Mount Ascutney

Mount Ascutney
Mount Ascutney from Claremont, New Hampshire
Highest point
Elevation	3130+ ft (954+ m)
Prominence	2,270 ft (690 m)
Listing	#25 on New England Fifty Finest
Coordinates	43°26′40″N 72°27′13″W / 43.4445164°N 72.4537019°W / 43.4445164; -72.4537019Coordinates: 43°26′40″N 72°27′13″W / 43.4445164°N 72.4537019°W / 43.4445164; -72.4537019
Geography
Mount Ascutney Windsor County, Vermont, U.S.
Topo map	USGS Mount Ascutney
Climbing
Easiest route	Hike

Mount Ascutney is a monadnock located in southern Vermont. With a summit elevation of about 3130 feet (954 m.), it is not the highest peak in Windsor County, Vermont; that title belongs to Gillespie Peak to the west. Particularly noteworthy about Ascutney are its granite outcrops, one of which, near its peak, serves as a launching point for hang-gliders. The mountain is very steep, and its trails traverse a Vermont state forest.

The name "Ascutney" comes from the Abenaki word Ascutegnik, which was the name of a settlement near where the Sugar River meets the Connecticut River. The Abenaki name for the mountain is Cas-Cad-Nac, which means "mountain of the rocky summit".

The mountain's base straddles several villages — Ascutney, Brownsville, Windsor, and West Windsor — and it is located only several miles off exit 8 on Interstate 91. The mountain itself is visible from the top of Mount Washington, seventy miles away.

Mt. Ascutney is located in the southeastern section of Windsor County, in the Connecticut River Valley. The village of Ascutney, in the town of Weathersfield, is to the south. To the north lie the towns of Windsor and West Windsor. The village of Brownsville, in the town of West Windsor, sits at the northwestern base of the mountain. To the east lies the Connecticut River and the city of Claremont, New Hampshire. To the immediate west stands another, smaller mountain, fittingly named Little Ascutney Mountain.