Catoctin Mountain
Encyclopedia
Catoctin Mountain, along with the geologically associated Bull Run Mountains
, comprises the easternmost mountain ridge of the Blue Ridge Mountains
, which are in turn a part of the Appalachian Mountains
range. The ridge runs northeast/southwest for about 50 miles (80.5 km) departing from South Mountain
near Emmitsburg, Maryland
, and running south past Leesburg, Virginia
, where it disappears into the Piedmont
in a series of low-lying hills near Aldie
. The ridge forms the eastern rampart of the Loudoun
and Middletown
valleys.
, Maryland
, and extends into northern Loudoun County
, Virginia
. It rises to its greatest elevation of 1900 feet (579.1 m) above sea level just southwest of Cunningham Falls State Park
and is transected by gaps at Braddock Heights
(Fairview Pass), Point of Rocks
on the Potomac River
and Clarke's Gap west of Leesburg
, as well as several other unnamed passes in Maryland and Virginia. The mountain is much lower in elevation in Virginia, reaching its highest peak just south of the Potomac at Furnace Mountain
(891 feet/271 m) and with only one peak above 800 feet (243.8 m) south of Leesburg.
From its northern terminus in Maryland headed south, the range is composed mainly of a single north-south running ridge with periodic low-lying gaps, though it does contain several spur
ridges, most notably near its intersection with South Mountain at its northern terminus. Its ridge character continues south of the Potomac in northern Loudoun County, losing elevation, until just north of Leesburg, where the range widens into a broad plateau of undulating hills separated by deep stream valleys. The range reaches its widest point north of Goose Creek
at nearly three miles. South of the creek the Catoctin vanishes into the Piedmont countryside near the northern terminus of the Bull Run Mountains
at Aldie
.
, traverses the northern half (almost 27 miles (43.5 km)) of the range. It is maintained by the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club
.
The trail starts at Gambrill State Park
, which contains several shorter hiking and mountain biking trails as well as picnic pavilions, and continues north through the Frederick Municipal Forest to Cunningham Falls State Park
and Catoctin Mountain Park
. Both parks contain many shorter hiking trails and organized campgrounds.
The Catoctin Mountain Byway, a Maryland Scenic Byway, loops and weaves through the northern part of the range.
According to the USGS, variant names of Catoctin Mountain include Kittochiny Mountains, Kittockton Mountain, Kittocton Mountain, and South Mountain. However, in Maryland, South Mountain
and Catoctin Mountain are separate, roughly parallel, mountains.
The portion of the ridge directly west of Frederick, Maryland
, is known locally as Braddock Mountain, and is signed as such where Interstate 70
crosses its summit, although the name is not recorded in the federal Geographic Names Information System
. (The GNIS does, however, recognize the community of Braddock Heights
, which is located there.)
Catoctin metabasaltic greenstone
interspersed by metasedimentary white quartz
and other phyllite
s and Precambrian
basalt
flows. The greenstone was originally uplifted during the Grenville Orogeny
. Further uplifting during the Alleghenian Orogeny
thrust the greenstone westward and interspersed it with the sedimentary rock deposited during the Paleozoic
era.
s. There are also black bear
s, turkey
s, and deer
, as well as vulture
s and raptors
.
tribe or clan which once lived between the mountain and the Potomac River
. (Note that a local tradition asserts that Catoctin means "place of many deer" in an Indian language.)
Catoctin Mountain is perhaps best known as the site of Camp David
, a mountain retreat for presidents of the United States. It was first used by President Franklin D. Roosevelt
in the 1930s, who called it "Shangri-La". In the 1950s President Dwight Eisenhower renamed it Camp David, after his grandson David Eisenhower
. The resort is extremely well guarded by the United States Secret Service
, and only approved guests of the President are allowed into the retreat. Due to its proximity to Washington, D.C.
, and its beautiful mountain scenery, Camp David has proven to be a popular weekend "getaway" for many United States presidents, and approximately 1/3 of Catoctin Mountain Park
can be closed to the public on short notice.
Bull Run Mountains
The Bull Run Mountains are a mountain range of the Blue Ridge Mountains in northern Virginia in the United States. Located approximately east of the main chain, across the Loudoun Valley...
