Mount Orient
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 | |
|---|---|
 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 drains into Heatherstone Brook and Amethyst Brook, thence into Fort River, the Connecticut River, and Long Island Sound.
History
In 1909, writer and editor Mabel Loomis Todd, a resident of Amherst, purchased property on Mount Orient hoping to "preserve it from commercial exploitation." In 1960, her only daughter Millicent Todd Bingham gave an 87-acre wooded area, located on Mount Orient to Amherst College to be named the Mabel Loomis Todd Forest.
References
- The Metacomet-Monadnock Trail Guide. 9th Edition. The Appalachian Mountain Club. Amherst, Massachusetts, 1999