The Bear Pond Mountains are a sub-range in the Appalachian Mountains

Appalachian Mountains

The Appalachian Mountains #Whether the stressed vowel is or ,#Whether the "ch" is pronounced as a fricative or an affricate , and#Whether the final vowel is the monophthong or the diphthong .), often called the Appalachians, are a system of mountains in eastern North America. The Appalachians...

, that straddle 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...

 and Maryland

Maryland

Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...

 in the United States

United States

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

. These mountains are a part of the Ridge and Valley Appalachians and reach their highest point at Cross Mountain (Pennsylvania)

Cross Mountain (Pennsylvania)

Cross Mountain is the highest peak in the Bear Pond Mountains, a sub range of the Appalachian Mountains. This grouping of mountains straddle the Maryland and Pennsylvania border....

 2062 feet (628 m). A unique geologic feature known as the "Punchbowl" occurs in this range. This feature was created by the weathered shales of the Ordovician

Ordovician

The Ordovician is a geologic period and system, the second of six of the Paleozoic Era, and covers the time between 488.3±1.7 to 443.7±1.5 million years ago . It follows the Cambrian Period and is followed by the Silurian Period...

 age in the center of a south-plunging anticline, having been eroded to expose a large amphitheater like feature (punchbowl). Cross and Hearthstone Mountain are made of hard resistant quartzite of the 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:...

 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, which form the walls of the bowl.

Whitetail Ski Resort

Whitetail Ski Resort

Whitetail Resort is a four season resort located on Two Top Mountain in the Tuscarora Mountains of Pennsylvania. The resort opened for skiing in 1991, and was acquired a few years later by Snow Time, Inc., the company which also manages Liberty Mountain Resort and Ski Roundtop...

 is also located in this range on Two Top Mountain.

The chief summits of the Bear Pond Mountains are the following:

• Cross Mountain (Pennsylvania)
  Cross Mountain (Pennsylvania)
  Cross Mountain is the highest peak in the Bear Pond Mountains, a sub range of the Appalachian Mountains. This grouping of mountains straddle the Maryland and Pennsylvania border....
  
  2062 feet (628 m)
• Hearthstone Mountain 2021 feet (616 m)
• Two Top Mountain 1780 feet (543 m)
• Kasies Knob 1760 feet (536 m)
• Fairview Mountain 1690 feet (515 m)
• Gillians Knob 1575 feet (480 m)
• Bullskin Mountain 1551 feet (473 m)
• Rickard Mountain 1550 feet (472 m)
• Sword Mountain 1500 feet (457 m)
• Abe Mills Mountain 1376 feet (419 m)
• Johnson Mountain 1140 feet (347 m)