, comprises the easternmost mountain ridge of the Blue Ridge Mountains
Blue Ridge Mountains
The Blue Ridge Mountains are a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Mountains range. This province consists of northern and southern physiographic regions, which divide near the Roanoke River gap. The mountain range is located in the eastern United States, starting at its southern-most...
, which are in turn a part of 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...
range. The ridge runs northeast/southwest for about 50 miles (80.5 km) departing from South Mountain
South Mountain (Maryland and Pennsylvania)
South Mountain is the northern extension of the Blue Ridge Mountain range in Maryland and Pennsylvania. From the Potomac River near Knoxville, Maryland in the south, to Dillsburg, Pennsylvania in the north, the long range separates the Hagerstown and Cumberland valleys from the Piedmont regions of...
near Emmitsburg, Maryland
Emmitsburg, Maryland
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 2,290 people, 811 households, and 553 families residing in the town. The population density was 1,992.9 people per square mile . There were 862 housing units at an average density of 750.2 per square mile...
, and running south past Leesburg, Virginia
Leesburg, Virginia
Leesburg is a historic town in, and county seat of, Loudoun County, Virginia, United States of America. Leesburg is located west-northwest of Washington, D.C. along the base of the Catoctin Mountain and adjacent to the Potomac River. Its population according the 2010 Census is 42,616...
, where it disappears into the Piedmont
Piedmont (United States)
The Piedmont is a plateau region located in the eastern United States between the Atlantic Coastal Plain and the main Appalachian Mountains, stretching from New Jersey in the north to central Alabama in the south. The Piedmont province is a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian division...
in a series of low-lying hills near Aldie
Aldie, Virginia
Aldie is an unincorporated village located on the John Mosby Highway between Gilbert's Corner and Middleburg in Loudoun County, Virginia. It is located in a gap between the Catoctin Mountain and Bull Run Mountain, through which the Little River flows...
. The ridge forms the eastern rampart of the Loudoun
Loudoun Valley
The Loudoun Valley is a small, but historically significant valley in the Blue Ridge Mountains located in Loudoun County in northwestern Virginia in the United States.-Geography:...
and Middletown
Middletown Valley
Middletown Valley, also historically known as Catoctin Valley, is a valley in western Frederick County in the state of Maryland.-Geography:...
valleys.
Geography
Catoctin Mountain traverses Frederick CountyFrederick County, Maryland
Frederick County is a county located in the western part of the U.S. state of Maryland, bordering the southern border of Pennsylvania and the northeastern border of Virginia. As of the 2010 Census, the population was 233,385....
, 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...
, and extends into northern Loudoun County
Loudoun County, Virginia
Loudoun County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia, and is part of the Washington Metropolitan Area. As of the 2010 U.S. Census, the county is estimated to be home to 312,311 people, an 84 percent increase over the 2000 figure of 169,599. That increase makes the county the fourth...
, Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
. It rises to its greatest elevation of 1900 feet (579.1 m) above sea level just southwest of Cunningham Falls State Park
Cunningham Falls State Park
Cunningham Falls State Park is a Maryland State Park located west of Thurmont, Maryland, USA, in the Catoctin Mountains. It features a man-made lake and its namesake waterfall, Cunningham Falls. Cunningham Falls is a cascading waterfall. It is the largest waterfall in Maryland. Catoctin...
and is transected by gaps at Braddock Heights
Braddock Heights, Maryland
Braddock Heights is a census-designated place in Frederick County, Maryland, United States. The population was 4,627 at the 2000 census. Braddock Heights is part of the Middletown, Maryland School District...
(Fairview Pass), Point of Rocks
Point of Rocks, Maryland
Point of Rocks is a community in Frederick County, Maryland. It is named for the striking rock formation on the adjacent Catoctin Mountain, which were formed by the Potomac River cutting through the ridge in a water gap, a typical formation in the Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians...
on the Potomac River
Potomac River
The Potomac River flows into the Chesapeake Bay, located along the mid-Atlantic coast of the United States. The river is approximately long, with a drainage area of about 14,700 square miles...
and Clarke's Gap west of Leesburg
Leesburg, Virginia
Leesburg is a historic town in, and county seat of, Loudoun County, Virginia, United States of America. Leesburg is located west-northwest of Washington, D.C. along the base of the Catoctin Mountain and adjacent to the Potomac River. Its population according the 2010 Census is 42,616...
