page_title: Metacomet-Monadnock Trail
section_title: Landscape, geology, and natural environment
hierarchical_section_title: Metacomet-Monadnock Trail / Landscape, geology, and natural environment
caption_attribution_description: English: This large boulder was 'dropped' during one of the ice ages.
context_page_description: The Metacomet-Monadnock Trail is a 114-mile-long hiking trail that traverses the Metacomet Ridge of the Pioneer Valley region of Massachusetts and the central uplands of Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire. Although less than 70 miles from Boston and other large population centers, the trail is considered remarkably rural and scenic and includes many areas of unique ecologic, historic, and geologic interest. Notable features include waterfalls, dramatic cliff faces, exposed mountain summits, woodlands, swamps, lakes, river floodplain, farmland, significant historic sites, and the summits of Mount Monadnock, Mount Tom and Mount Holyoke. The Metacomet-Monadnock Trail is maintained largely through the efforts of the Berkshire Chapter of the Appalachian Mountain Club. Much of the trail is a portion of the New England National Scenic Trail.
context_section_description: The geology and natural environment of the M&M trail can be divided into two distinct sections: the Metacomet Ridge of the Pioneer Valley and the upland plateau of central Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire. One common denominator, evidence of recent glacial activity, can be found throughout all parts of the M&M Trail. Such evidence includes glacial erratics, glacial scouring, glacial striations, deranged drainage, mountain notches, U-shaped valleys, highland swamps, and roches moutonnées, so called "sheepback mountains" because they often resemble the shape of a sheep in profile. The extremely steep south and/or east faces of these hills were carved by the movement of glacial ice down lee slopes.
caption: This glacial erratic is located on the M&M trail about one mile north of Mass State Highway 141.
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