Storm King Mountain is a mountain on the west bank of the

Hudson River The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between Ne ...

just south of

Cornwall-on-Hudson, New York Cornwall-on-Hudson is a riverfront village in the town of Cornwall, Orange County, New York, United States. It lies on the west bank of the Hudson River, approximately north of New York City. The population as of the 2010 census was 3,018. ...

. Together with Breakneck Ridge on the opposite bank of the river it forms "Wey-Gat" or Wind Gate, the picturesque northern narrows of the

Hudson Highlands The Hudson Highlands are mountains on both sides of the Hudson River in New York state lying primarily in Putnam County on its east bank and Orange County on its west. They continue somewhat to the south in Westchester County and Rockland Count ...

. Its distinctive curved ridge is the most prominent aspect of the view south down

Newburgh Bay Newburgh Bay is a feature of the Hudson River's west bank, located approximately 60 miles (105 km) north of New York City. It takes its name from the city of Newburgh, New York, for many years the major port on this section of the river. Town ...

, from Newburgh,

Beacon A beacon is an intentionally conspicuous device designed to attract attention to a specific location. A common example is the lighthouse, which draws attention to a fixed point that can be used to navigate around obstacles or into port. More mode ...

, and the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge. It can also be seen by southbound travelers on nearby sections of the

New York State Thruway , direction_a = South , terminus_a = {{Jct, state=NY, I, 95 at the The Bronx, Bronx–Yonkers, New York City line , junction = {{plainlist, * {{jct, state=NY, I, 287, Parkway, Saw Mill, NY, 119 in Elmsford, New York, Elmsford * {{jct, state=NY, ...

. This view was a popular subject for early artists of the

Hudson River School The Hudson River School was a mid-19th century American art movement embodied by a group of landscape painters whose aesthetic vision was influenced by Romanticism. The paintings typically depict the Hudson River Valley and the surrounding area ...

. While thought of as the highest point in the area, its summit reaching approximately above sea level, the eastern summit known officially as Butter Hill is actually higher, with an elevation of .

Name

During his initial voyage up the river,

Henry Hudson Henry Hudson ( 1565 – disappeared 23 June 1611) was an English sea explorer and navigator during the early 17th century, best known for his explorations of present-day Canada and parts of the northeastern United States. In 1607 and 16 ...

and his crew named the mountain ''Klinkesberg'', due to its wrinkled rock cliffs near the river. Later, the early Dutch

colonist A settler is a person who has migrated to an area and established a permanent residence there, often to colonize the area. A settler who migrates to an area previously uninhabited or sparsely inhabited may be described as a pioneer. Settle ...

s of the region referred to the mountain simply as "Boterberg" (Butter Hill, since the mountain looked like a lump of

butter Butter is a dairy product made from the fat and protein components of churned cream. It is a semi-solid emulsion at room temperature, consisting of approximately 80% butterfat. It is used at room temperature as a spread, melted as a condim ...

; the English translation was later the common name for the mountain). During the middle of the 19th century, writer Nathaniel Parker Willis, who had become a resident in the region, proposed the name Storm King: The section of New York State Route 218 that winds around the eastern slope of the mountain overlooking the River Hudson was named originally the

Storm King Highway The Storm King Highway is a three-mile (4.8 km) segment of New York State Route 218 (NY 218) between Lee Road in the Town of Highlands at the south end and the Cornwall-on-Hudson village line in Orange County, New York, in the Uni ...

. That name is often used presently for the four-lane section of U.S. Route 9W to the west, with Route 218 referred to as the Old Storm King Highway.

History

During 1962 the mountain became the topic of an environmental controversy when local

activist Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fro ...

s formed the Scenic Hudson Preservation Coalition (known presently simply as Scenic Hudson) to fight plans by

utility As a topic of economics, utility is used to model worth or value. Its usage has evolved significantly over time. The term was introduced initially as a measure of pleasure or happiness as part of the theory of utilitarianism by moral philosophe ...