, as well as several other unnamed passes in Maryland and Virginia. The mountain is much lower in elevation in Virginia, reaching its highest peak just south of the Potomac at Furnace Mountain
Furnace Mountain (Virginia)
Furnace Mountain is the tallest peak of Catoctin Mountain in Loudoun County, Virginia. It rises steeply from the southern banks of the Potomac River across from Point of Rocks, Maryland and continues southward for , reaching an elevation of before falling to a gap between it and an unnamed peak of...
(891 feet/271 m) and with only one peak above 800 feet (243.8 m) south of Leesburg.
From its northern terminus in Maryland headed south, the range is composed mainly of a single north-south running ridge with periodic low-lying gaps, though it does contain several spur
Spur (mountain)
A spur is a subsidiary summit of a hill or mountain. By definition, spurs have low topographic prominence, as they are lower than their parent summit and are closely connected to them on the same ridgeline...
ridges, most notably near its intersection with South Mountain at its northern terminus. Its ridge character continues south of the Potomac in northern Loudoun County, losing elevation, until just north of Leesburg, where the range widens into a broad plateau of undulating hills separated by deep stream valleys. The range reaches its widest point north of Goose Creek
Goose Creek (Potomac River)
Goose Creek is a tributary of the Potomac River in Fauquier and Loudoun counties in northern Virginia. It comprises the principal drainage system for the Loudoun Valley.-Course:...
at nearly three miles. South of the creek the Catoctin vanishes into the Piedmont countryside near the northern terminus of the Bull Run Mountains
Bull Run Mountains
The Bull Run Mountains are a mountain range of the Blue Ridge Mountains in northern Virginia in the United States. Located approximately east of the main chain, across the Loudoun Valley...
at Aldie
Aldie, Virginia
Aldie is an unincorporated village located on the John Mosby Highway between Gilbert's Corner and Middleburg in Loudoun County, Virginia. It is located in a gap between the Catoctin Mountain and Bull Run Mountain, through which the Little River flows...
.
Recreation
A hiking trail, the Catoctin TrailCatoctin Trail
The Catoctin Trail is a 26.6 mi hiking trail that traverses federal, state, and municipal woodlands along the northern half of Catoctin Mountain in Frederick County in central Maryland, USA...
, traverses the northern half (almost 27 miles (43.5 km)) of the range. It is maintained by the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club
Potomac Appalachian Trail Club
The Potomac Appalachian Trail Club, or ', is a volunteer organization that works to maintain hiking trails in the Washington D.C. area...
.
The trail starts at Gambrill State Park
Gambrill State Park
Gambrill State Park is located just outside Frederick, Maryland in the eastern United States. This park has several hiking trails and is a popular destination for area mountain bikers. There is also a picnic area with a playground and a small pond. Fishing is permitted at the...
, which contains several shorter hiking and mountain biking trails as well as picnic pavilions, and continues north through the Frederick Municipal Forest to Cunningham Falls State Park
Cunningham Falls State Park
Cunningham Falls State Park is a Maryland State Park located west of Thurmont, Maryland, USA, in the Catoctin Mountains. It features a man-made lake and its namesake waterfall, Cunningham Falls. Cunningham Falls is a cascading waterfall. It is the largest waterfall in Maryland. Catoctin...
and Catoctin Mountain Park
Catoctin Mountain Park
Catoctin Mountain Park, located in north-central Maryland, is part of the forested Catoctin Mountain ridge that forms the eastern rampart of the Appalachian Mountains...
. Both parks contain many shorter hiking trails and organized campgrounds.
The Catoctin Mountain Byway, a Maryland Scenic Byway, loops and weaves through the northern part of the range.
Names
The name of Catoctin Mountain follows the convention of referring to an entire mountainous ridge as a single "mountain" in situations where there is no single prominent peak. Nevertheless, it is still occasionally (and erroneously) called the "Catoctin Mountains".According to the USGS, variant names of Catoctin Mountain include Kittochiny Mountains, Kittockton Mountain, Kittocton Mountain, and South Mountain. However, in Maryland, South Mountain
South Mountain (Maryland and Pennsylvania)
South Mountain is the northern extension of the Blue Ridge Mountain range in Maryland and Pennsylvania. From the Potomac River near Knoxville, Maryland in the south, to Dillsburg, Pennsylvania in the north, the long range separates the Hagerstown and Cumberland valleys from the Piedmont regions of...
and Catoctin Mountain are separate, roughly parallel, mountains.
