Cross Mountain (Pennsylvania)
Cross Mountain is the highest peak in the Bear Pond Mountains, a sub range of the Appalachian Mountains. This grouping of mountains straddle the Maryland and Pennsylvania border.
Cross Mountain and Hearthstone Mountain which is on the Maryland side, form a unique geologic formation known as the "Punchbowl". This feature was created by the weathered shales of the Ordovician age in the center of a south-plunging anticline, having been eroded to expose a large amphitheater like feature. Cross and Hearthstone Mountain are made of hard resistant quartzite of the Tuscarora Formation of the Silurian age.
Cross Mountain is also the site of a deactivated microwave relay station, that was used during the Cold War. The unit was encased in a 103 ft. tower, and known as the "Cannonball" site 2. The site was closed in 1977. Access to the summit is still restricted.
