Mount Orient

Mount Orient
View from Mount Orient
Highest point
Elevation	955 ft (291 m)
Coordinates	42°23′36″N 72°27′41″W
Geography
Location	Hampshire County, Massachusetts, U.S.
Parent range	Pelham Hills
Geology
Age of rock	400 million years
Mountain type	Metamorphic rock; dissected plateau
Climbing
Easiest route	Amethyst Brook trailhead

Mount Orient, 955 feet (291 meters), is a south-facing high point on an upland plateau overlooking the Connecticut River Valley in Pelham, Massachusetts (near Amherst, Massachusetts). Although the summit is wooded, a lower, south-facing ledge of exfoliating metamorphic rock provides views of the Holyoke Range and the east-central Pioneer Valley. Both the Metacomet-Monadnock Trail and the Robert Frost Trail (Massachusetts) traverse Mount Orient. The ledge is a popular hiking destination among college students and residents of nearby Amherst. Easiest access is via the Amethyst Brook Conservation Area parking lot on Pelham Road in east Amherst.

Mount Orient drains into Heatherstone Brook and Amethyst Brook, thence into Fort River, the Connecticut River, and Long Island Sound.

References

• The Metacomet-Monadnock Trail Guide. 9th Edition. The Appalachian Mountain Club. Amherst, Massachusetts, 1999