The portion of the ridge directly west of Frederick, Maryland
Frederick, Maryland
Frederick is a city in north-central Maryland. It is the county seat of Frederick County, the largest county by area in the state of Maryland. Frederick is an outlying community of the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is part of a greater...
, is known locally as Braddock Mountain, and is signed as such where Interstate 70
Interstate 70
Interstate 70 is an Interstate Highway in the United States that runs from Interstate 15 near Cove Fort, Utah, to a Park and Ride near Baltimore, Maryland. It was the first Interstate Highway project in the United States. I-70 approximately traces the path of U.S. Route 40 east of the Rocky...
crosses its summit, although the name is not recorded in the federal Geographic Names Information System
Geographic Names Information System
The Geographic Names Information System is a database that contains name and locative information about more than two million physical and cultural features located throughout the United States of America and its territories. It is a type of gazetteer...
. (The GNIS does, however, recognize the community of Braddock Heights
Braddock Heights, Maryland
Braddock Heights is a census-designated place in Frederick County, Maryland, United States. The population was 4,627 at the 2000 census. Braddock Heights is part of the Middletown, Maryland School District...
, which is located there.)
Geology
The mountain, like much of the Blue Ridge/South Mountain in the immediate area, consists of ProterozoicProterozoic
The Proterozoic is a geological eon representing a period before the first abundant complex life on Earth. The name Proterozoic comes from the Greek "earlier life"...
Catoctin metabasaltic greenstone
Greenschist
Greenschist is a general field petrologic term applied to metamorphic or altered mafic volcanic rock. The term greenstone is sometimes used to refer to greenschist but can refer to other rock types too. The green is due to abundant green chlorite, actinolite and epidote minerals that dominate the...
interspersed by metasedimentary white quartz
Quartz
Quartz is the second-most-abundant mineral in the Earth's continental crust, after feldspar. It is made up of a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon–oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall formula SiO2. There are many different varieties of quartz,...
and other phyllite
Phyllite
Phyllite is a type of foliated metamorphic rock primarily composed of quartz, sericite mica, and chlorite; the rock represents a gradation in the degree of metamorphism between slate and mica schist. Minute crystals of graphite, sericite, or chlorite impart a silky, sometimes golden sheen to the...
s and Precambrian
Precambrian
The Precambrian is the name which describes the large span of time in Earth's history before the current Phanerozoic Eon, and is a Supereon divided into several eons of the geologic time scale...
basalt
Basalt
Basalt is a common extrusive volcanic rock. It is usually grey to black and fine-grained due to rapid cooling of lava at the surface of a planet. It may be porphyritic containing larger crystals in a fine matrix, or vesicular, or frothy scoria. Unweathered basalt is black or grey...
flows. The greenstone was originally uplifted during the Grenville Orogeny
Grenville orogeny
The Grenville Orogeny was a long-lived Mesoproterozoic mountain-building event associated with the assembly of the supercontinent Rodinia. Its record is a prominent orogenic belt which spans a significant portion of the North American continent, from Labrador to Mexico, as well as to Scotland...
. Further uplifting during the Alleghenian Orogeny
Alleghenian orogeny
The Alleghenian orogeny or Appalachian orogeny is one of the geological mountain-forming events that formed the Appalachian Mountains and Allegheny Mountains. The term and spelling Alleghany orogeny was originally proposed by H.P. Woodward in 1957....
thrust the greenstone westward and interspersed it with the sedimentary rock deposited during the Paleozoic
Paleozoic
The Paleozoic era is the earliest of three geologic eras of the Phanerozoic eon, spanning from roughly...
era.
