| Nescopeck Mountain | |
|---|---|
| Nescopec Mountain Niskëpèk (Unami) | |
.JPG) Nescopeck Mountain in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania | |
| Highest point | |
| Elevation | 1,594 ft (486 m) |
| Prominence | up to 850 or 900 feet (260 or 270 m) |
| Geography | |
 | |
| Parent range | chain of mountains from Moosic to the Susquehanna River |
| Topo map(s) | Shumans, Nuremberg, Berwick, Sybertsville, Freeland, and White Haven |
| Geology | |
| Mountain type | Ridge |
Nescopeck Mountain (also known as Nescopec Mountain[1]) is a ridge in Columbia County and Luzerne County, in Pennsylvania, in the United States.[2][3] Its elevation is 1,594 feet (486 m) above sea level. The ridge is a forested ridge, with at least two types of forest and two systems of vernal pools. It is a very long and unbroken ridge with two water gaps: one carved by Catawissa Creek and one carved by Nescopeck Creek. This later gap was exploited as a transportation corridor with the construction of the Lausanne–Nescopeck Turnpike between the respective frontier communities at Lausanne Landing and Nescopeck (opposite bank from Shickshinny, PA on the Susquehanna River) in 1805 connecting the newly developing Wyoming Valley with Philadelphia and the Delaware River valley; cutting off over 100 miles between Philadelphia and Wilkes-Barre. Today's Route PA 93 derives from this historic pack mule road.
Rock formations in the ridge include the Lower Helderberg Formation, the Onondaga Formation, the Spechty Kopf Formation, the Trimmers Rock Formation, and the Mauch Chunk Formation. In the most recent ice age, it was affected by glaciation.
Native Americans historically settled in the vicinity of Nescopeck Mountain. It was visited by Europeans as early as 1755. The ridge's name most likely means "dirty waters" or "black waters". Two Pennsylvania State Game Lands and one state park are situated partially on it. The ridge spans numerous townships in Columbia County and Luzerne County.
- ^ Walter M. Brasch (1982), Columbia County Place Names, p. 156
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
gniswas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ The Pennsylvania Science Office of The Nature Conservancy (2004), Columbia County Natural Areas Inventory 2004 (PDF), retrieved December 7, 2014