Consolidated Edison Consolidated Edison, Inc., commonly known as Con Edison (stylized as conEdison) or ConEd, is one of the largest investor-owned energy companies in the United States, with approximately $12 billion in annual revenues as of 2017, and over $62 ...

to cut away part of the mountain near the river and build a pumped storage hydro-electric plant complete with

transmission line In electrical engineering, a transmission line is a specialized cable or other structure designed to conduct electromagnetic waves in a contained manner. The term applies when the conductors are long enough that the wave nature of the transmi ...

s across the Hudson River for an ambitious power generating scheme which would also have entailed creating a

reservoir A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contr ...

in much of what is now Black Rock Forest. In a lawsuit brought by the coalition, ''

Scenic Hudson Preservation Conference v. Federal Power Commission ''Scenic Hudson Preservation Conference v. Federal Power Commission'', 354 F.2d 608 ( 2d Cir. 1965) is a United States Second Circuit Court of Appeals case in which a public group of citizens, the Scenic Hudson Preservation Conference, organiz ...

'', a judge ruled for the first time that

environmentalist An environmentalist is a person who is concerned with and/or advocates for the protection of the environment. An environmentalist can be considered a supporter of the goals of the environmental movement, "a political and ethical movement that se ...

s had standing to challenge

executive branch The Executive, also referred as the Executive branch or Executive power, is the term commonly used to describe that part of government which enforces the law, and has overall responsibility for the governance of a state. In political systems ...

decisions in federal court. During 1979 Con Edison finally abandoned even a greatly reduced version of the project, and settled another lawsuit against their Indian Point facility by agreeing to regulate the operation of their Hudson River power plants so as to minimize the number of fish they killed and endow the Hudson River Foundation with $12 million. After

forest fire A wildfire, forest fire, bushfire, wildland fire or rural fire is an unplanned, uncontrolled and unpredictable fire in an area of combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identi ...

s on the mountain during the dry summer of 1999, unexploded ordnance remaining from 19th century

artillery Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during si ...

tests and training at the nearby

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known Metonymy, metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a f ...

was discovered in some areas close to the trails. As a result, hiking on the mountain was prohibited until October 2002, when authorities could be sure it had been removed safely. On February 20, 2011, a

NYPD The New York City Police Department (NYPD), officially the City of New York Police Department, established on May 23, 1845, is the primary municipal law enforcement agency within the City of New York, the largest and one of the oldest in ...

helicopter rescued two Fourth Class "plebes" from the

nearby, who had stranded themselves 500 feet up on the southern cliff face while

rappel Abseiling ( ; ), also known as rappelling ( ; ), is the controlled descent of a steep slope, such as a rock face, by moving down a rope. When abseiling the person descending controls their own movement down the rope, in contrast to low ...

ling, when a New York State Police chopper proved unable to complete the task.

Hiking

The mountain is a major part of

Storm King State Park Storm King State Park is a state park in Orange County, New York. The park is in the southeast part of the Town of Cornwall, next to the Hudson River. A central feature of the park is Storm King Mountain. History New York physician Ernest St ...

. With wide views of the river and areas surrounding, both Storm King and Butter Hill summits are popular with

hiker Hiking is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century.AMATO, JOSEPH A. "Mind over Foot: Romantic Walking and Rambling." In ''On Foot: A Histo ...

s. The orange- blazed unnamed connector trail, leading to the yellow-blazed Stillman Trail, most often accessed at a parking area on U.S. Route 9W, offers an immediate and steep climb up Butter Hill followed by a longer and more relaxing hike to the summit of Storm King. Although attempted infrequently and not permitted by the park authorities, there are documented technical rock climbing routes above the river, as well as ice climbing, when conditions are favorable.

Gallery

File:Storm King Mountain.jpg, Storm King and Butter Hill from

Newburgh, New York Newburgh is a city in the U.S. state of New York, within Orange County. With a population of 28,856 as of the 2020 census, it is a principal city of the Poughkeepsie–Newburgh–Middletown metropolitan area. Located north of New York City, a ...

File:Storm King Mountain Looking West from across the Hudson River at the base of Breakneck Ridge.JPG, Seen looking west from the base of Breakneck Ridge File:Storm King from across Hudson.jpg, Storm King from the Breakneck Ridge train station across the Hudson River

References

External links