Tekoa Mountain

Tekoa Mountain
South face of Tekoa Mountain
Highest point
Elevation	1,121 ft (342 m)
Parent peak	42° 10' 07"N, 72° 48' 47"W
Coordinates	42°10′07″N 72°48′47″W / 42.16861°N 72.81306°W / 42.16861; -72.81306Coordinates: 42°10′07″N 72°48′47″W / 42.16861°N 72.81306°W / 42.16861; -72.81306
Naming
Translation	"Trumpet blast" or "place of fastening down" (Hebrew)
Geography
Location	Montgomery and Russell, Massachusetts
Parent range	Berkshires
Geology
Mountain type	Metamorphic rock
Climbing
Easiest route	White dot trail starting near the tracks by the Mass Pike bridge.

Tekoa Mountain, 1,121 feet (342 m), is a dramatic, rocky high point overlooking the Westfield River Gorge at the eastern edge of the Berkshire plateau in the towns of Montgomery and Russell, Massachusetts, USA. Tekoa Mountain, very prominent from the "Jacob's Ladder" section of U.S. Route 20 in the town of Russell, is not a true mountain but a cleaver jutting from a dissected plateau; it was produced by glacial action and through continuous erosion by the Westfield River and Moose Meadow Brook before and after the last ice age.

With nearby Shatterack Mountain, another cleaver, Tekoa Mountain forms a 700 ft (210 m) high knobby cliff face and gorge wall along the northeast side of the Westfield River as it plunges from the Berkshire Mountains of western Massachusetts into the Connecticut River Valley. Much of the face of Tekoa Mountain is barren or populated by sparse tree cover exacerbated by frequent fires which support partially fire-dependent tree species such as pitch pine and scrub oak. The mountain is also the habitat of the New England cottontail, a species in decline in Massachusetts. Tekoa Mountain has been targeted by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service's Connecticut River Valley conservation plan as a "high priority" ecosystem.

Tekoa Mountain overlooks the Westfield River Gorge and the Connecticut River Valley. The town of Russell and its villages, Woronoco and Crescent Mills, lie at the foot of the mountain along the Westfield River. From the summit ledges, the cities of Westfield and Springfield, Massachusetts are visible to the east. The southwest and northeast sides of Tekoa Mountain are steep and rugged with frequent cliff faces and rocky overlooks; to the north, the topography gradually flattens out as Tekoa Mountain merges with the upland plateau of Montgomery. The southwest side of Tekoa Mountain drains into the Westfield River, thence into the Connecticut River and Long Island Sound; the northeast side drains into Moose Meadow Brook, thence the Westfield River.