From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Wills Mountain
Wills Mountain
Wills Mountain
Wills Mountain in Pennsylvania
Wills Mountain (center) as viewed from the air.
Elevation 2,790 feet (850 m) [1]
Prominence 1,440 feet (440 m) [2]
Location
Location Bedford County, Pennsylvania / Allegany County,
Maryland, USA
Range Allegheny Mountains, part of the Ridge-and-Valley
Appalachians
Coordinates 39°50.757′N 78°40.925′W / 39.84595°N 78.682083°W
/ 39.84595; -78.682083Coordinates: 39°50.757′N
78°40.925′W / 39.84595°N 78.682083°W / 39.84595;
-78.682083
Topo map USGS Hyndman (PA) Quadrangle
Wills Mountain at night, viewed facing west from US 220 south
Climbing of Bedford, Pennsylvania.
Easiest Jeep trail
route the Pennsylvania Turnpike. The valley to the south of
Kinton Knob is known as Milligans Cove, an excellent ge-
Wills Mountain is a quartzite-capped ridge in the Ridge ological example of a breached anticline.
and Valley physiographic province of the Appalachian Portions of Wills Mountain, including the summit, are
Mountains in Pennsylvania and Maryland, USA, extend- located in Pennsylvania State Game Lands No. 48, where
ing from near Bedford, Pennsylvania to near Cumber- access to the mountain is limited, with only jeep trails
land, Maryland. It is the northernmost of several moun- and a gravel road on the ridge. The summit, like Martin
tain ridges included within the Wills Mountain Anticline. Hill to the east, has no towers or transmitters. However,
access to the summit is difficult, requiring a hike of more
Geography than 1,800 ft (550 m).
Pennsylvania Maryland
The Maryland part of Wills Mountain is located in Al-
The Pennsylvania part of Wills Mountain is in Bedford
legany County, where the mountain rises steeply from
County, reaching an elevation of 2,782 feet (848 m).
the Cumberland Narrows, a water gap west of Cumber-
Although there are mountains in Pennsylvania’s Ap-
land, half a mile (0.8 km) west of the mouth of Warrior
palachian Plateau that are higher, Wills Mountain is the
Run. From there, the mountain extends northeasterly
highest in its Ridge and Valley physiographic province.
into Pennsylvania; the mountain’s highest elevation in
Wills Mountain may have the highest prominence in
Maryland is 1,877 feet (572 m).
Pennsylvania.[citation needed] The mountain ridge begins
Haystack Mountain is on the south side of the Nar-
abruptly near the Juniata River just north of 2,560-foot
rows. Geologically, the two mountains are equivalent,
(780 m) Kinton Knob, west of Bedford, and just south of
1
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Wills Mountain
Geology
Wills Mountain is capped by the erosion-resistant Siluri-
an Tuscarora quartrzite. The mountain stands in the cen-
ter of the Wills Mountain Anticline, a geological struc-
ture that extends from southern Pennsylvania through
Maryland and West Virginia into Virginia. In this anti-
cline, the Tuscarora and various other rock strata are
bent upward, with the erosion-resistant Tuscarora cap-
ping the mountain’s ridgetop, and more easily eroded Sil-
urian limestones and shales on the mountain’s slopes.[3]
References
The Cumberland Narrows west of Cumberland, Maryland, the [1] Summit elevation between 2,780 and 2,800 ft.
water gap along Wills Creek through which the National Road [2] Key col elevation between 1,340 and 1,360 ft at
crosses between Haystack Mountain (left) and Wills Mountain 39°56.39′N 78°39.1′W / 39.93983°N 78.6517°W /
(right). This easy passage through the rugged Wills Mountain 39.93983; -78.6517.
Anticline is now used by the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad [3] Van Diver, Bradford B. (1990). Roadside Geology of
(left), Alternate U.S. 40 (center, left of the creek), and the CSX Pennsylvania. Missoula, Montana: Mountain Press.
Railroad (right).
pp. viii+ 352.
• United States Geological Survey
both being central ridges of the Wills Mountain Anticline. • Maryland Geological Survey
The Cumberland Narrows was carved into these • Alan R. Geyer (1979) "Outstanding Geologic Features of
quartzite-capped mountain ridges by Wills Creek, a Po- Pennsylvania", Pennsylvania Geological Survey
tomac River tributary, over millions of years. • Charles H. Shultz (1999) "The Geology of Pennsylvania",
The Cumberland Narrows serves as a western gate- Pennsylvania Geological Survey ISBN 0-8182-0227-0
way from Cumberland to the Appalachian Plateau and
the Ohio River Valley beyond. The Old National Road,
now Alternate U.S. 40, passes through the Narrows, along External links
with the former Baltimore and Ohio Railroad’s main line • Website offering some land, including Lover’s Leap,
between Baltimore/Washington and Pittsburg, now part on Wills Mountain **link goes nowhere,
of the CSX system, and a former line of the Western 03-14-2011**
Maryland Railroad, now used by the steam- and diesel- • "Wills Mountain, Pennsylvania". Peakbagger.com.
powered excursion trains of the Western Maryland http://www.peakbagger.com/peak.aspx?pid=12386.
Scenic Railroad. Retrieved 2008-08-22.
A prominent rocky outcropping at the south end of
Wills Mountain in the Cumberland Narrows is known as
Lover’s Leap.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wills_Mountain&oldid=466375022"
Categories:
• Geography of Allegany County, Maryland
• Mountains of Maryland
• Mountains of Pennsylvania
• Allegheny Mountains
• Geography of Bedford County, Pennsylvania
• Ridges of the United States
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