Savage Mountain is an

anticline In structural geology, an anticline is a type of Fold (geology), fold that is an arch-like shape and has its oldest Bed (geology), beds at its core, whereas a syncline is the inverse of an anticline. A typical anticline is convex curve, c ...

extending from

Bedford County, Pennsylvania Bedford County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 47,577. The county seat is Bedford. The county is part of the Southwest region of the commonwealth. History 18th century According to ...

southwest into

Western Maryland upright=1.2, An enlargeable map of Maryland's 23 counties and one independent city Western Maryland, also known as the Maryland panhandle or Mountain Maryland, is the portion of the U.S. state of Maryland that typically consists of Washing ...

. Except when available at another wikiarticle or cited otherwise,

Google Maps Google Maps is a web mapping platform and consumer application offered by Google. It offers satellite imagery, aerial photography, street maps, 360° interactive panorama, interactive panoramic views of streets (Google Street View, Street View ...

is the source for coordinates in this article:Savage Mountain (MD)Savage Mountain (PA)Sand Patch TunnelLittle Savage Mountain
/ref> It is the western side of the

Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians The Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians, also called the Ridge and Valley Province or the Valley and Ridge Appalachians, are a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Highlands division. The physiographic province is divided into three se ...

, and the eastern portion of the ridge forms the border of

Garrett Garrett may refer to: Places in the United States * Garrett, Illinois, a village * Garrett, Indiana, a city * Garrett, Floyd County, Kentucky, an unincorporated community * Garrett, Meade County, Kentucky, an unincorporated community * Garrett, ...

and Allegany Counties of

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 ...

. The anti-cline includes two parallel component ridges: Little Savage Mountain to the west and

Big Savage Mountain The two Big Savage Mountain (Maryland and Pennsylvania) summits are part of Savage Mountain. The peak of Big Savage Mountain in Maryland is High Rock, at 2986 feet.: Savage Mountain (PA)Big Savage Mountain (PA)Big Savage Mountain (MD)/ref> ...

to the east. Little Savage Mountain becomes Allegheny Mountain to the north at a saddle near

Meyersdale Meyersdale is a Borough (Pennsylvania), borough in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, Somerset County, Pennsylvania, United States, situated on the Casselman River, southeast of Pittsburgh. It is part of the Johnstown, Pennsylvania, Metropolitan St ...

, while Big Savage Mountain becomes

Backbone Mountain Backbone Mountain is a ridge of the Allegheny Mountains of the central Appalachian Mountain Range. It is situated in the U.S. states of West Virginia and Maryland and forms a portion of the Eastern Continental Divide. Within the state of Maryland ...

to the south at the

Savage River Reservoir The Savage River Reservoir is a storage reservoir in northwest Maryland. It was completed in 1952 by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and is owned and maintained by the Upper Potomac River Commission. The reservoir was formed by the Savage Rive ...

. Portions of Savage Mountain form 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 ...

, separating watersheds draining to the

Ohio River The Ohio River () is a river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing in a southwesterly direction from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to its river mouth, mouth on the Mississippi Riv ...

and those draining to the Potomac. To the northwest of Savage Mountain, waters drain to the

Casselman River The Casselman River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed August 15, 2011 tributary of the Youghiogheny River in western Maryland and Pennsylvania in the United States.G ...

. 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 ...

watershed encompasses the southwestern and eastern portions of the ridge.

History

After

Nemacolin's Path image:Cumberland md braddock road.jpg, 450px, Braddock's Road, General Braddock's March (points 1–10) follows or parallels (and improves upon) Chief Nemacolin's Trail from the Potomac River to the Monogahela. The route from the summit to Redst ...

and the first survey of the Potomac (1736–1737) had passed through the area, the Braddock Road over the ridge opened in 1757. By 1767, the

Mason–Dixon line The Mason–Dixon line, sometimes referred to as Mason and Dixon's Line, is a demarcation line separating four U.S. states: Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware and West Virginia. It was Surveying, surveyed between 1763 and 1767 by Charles Mason ...

survey had placed milestones across the ridge and the

National Road The National Road (also known as the Cumberland Road) was the first major improved highway in the United States built by the federal government. Built between 1811 and 1837, the road connected the Potomac and Ohio Rivers and was a main tran ...

was completed through the area by 1818. In 1911, construction began on the Borden and Big Savage Tunnels for the Connellsville subdivision of the

Western Maryland Railway The Western Maryland Railway was a small American Class I railroad (1852–1983) that operated in 3 Southern United States, Southern US States, Maryland (Western Maryland, Western Region), West Virginia (Potomac Highlands of West Virginia, Easte ...

. In the 1930s, the

Civilian Conservation Corps The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a voluntary government unemployment, work relief program that ran from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men ages 18–25 and eventually expanded to ages 17–28. The CCC was ...

built a connection road that is now the 6.4 mile Monroe Run Trail. The Savage River Dam and

Reservoir A reservoir (; ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam, usually built to water storage, store fresh water, often doubling for hydroelectric power generation. Reservoirs are created by controlling a watercourse that drains an existing body of wa ...

were constructed just southwest of the ridge in 1952 to control flooding along the Savage River and

, as well as to supply water to nearby communities. On August 13, 1976, the freeway that would become

Interstate 68 Interstate 68 (I-68) is a Interstate Highway in the U.S. states of West Virginia and Maryland, connecting Interstate 79, I-79 in Morgantown, West Virginia, east to Interstate 70, I-70 in Hancock, Maryland. I-68 is also Corridor E of ...

opened through the ridge. Due to severe fog conditions common along this stretch of highway, Maryland's first "fog warning system" was installed after a May 2003 crash that killed two and injured about 100 people. In 2001, the fire history and dendroecology of Savage Mountain oak stands were investigated. About 2,600 trees were later planted in the Savage Mountain Demonstration Plot #2 in 2007.

Wind power

In 2006, U.S. WindForce proposed a wind farm on Savage Mountain at a strip-mining site. A study for the Savage Mountain Transmission Main Project began in 2008.

History

Wind power

Notable points

References

See also