Big Mountain (Pennsylvania) - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Big Mountain is the high point on the Tuscarora Mountain

Tuscarora Mountain

Tuscoarora Mountain is a mountain ridge of the Appalachian Mountains in the Ridge and Valley province in central Pennsylvania. It reaches its highest point on Big Mountain at 2,458 feet above sea level....

ridge in south central Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. The 2458 feet (749.2 m). summit is located in the Buchanan State Forest

Buchanan State Forest

Buchanan State Forest is a Pennsylvania State Forest in Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry District #2. The main office is located in McConnellsburg in Fulton County, Pennsylvania, in the United States...

and offers an viewshed that is one of the more stunning in the Commonwealth

Commonwealth

Commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has sometimes been synonymous with "republic."More recently it has been used for fraternal associations of some sovereign nations...

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Tuscarora Formation

Tuscarora Formation

The Silurian Tuscarora Formation — also known as Tuscarora Sandstone or Tuscarora Quartzite — is a mapped bedrock unit in Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, and Virginia.-Description:...

quartzite

Quartzite

Quartzite is a hard metamorphic rock which was originally sandstone. Sandstone is converted into quartzite through heating and pressure usually related to tectonic compression within orogenic belts. Pure quartzite is usually white to gray, though quartzites often occur in various shades of pink...

of the Silurian

Silurian

The Silurian is a geologic period and system that extends from the end of the Ordovician Period, about 443.7 ± 1.5 Mya , to the beginning of the Devonian Period, about 416.0 ± 2.8 Mya . As with other geologic periods, the rock beds that define the period's start and end are well identified, but the...

Age underlies the summit; it is this weather resistant rock which gives Big Mountain its high prominence.

Big Mountain and the rest of the Tuscarora Ridge has abundant wildlife.