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Taconic Mountains

Ecoregion in Appalachian Mountains in NY, CT, MA, VT

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The Taconic Mountains extend from southwestern Vermont to northwestern Connecticut, straddling the New York border. The present mountain range formed when blocks of an ancient Taconic mountain range slid to the west over the top of younger oceanic sediments. The bedrock is composed primarily of metamorphosed mudstones, slate, phyllite, and schist, with some minor lenses of limestone. The regional boundary is relatively sharp on the east side of the Taconic Mountains, where the metamorphic rocks of the mountains meet the eroded carbonate rocks composing the Western New England Marble Valleys (58b). To the west in New York, the upturned ridges of the Taconics gradually descend to the Taconic Foothills (58x) and toward the Hudson Valley (59i), and there is a fuzzy boundary between upland and lowland. The weathering and removal of carbonate rocks has created many of the steep-sided mountains and narrow valleys. Elevations of the region are mostly 1000 to 2000 feet, although several of the Taconic Mountain peaks exceed 3000 feet, including Equinox Mountain in Vermont at 3816 feet and Mt. Greylock, the highest peak in Massachusetts at 3491 feet. Loamy and coarse-loamy Inceptisols are common soils, with frigid temperature regimes at higher elevations and a mesic temperature regime on lower mountain slopes. Vegetation consists generally of northern hardwoods (maple-beech-birch), with some spruce-fir at higher elevations, and more oak and hickory to the south and at lower elevations. Streams are mostly small, high-gradient tributaries, and there are few lakes. Population centers are limited due to the prevalence of steep slopes and the general lack of broad intermountain valleys. Land use activities include forestry, recreation, and some small-farm agriculture.

— EPA

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