Haycock Mountain

Haycock Mountain
Haycock Mountain
Highest point
Elevation	960+ feet ( 293+ m) [1]
Prominence	400 ft (120 m) [1]
Coordinates	40°30′15″N 75°13′51″W / 40.50417°N 75.23083°WCoordinates: 40°30′15″N 75°13′51″W / 40.50417°N 75.23083°W [2]
Geography
Haycock Mountain Bucks County, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Topo map	USGS Riegelsville [2]
Geology
Age of rock	Triassic [3]
Mountain type	Intrusive igneous / trap rock
Climbing
Easiest route	Hike

Haycock Mountain or known locally as Ghost Mountain is a locally prominent hill with the highest summit in Bucks County. It rises above Nockamixon State Park, in the Delaware River drainage of southeastern Pennsylvania.^[1] Early settlers named it simply for its "resemblance to a cock of hay."^[4]

Haycock is covered with numerous triassic diabase boulders, and is a bouldering destination with many established routes ranging from V0 to V10+.^[3]

Since it lies within State Game Land Number 157, Haycock is used seasonally for hunting.^[5]

Geology

Haycock Mountain was formed 200 million years ago by an intrusion of magma into local shale and argillite within the Newark Basin. As the magma cooled it became a large mass of erosion resistant diabase below the surface. Millions of years of weathering then stripped away overlying layers of shale and argillite to expose the durable diabase to the surface, creating Haycock mountain as it appears today.^[6]

In addition to diabase, Haycock Mountain features a large area underlain by hornfels, or local sedimentary rock that has been baked by the heat of the magma intrusion. The baked rock is most prominent within a few hundred feet of the intrusion, appearing as a dark gray hornfels. However, the magma's heat was extensive enough to produce maroon hornfels nearly a mile away.^[6]

References

1. "Haycock Mountain, Pennsylvania". Peakbagger.com. Retrieved 2009-01-19.
2. "Haycock Mountain". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey. Retrieved 2009-01-19.
3. "Rock Climbing Routes in Haycock Mtn, Southeastern Region". Rockclimbing.com. Retrieved 2009-01-19.
4. Quoted at "'A great local spot'". phillyBurbs.com. Retrieved 2009-01-19. from Davis, W.W.H. (1876). History of Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Doylestown, Pennsylvania: Democrat Book and Job Office Print.
5. "Mapping - State Game Land 157". Pennsylvania Game Commission website. Retrieved 2009-01-19.
   • "Scenic Bucks County Photos". Todd White.
6. Inners, Jon D. Pennsylvania Trail of Geology - Nockamixon State Park, Bucks County: Rocks and Joints. Prepared by the Bureau of Topographic and Geologic Survey for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. Last updated 2008.