi (direct aerial)
255 mi trace of ridgeline, including loops back
width = varies along chain's length
elevation_ft	1129
elevation_ref
highest	Clarks Knob in Franklin County, Pennsylvania 2320 ft
coordinates

255 mi trace of ridgeline, including loops back width = varies along chain's length Blue Mountain, Blue Mountain Ridge, or the Blue Mountains of Pennsylvania, is a ridge of the Appalachian Mountains in eastern Pennsylvania. Forming the southern and eastern edge of the Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians physiographic province in Pennsylvania, Blue Mountain extends 150 mi from the Delaware Water Gap on the state's border with New Jersey in eastern Pennsylvania to Big Gap in Franklin County in south-central Pennsylvania at its southwestern end.

Views of Blue Mountain dominate the southern tier of most eastern and central Pennsylvania counties, providing an ever-visible backdrop cutting across the northern or western horizon. Most transport corridors and road beds piercing the barrier necessarily pass through large water gaps, including (west to east) the Susquehanna, Schuylkill, Lehigh and Delaware River valleys or wind gaps, low gaps in the ridge caused by ancient watercourses. The barrier ridge forms a distinct boundary between a number of Pennsylvania's geographical and cultural regions.

To the south of the Susquehanna River gap in the south-central part of the state is the Cumberland Valley, part of the Great Appalachian Valley; to its northwest side are the southern reaches of the Susquehanna Valley with picturesque streams channeling travel corridors deep into and over the central and western mountains and valleys, the heartland interior counties of Pennsylvania along Main Branch Susquehanna, the valleys lead to the Coal Region in Northeastern Pennsylvania Wyoming Valley, and the distant Pocono Mountains. To the south of Blue Mountain is the Capital Region and the state's capital of Harrisburg, the region's primary city, along with nearby communities in the rich farming regions of Lebanon Valley and Pennsylvania Dutch Country of York and Lancaster counties and the lower halves of both the Lehigh Valley and Delaware Valley, both of which extend north through water gaps beyond the ridgeline.

Blue Mountain School District, which is named after the mountain range, is located just off PA Route 61 in Schuylkill Haven, Pennsylvania.

Geography

The ridge of Blue Mountain runs for 150 mi through Pennsylvania, reaching an elevation of 2270 ft above sea level just north of the Pennsylvania Turnpike, near the borough of Newburg. Most of the ridgecrest, however, only reaches between 1400 and in elevation. The mountain's width varies from 1 to.

The southwestern end of the mountain is at Big Gap, west of Shippensburg. The mountain ridge continues to the southwest toward Maryland as Broad Mountain. The northeastern end of the mountain is at the Delaware Water Gap on the New Jersey border. Mount Minsi, elevation 1461 ft, forms the promontory overlooking the Delaware River. The ridge of Blue Mountain continues northeast into New Jersey, reaching the state’s high point as 1803 ft Kittatinny Mountain.

Blue Mountain marks the boundary between the Great Appalachian Valley and the main Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians.

Water gaps

Four of Pennsylvania's major rivers cut through Blue Mountain in water gaps:

The Delaware River, which forms Pennsylvania's eastern border with New Jersey, passes through the ridge just southeast of Stroudsburg.
The Lehigh River, which feeds the Delaware at Easton, passes through the Lehigh Gap at the ridge near Palmerton.
The Schuylkill River, which feeds the Delaware at Philadelphia, passes through the ridge just north of Hamburg.
The Susquehanna River, which feeds the Chesapeake Bay, passes through the ridge just north of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania's capital.

Pennsylvania Turnpike

Main article: Pennsylvania Turnpike

The Pennsylvania Turnpike system passes through Blue Mountain at two points:

The Blue Mountain Tunnel carries the turnpike's east–west mainline (Interstate 76) through the ridge in northern Franklin County. The Kittatinny Mountain Tunnel bores through a parallel ridge of the same mountain just to the west, with the two tunnel portals only 0.2 mi apart.
The Lehigh Tunnel carries the turnpike's north–south Northeast Extension (Interstate 476) through the ridge between Lehigh and Carbon Counties. Both tunnels consist of two tubes and carry two lanes in each direction of travel.

Blue Mountain attractions in Pennsylvania

Appalachian Trail is concurrent with the top of the ridge from New Jersey to northern Lebanon County, Pennsylvania.
Blue Mountain Resort is found on the north face of the ridge in the southeastern corner of Carbon County, Pennsylvania.
Boyd Big Tree Preserve Conservation Area is located in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania.
Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area reaches across Northampton, Monroe, and Pike counties and into New Jersey, mostly to the northwest of the ridge.
Hawk Mountain Ranger School, located just south of the Sanctuary, trains Civil Air Patrol members for their ground search and rescue Ranger Teams.
Hawk Mountain Sanctuary is located at the very northern edge of Berks County, Pennsylvania.

References

[https://web.archive.org/web/20061013162656/http://www.nps.gov/archive/dewa/InDepth/Spannin3/stgNAMES.html What's in a name], ''Spanning the Gap'' newsletter of the [[Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area]], Summer 1984
Measured along ridge point by point using maps.google.com ruler tool, anchored on New Jersey border, to Maryland border., 29 March 2017.
{{cite gnis
[[United States Geological Survey. U.S. Geological Survey]] 1:24,000-scale and 1:250,000-scale [[topographic map]] series

Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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