Description and History
A hiking destination popular among local college students, Bare Mountain offers a 270° vista over the surrounding valleys to the north and south, and a bird's eye view across Mount Norwottuck and the eastern peaks of the Holyoke Range. Also visible from the top are the Round Mountain quarry and the campuses of the University of Massachusetts Amherst and Hampshire College to the north and Westover Joint Air Reserve Base to the south. A prime example of a basalt talus slope is located on the east side of the mountain, along the Metacomet-Monadnock Trail.
The next peak to its west is called Mount Hitchcock. The peak to its east Round Mountain has been removed by quarrying activity. The next to its east is thus now Mount Norwottuck in Granby. Both these nearby peaks once had towers on them, but they have since been taken down. Thus Bare Mountain offer the best views until Long Mountain to the east or Mount Holyoke to the west are reached. Bare Mountain is the highest point within South Hadley. For many decades, Mount Hitchcock was thought to be the highest. However, carefully topographical and boundary analysis shows both that the peak of Bare Mountain is within the borders of the town and that it is 8 feet higher.
The Five Colleges Library Depository is located on the north side of the mountain, within a subterranean bunker formerly occupied by the United States Air Force Strategic Air Command.
Read more about this topic: Bare Mountain (Massachusetts)
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