Flora and fauna
Much of the mountain, being shattered rock, is home to large populations of timber rattlesnakeCrotalus horridus
Crotalus horridus, the timber rattlesnake, is a species of venomous pitviper found in the eastern United States. This is the only rattlesnake species in most of the populous northeastern United States. No subspecies are currently recognized....
s. There are also black bear
American black bear
The American black bear is a medium-sized bear native to North America. It is the continent's smallest and most common bear species. Black bears are omnivores, with their diets varying greatly depending on season and location. They typically live in largely forested areas, but do leave forests in...
s, turkey
Wild Turkey
The Wild Turkey is native to North America and is the heaviest member of the Galliformes. It is the same species as the domestic turkey, which derives from the South Mexican subspecies of wild turkey .Adult wild turkeys have long reddish-yellow to grayish-green...
s, and deer
White-tailed Deer
The white-tailed deer , also known as the Virginia deer or simply as the whitetail, is a medium-sized deer native to the United States , Canada, Mexico, Central America, and South America as far south as Peru...
, as well as vulture
Vulture
Vulture is the name given to two groups of convergently evolved scavenging birds, the New World Vultures including the well-known Californian and Andean Condors, and the Old World Vultures including the birds which are seen scavenging on carcasses of dead animals on African plains...
s and raptors
Bird of prey
Birds of prey are birds that hunt for food primarily on the wing, using their keen senses, especially vision. They are defined as birds that primarily hunt vertebrates, including other birds. Their talons and beaks tend to be relatively large, powerful and adapted for tearing and/or piercing flesh....
.
History
The name "Catoctin" probably derives from the Kittoctons, an American IndianNative Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
tribe or clan which once lived between the mountain and the Potomac River
Potomac River
The Potomac River flows into the Chesapeake Bay, located along the mid-Atlantic coast of the United States. The river is approximately long, with a drainage area of about 14,700 square miles...
. (Note that a local tradition asserts that Catoctin means "place of many deer" in an Indian language.)
Catoctin Mountain is perhaps best known as the site of Camp David
Camp David
Camp David is the country retreat of the President of the United States and his guests. It is located in low wooded hills about 60 mi north-northwest of Washington, D.C., on the property of Catoctin Mountain Park in unincorporated Frederick County, Maryland, near Thurmont, at an elevation of...
, a mountain retreat for presidents of the United States. It was first used by President Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
in the 1930s, who called it "Shangri-La". In the 1950s President Dwight Eisenhower renamed it Camp David, after his grandson David Eisenhower
David Eisenhower
Dwight David Eisenhower II is an American author, public policy fellow, and eponym of the U.S. Presidential retreat, Camp David. He is the grandson of the 34th President of the United States, Dwight D...
. The resort is extremely well guarded by the United States Secret Service
United States Secret Service
The United States Secret Service is a United States federal law enforcement agency that is part of the United States Department of Homeland Security. The sworn members are divided among the Special Agents and the Uniformed Division. Until March 1, 2003, the Service was part of the United States...
, and only approved guests of the President are allowed into the retreat. Due to its proximity to Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, and its beautiful mountain scenery, Camp David has proven to be a popular weekend "getaway" for many United States presidents, and approximately 1/3 of Catoctin Mountain Park
Catoctin Mountain Park
Catoctin Mountain Park, located in north-central Maryland, is part of the forested Catoctin Mountain ridge that forms the eastern rampart of the Appalachian Mountains...
can be closed to the public on short notice.
See also
- Catoctin Mountain ParkCatoctin Mountain ParkCatoctin Mountain Park, located in north-central Maryland, is part of the forested Catoctin Mountain ridge that forms the eastern rampart of the Appalachian Mountains...
- Cunningham Falls State ParkCunningham Falls State ParkCunningham Falls State Park is a Maryland State Park located west of Thurmont, Maryland, USA, in the Catoctin Mountains. It features a man-made lake and its namesake waterfall, Cunningham Falls. Cunningham Falls is a cascading waterfall. It is the largest waterfall in Maryland. Catoctin...
- Frederick Municipal Forest (Frederick City Watershed)
- Gambrill State ParkGambrill State ParkGambrill State Park is located just outside Frederick, Maryland in the eastern United States. This park has several hiking trails and is a popular destination for area mountain bikers. There is also a picnic area with a playground and a small pond. Fishing is permitted at the...
- Sugarloaf Mountain (Maryland)
External links
- Catoctin Mountain Park (National Park Service)
- Catoctin Mountain Byway (A Maryland Scenic Byway)
- When Iron Was Hot in Loudoun County - Washington Post
- [ USGS GNIS - Catoctin Mountain]