Taconic Mountains - Geography

Geography

The Taconic Mountains begin in northwest Connecticut and northeast Dutchess County, New York and extend through western Berkshire County, Massachusetts and the adjacent counties in New York, then along the border of New York and Vermont to the town of Brandon, after which they lose prominence and dwindle into scattered hills and isolated peaks which continue north toward Burlington, Vermont. To the south, they fade into the Hudson Highlands range in New York.

Beginning in New York State, a 12-mile (19 km) wide region of foothills gradually rises to the crest of the Taconic Mountains along the state's eastern border. To the east, the Taconic Mountains fall off abruptly, ending in the valleys of the Housatonic River, the upper Hoosic River, and the greater Valley of Vermont. The Berkshires and the Green Mountains rise to the east of the Taconics. To the west, the Taconic foothills are bordered by the Hudson River Valley and, near the northern terminus of the Taconic Mountains, they are touched on by the eastern foothills of the Adirondak Mountains in Washington County, New York.

In Massachusetts and Connecticut, the Taconic Mountains are often popularly grouped as part of the Berkshires; in Vermont they are similarly grouped as part of the Green Mountains. However, the Taconic Mountains are geologically distinct from the Berkshires and Green Mountains.

The highest peak of the Taconic Mountains is Mount Equinox 3,816 feet (1,163 m), located in Manchester, Vermont. Mount Greylock 3,492 feet (1,064 m), the highest point in Massachusetts, and Mount Frissell 2,454 feet (748 m), the highest point in Connecticut, are also part of the Taconic Mountains.

The Taconic Mountains lie within the New England-Acadian forests ecoregion.