White Mountains (New Hampshire)
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- This article is about the White Mountains of New Hampshire. For other uses of the term, please see White Mountains.
The White Mountains are a mountain range that covers about a quarter of the state of New Hampshire and a small portion of western Maine in the United States. Part of the Appalachian Mountains, they are considered the most rugged mountains in New England. The range is heavily visited due to its proximity to Boston and New York City.
Most of the area is public land, including the White Mountain National Forest as well as a number of state parks. Its most famous peak is Mount Washington, which at 6,288 feet (1916 m) is the highest mountain in the Northeastern U.S. and home to the fastest winds (231 mph or 372 km/h, over 100 m/s, in 1934) measured on the surface of the earth. Mount Washington is one of a line of summits called the Presidential Range, many of which are named after U.S. presidents and other prominent Americans.
The White Mountains included the Old Man of the Mountain, a rock formation on Cannon Mountain that resembled the craggy profile of a man until it fell in May 2003. It remains the state symbol of New Hampshire. The range also includes a natural feature dubbed "The Basin." The Basin area consists of a granite bowl, twenty feet in diameter, fed by a waterfall, worn smooth by the Pemigewasset River. The areas around "The Basin" are also popular spots for swimming in the ice cold mountain fed water.
The range is known for the system of huts for hikers, operated by the Appalachian Mountain Club. The Appalachian Trail crosses the area from southwest to northeast.
The range is crossed by two north-south highway routes (U.S. Route 3 and Interstate 93 through Franconia Notch, and New Hampshire Route 16 through Pinkham Notch), and two east-west roads (the Kancamagus Highway, part of New Hampshire Route 112, through Kancamagus Pass, and U.S. Route 302 through Crawford Notch). The White Mountains include several smaller groups including the Presidential Range, Franconia Range, Sandwich Range, Carter-Moriah Range, Kinsman Range and Pilot Range.
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[edit] Art
- Main article: White Mountain art
As the most ruggedly picturesque area in the northeast U.S., the White Mountains drew hundreds of painters during the 19th century. This group of artists is sometimes referred to as belonging to the "White Mountain school" of art. Others dispute the notion that these painters were a "school", since they did not all paint in the same style as, for example, those artists of the Hudson River school.
[edit] Geology and physiography
The White Mountains are a physiographic section of the larger New England province, which in turn is part of the larger Appalachian physiographic division.[1]
The magma intrusions forming the White Mountains today were created 124 to 100 million years ago as the North American Plate moved westward over the New England hotspot.
[edit] Literature
Nathaniel Hawthorne chose the White Mountains as the setting for his short story, The Great Carbuncle.
[edit] See also
- Four-thousand footers
- White Mountains Region
- List of mountains in New Hampshire
- List of notches in New Hampshire
- Vegetation of New England
[edit] References
- ^ Physiographic divisions of the conterminous U. S.. U.S. Geological Survey. Retrieved on 2007-12-06.
[edit] External links
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