Bear Pond Mountains | |
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From left to right: Kasies Knob, Two Top and Cross Mountain.
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Highest point | |
Peak | Cross Mountain |
Elevation | 2,062 ft (628 m) |
Geography | |
Country | United States |
State/Province | Maryland, |
Range coordinates | 39°43′02″N 77°58′30″W / 39.71715°N 77.97509°WCoordinates: 39°43′02″N 77°58′30″W / 39.71715°N 77.97509°W |
Geology | |
Orogeny | Alleghenian |
Age of rock | Ordovician |
The Bear Pond Mountains are a sub-range in the Appalachian Mountains, that straddle Pennsylvania and Maryland in the United States. These mountains are a part of the Ridge and Valley Appalachians and reach their highest point at Cross Mountain (Pennsylvania) 2,062 feet (628 m). A unique geologic feature known as the "Punchbowl" occurs in this range. This feature was created by the weathered shales of the Ordovician age in the center of a south-plunging anticline, having been eroded to expose a large amphitheater like feature (punchbowl). Cross and Hearthstone Mountain are made of hard resistant quartzite of the Tuscarora Formation of the Silurian age, which form the walls of the bowl.
Whitetail Ski Resort is also located in this range on Two Top Mountain.
The chief summits of the Bear Pond Mountains are the following:
Alan R. Geyer (1979) "Outstanding Geologic Features of Pennsylvania", Geological Survey of Pennsylvania