Green Mountains

For the Green Mountains of Libya, see Jebel Akhdar, Libya. For the Ascension Island mountain see Green Mountain. For the coffee, see Green Mountain Coffee.

The Green Mountains, outside of Montpelier, Vermont

The Green Mountains are a mountain range in the U.S. state of Vermont. The range extends approximately 250 miles (400 km).

Peaks

The best known mountains--for reasons such as high elevation, ease of public access by road or trail (especially the Long Trail and Appalachian Trail), or with ski resorts or towns nearby--in the range include:

• Mount Mansfield, 4,380 feet (1,340 m), the highest point in Vermont
• Killington Peak, 4,226 feet (1,288 m)
• Mount Ellen, 4,049 feet (1,234 m)
• Camel's Hump, 4,065 feet (1,239 m)
• Mount Abraham, 3,953 feet (1,205 m)
• Stratton Mountain (Vermont), 3,940 feet (1,200 m), the mountain at which the initial ideas of both the Long Trail and the Appalachian Trail were born,
• Pico Peak, 3,930 feet (1,200 m)
• Jay Peak, 3,766 feet (1,148 m), receives the most amount of snowfall on average in the eastern United States
• Mount Wilson, 3,763 feet (1,147 m)
• Glastenbury Mountain, 3,737 feet (1,139 m)
• Mount Roosevelt, 3,520 feet (1,070 m)
• Mount Cleveland, 3,471 feet (1,058 m)

The Green Mountains are part of the Appalachian Mountains, a range that stretches from Quebec in the north to Alabama in the south.

Map of the main regions of the northeast Appalachians.

The Green Mountains are part of the New England-Acadian forests ecoregion.

Three peaks, Mount Mansfield, Camel's Hump, and Mount Abraham, support alpine vegetation. For the most part, however, the Green Mountains, especially the northern sections, support a dense boreal forest between roughly 3,000–3,500 feet (910–1,100 m) and treeline. This forest is particularly well established in the Green Mountains and throughout the winter months weathers harsh temperatures, snowfall and winds that would destroy other species. In other words, much of the "green" in Green Mountains is due to this boreal forest.

Mansfield, Killington, Pico, and Ellen have downhill ski resorts on their slopes. All of the major peaks are traversed by the Long Trail, a wilderness hiking trail that runs from the southern to northern borders of the state and joins the Appalachian Trail for roughly ¹⁄₃ of its length.

History

The Vermont Republic, also known less formally as the Green Mountain Republic, existed from 1777 to 1791, at which time Vermont became the 14th state.

Vermont not only takes its state nickname ("The Green Mountain State") from the mountains, it is named after them. The French Verts Monts is literally translated as Green Mountains. This name was suggested in 1777 by Dr. Thomas Young, an American revolutionary and Boston Tea Party participant. The University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, originally styled "the University of the Green Mountains," is referred to as UVM (after the Latin Universitas Viridis Montis).

Geology and physiography

The Green Mountains are a physiographic section of the larger New England province, which in turn is part of the larger Appalachian physiographic division.

See also

• Green Mountain National Forest
• Green Mountain Boys – a paramilitary infantry led by Ethan Allen that took Fort Ticonderoga during the American Revolution
• Green Mountain Club
• Griffith Lake

External links

• U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Green Mountains