Mount Pisgah (Carbon County, Pennsylvania)
Location
Mount Pisgah is located above Jim Thorpe and is the northeastern end of the 12.5-mile-long Pisgah Mountain (or Pisgah Ridge) above the Lehigh Valley. The peak is located in northeastern Pennsylvania's Anthracite Upland region on the west bank of the Lehigh River just north of and parallel to Broadway, which is a block downhill from the lower looping end of the historic Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company's historic Mauch Chunk & Summit Hill Railway, which delivered coal to barges through chutes crossing what is now U.S. Route 209 and the rail yard along the Lehigh.
While the lower south slope of the mountain and the ends of the railroad loop and yard have now been developed into private lots and a town street, there are still two railway rights-of-ways—railroad bed road ends now turned into bike & hiking trails to travel the 7.6 miles (12.2 km) trip to the upper terminus and loop at Summit Hill, Pennsylvania. The former Upwards or climbing roadbed connects via a switchback path the steep climb to the Mount Pisgah summit that has a view of the surrounding countryside, especially the Lehigh Valley and the Mauch Chunk-Bear Mountain Gap and the slackwater area above the last canal dam 600 feet (183 m) below, and two hiking-biking trails now depart along the pathways up to Summit Hill, Pennsylvania once the uproad and downroads of the United States' and North America's second railroad, Mauch Chunk Switchback Railway is also located at the base of the mountain.
Name
Mt. Pisgah is named for the biblical mountain in Jordan from which Moses first saw the promised land.
References
- Alan R. Geyer (1979) "Outstanding Geologic Features of Pennsylvania", Geological Survey of Pennsylvania
- Tom Thwaites (1997) "50 hikes in Eastern Pennsylvania", Third edition
- Art Michaels (2003) "Pennsylvania Overlooks a guide for Sightseers and Outdoor People", Penn State Press