Backbone Mountain is a

ridge A ridge is a long, narrow, elevated geomorphologic landform, structural feature, or a combination of both separated from the surrounding terrain by steep sides. The sides of a ridge slope away from a narrow top, the crest or ridgecrest, wi ...

of the

Allegheny Mountains The Allegheny Mountain Range ( ) — also spelled Alleghany or Allegany, less formally the Alleghenies — is part of the vast Appalachian Mountain Range of the Eastern United States and Canada. Historically it represented a significant barr ...

of the central Appalachian Mountain Range. It is situated in the U.S. states of

West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...

and

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

and forms a portion of the

Eastern Continental Divide The Eastern Continental Divide, Eastern Divide or Appalachian Divide is a drainage divide, hydrological divide in eastern North America that separates the easterly Atlantic Seaboard drainage basin, watershed from the westerly Gulf of Mexico wat ...

. Within the state of Maryland, Backbone Mountain reaches an elevation of , making it Maryland's highest point.

Description and geography

Backbone Mountain stretches approximately southwest to northeast, from the Black Fork near Hambleton in

Tucker County, West Virginia Tucker County is a county in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 6,762, making it West Virginia's fourth-least populous county. Its county seat is Parsons. The county was created in 1856 from a part of ...

to the Savage River Reservoir in Garrett County,

. The

follows part of the mountain in Maryland. The headwaters of

Youghiogheny River The Youghiogheny River ( ), or the Yough ( ) for short, is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed August 15, 2011 tributary of the Monongahela River in West Virginia, Maryla ...

, in the watershed of the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...

, lie just northwest of the mountain, whereas the headwaters of the North Branch of the

Potomac River The Potomac River () is in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States and flows from the Potomac Highlands in West Virginia to Chesapeake Bay in Maryland. It is long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography D ...

lie just south of the mountain, along the

border. In West Virginia, the Eastern Continental Divide diverts to the east, with both sides of the mountain draining into the Black Fork. The ridge is crossed twice by U.S. Route 219, once north of Parsons and again near Silver Lake. It is also crossed by

U.S. Route 50 U.S. Route 50 or U.S. Highway 50 (US 50) is a major east–west route of the U.S. Highway system, stretching from Interstate 80 (I-80) in West Sacramento, California, to Maryland Route 528 (MD 528) in Ocean City, Maryland, on the Atlantic ...

east of Red House, Maryland, which is marked by a

Maryland State Highway Administration The Maryland State Highway Administration (MDSHA, MDOT SHA, or simply SHA) is the state mode responsible for maintaining Maryland's Maryland highway system, numbered highways outside Baltimore. Formed originally under authority of the Maryland ...

sign.

Notable features

Hoye-Crest

Located just inside of Maryland along Backbone Mountain is Hoye-Crest. At an elevation of , it is the highest point in the state of

. The location, named for Captain Charles Hoye, founder of the Garrett County Historical Society, has a marker and offers a view of the

North Branch Potomac River The North Branch Potomac River flows from Fairfax Stone in West Virginia to its confluence with the South Branch Potomac River near Green Spring, West Virginia, where it turns into the Potomac River proper. Course From the Fairfax Stone, th ...

valley to the east. The location is accessible via a path leading from U.S. Route 219 to the west.

Olson Observation Tower

The southern end of Backbone Mountain was the location of

's first

fire tower A fire lookout tower, fire tower, or lookout tower is a tower that provides housing and protection for a person known as a " fire lookout", whose duty it is to search for wildfires in the wilderness. It is a small building, usually on the summit ...

. The first tower was built in 1922 by the state and subsequently transferred to

Monongahela National Forest The Monongahela National Forest is a U.S. National Forest, national forest located in the Allegheny Mountains of eastern West Virginia, US. It protects over of federally managed land within a proclamation boundary that includes much of the Po ...

. In 1963, the original tower was replaced with the one currently on-site and named after Ernest B. Olson in recognition of 28 years of service in MNF fire control and conservation programs. While the cab of the tower is not open to the public, the 133 steps leading to it are. From the tower it is possible to view the surrounding area, including Cheat River watershed, Parsons, Blackwater Canyon, Canaan Mountain and the Otter Creek Wilderness.

Crabtree Woods

Crabtree Woods, on the northwest slopes of Backbone Mountain, is in the Potomac-Garrett State Forest. It constitutes Maryland's largest surviving remnant of

old-growth forest An old-growth forest or primary forest is a forest that has developed over a long period of time without disturbance. Due to this, old-growth forests exhibit unique ecological features. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Natio ...

: over of mixed Appalachian hardwoods (

sugar maple ''Acer saccharum'', the sugar maple, is a species of flowering plant in the soapberry and lychee family Sapindaceae. It is native to the hardwood forests of eastern Canada and the eastern United States. Sugar maple is best known for being the ...

, red oak, basswood and cucumber tree).McCarthy, B.C. and D.R. Bailey (1996)
"Composition, structure, and disturbance of Crabtree Woods: an old-growth forest of western Maryland"
''Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club'' 123(4), pp. 350–365.

References

External links

* * {{Monongahela National Forest Ridges of Maryland Ridges of West Virginia Landforms of Garrett County, Maryland Landforms of Preston County, West Virginia Landforms of Tucker County, West Virginia Monongahela National Forest