Snowy Mountain (New York)
| Snowy Mountain | |
|---|---|
| Highest point | |
| Elevation | 3,899 ft (1,188 m) NGVD 29 |
| Prominence | 2225 |
| Coordinates | 43°42′01″N 74°23′10″W / 43.7003432°N 74.3859856°WCoordinates: 43°42′01″N 74°23′10″W / 43.7003432°N 74.3859856°W |
| Geography | |
| Location | Hamilton County, New York |
| Parent range | Adirondack Mountains |
| Topo map | USGS Indian Lake, NY |
Snowy Mountain is a mountain located in Hamilton County, New York. Initially known as 'Squaw Bonnet', its summit is the highest point in the county. While most maps show the elevation as 3899 feet, some suggest that more recent surveys have it as 3904 feet or even 3908 feet.
The mountain is the highest in the Adirondack Mountains south of the 4,000 ft (1,200 m) High Peaks region. It is one of thirteen mountain in New York with more than 2,000 ft (610 m) of topographic prominence. Snowy Mountain is flanked to the northeast by Squaw Mountain (3239 feet), and to the southwest by Lewey Mountain (3742 feet). A subsidiary ridge comes off the summit to the east ending at unnamed 'Peak 3149' (3149 feet) which forms the head of a large bowl overlooking the Griffin Brook drainage.
Snowy Mountain stands within the watershed of the Hudson River, which drains into New York Bay. The south end of the northwest side of Snowy Mountain drains into Little Squaw Brook, thence into the Cedar River, and the Hudson River. The north side of Snowy Mountain drains into Squaw Brook, thence into Indian Lake, Lake Abanakee, the Indian River, and the Hudson River. The northeast end of Snowy Mountain drains into Beaver Brook, thence into Indian Lake. The southeast slopes of Snowy Mountain drain into Indian Lake via Griffin Brook, Forks Brook, Willow Brook, and Falls Brook.
It is the location of the recently restored Snowy Mountain Fire Observation Station, i.e. 'fire tower', listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2001. In 1909, after the disastrous forest fires of 1903 and 1908, New York State began erecting observation towers on strategically located peaks, such as Snowy Mountain, as part of a comprehensive forest fire suppression program for the Adirondack Mountains. That year a fifteen foot high log tower and a small log cabin were erected on the summit of Snowy Mountain. A telephone line was strung from the tower to Indian Lake village, a distance of 11 1/2 miles. Upon sighting smoke, the observer would call in the location of a suspected forest fire. With reports from observers on other nearby mountains, the exact location of the fire could be calculated by triangulation and fire suppression crews dispatched most expeditiously. In 1917, a steel tower 22 feet high replaced the log tower. In 1933, the steel tower was raised 33 feet so observers could see over the surrounding trees (one must assume that Verplanck Colvin and his men cleared the summit of most, if not all, trees in 1872 for triangulation sightings to distant peaks during the Adirondack Survey). In 1971, the Snowy Mountain fire tower was closed when NYS decided that it was unnecessary for protecting the Adirondack Park from forest fires (airplanes could do the job equally well). Several years later (it was there in 1986, but gone in 2006), the observer's cabin was removed.
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