Hawk Mountain is a mountain ridge, part of the Blue Mountain Ridge in the Appalachian Mountain chain, located in central-eastern Pennsylvania near Reading and Allentown. The area includes 13,000 acres (5,300 ha) of protected private and public land, including the 2,600-acre (1,100 ha) Hawk Mountain Sanctuary.[4]
| Hawk Mountain | |
|---|---|
 View of Hawk Mountain from Hawk Mountain Sanctuary's North Lookout in Pennsylvania | |
| Highest point | |
| Elevation | 1,521 ft (464 m)[1] |
| Prominence | 181 ft (55 m)[1] |
| Parent peak | The Pinnacle[1] |
| Coordinates | 40°38′44″N 75°58′48″W / 40.64556°N 75.98000°W[2] |
| Geography | |
  Hawk Mountain  Hawk Mountain Hawk Mountain (the United States) | |
| Parent range | Blue Mountain[1] |
| Topo map | USGS New Ringgold |
| Climbing | |
| Easiest route | Lookout Trail (hike) [3] |
The River of Rocks is visible and accessible from the Sanctuary. The boulders were formed by periglacial processes in the Pleistocene epoch, or "ice age".
History
editThe mountain was previously called North Mountain because it is across the Lehigh Valley from South Mountain.[5] In 1929, the Pennsylvania Game Commission offered hunters $5 for every goshawk shot during migrating season,[6] as the birds were considered pests.
In 1932, Richard Pough (a birder and photographer from Philadelphia) photographed hundreds of killed hawks and published these photos in Bird Lore, the predecessor to Audubon.[6]
In 1934, after decades of hawk and eagle slaughter on the ridge, Rosalie Edge unilaterally ended the annual shoot by buying the property, changing the name of the mountain to the present one,[5] and turning it into a sanctuary. Hawk Mountain Sanctuary was incorporated in 1938 and began year-round operations in 1946.[6]
The Game Commission bounty was terminated in 1951, although birds of prey continued to face threats, including from chemical pesticides like DDT. Bird counts have been taken at Hawk Mountain since the end of World War II, with the Sanctuary counting its millionth raptor on October 8, 1992.[6]
Scouting and Civil Air Patrol
editThe mountain is also home to the Hawk Mountain Council and Hawk Mountain Camp [7] and the Civil Air Patrol's Colonel Phillip Neuweiler Ranger Training Facility known as the Hawk Mountain Ranger School.
Gallery
edit-
Hawk Mountain viewed from a rocky overlook at Hawk Mountain Sanctuary -
River of Rocks
References
edit- ^ a b c d "Hawk Mountain, Pennsylvania". Peakbagger.com. Retrieved 2008-08-30.
- ^ "Hawk Mountain". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. 1979-08-02. Retrieved 2008-08-30.
- ^ "Welcome to Hawk Mountain - Hiking". Hawk Mountain Sanctuary website. Archived from the original on 2008-10-22. Retrieved 2008-08-30.
- ^ "The Hawk Mountain Landscape". 2007. Retrieved 18 July 2011.
- ^ a b Lillard, David (2002). Appalachian Trail Names: Origins of Place Names Along the AT. Stackpole Books. p. 53. ISBN 0-8117-2672-X. Retrieved 2017-09-17.
- ^ a b c d "Hawk Mountain Chronology" (PDF). March 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 May 2011. Retrieved 18 July 2011.
- ^ "Hawk Mountain Scout Reservation". Retrieved 2008-08-30.