The Mountain is but one average folded mountain in a succession of near parallel ridgelines, where each are made by a succession of peaks of nearly the same height. This
Ridge and Valley province is a geological feature that extends from New Jersey into Virginia forming a great barrier of successive valleys. Pisgah Mountain-just across the valley and creek, is located along the southern fringe of northeastern Pennsylvania's
Poconos region but is also central to the Southern Anthracite Region of Pennsylvania— known as the site of the
Richest Anthracite Seam, in the heart of the
Southern Pennsylvania Anthracite Field and the geological province known as the
Anthracite Upland section. The ridgeline parallels the escarpment of the
Blue Mountain region. The mountain ridge's peaks lie between two nearly parallel ridge lines to the north and south,
Nesquehoning Mountain a similar ridge extending north from Mount Pisgah where the two are joined, and to the south across a valley formed by
Mauch Chunk Creek, the Mauch Chunk Ridge. The former historic
Mauch Chunk & Summit Hill Railway is now a combined bike & hiking trail along both its former paths, and the north trail has an offshoot to the summit of Mount Pisgah that has a view of the surrounding countryside, and particularly of the Lehigh River gap about feet (or more) below.
Mauch Chunk Lake Park and
Mauch Chunk Reservoir are also located at the base of the mountain in the valley it forms with Mauch Chunk Mountain, a similar ridgeline in the
ridge-and-valley Appalachians north of
PA-Rt 443. At the
Mauch Chunk-Bear Mountain Gap east of Jim Thorpe, the range ends rapidly descending to the
Lehigh River Valley below the northeastern summit marked on USGS topological maps as
Mt. Pisgah, which is named for the biblical mountain in
Jordan from which
Moses first saw the promised land (as are
many mountains around the world and especially in the United States). During the late 19th century and early 20th-century, this mountain was a favorite summer resort for those from eastern cities, even as far away as
New York City for it sported what has been called the world's first roller coaster, the
gravity railroad founded in 1827 by the
Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company, builders of the
Lehigh Canal and the tourist attracting
Mauch Chunk & Summit Hill Railway, which formed a loop between South Mauch Chunk (now the south part of Jim Thorpe, PA) and
Summit Hill, Pennsylvania, the site of the first high volume coal production in the greater region. Visitors were able to travel by rail via the
Central Railroad of New Jersey (CNJ) which succeeded the
Lehigh and Susquehanna founded by LC&N Co. which owned most of the eastern part of the area, stay on in a hotel owned by the LC&N, eat at restaurants and buy from shops owned in part by the LC&N, and see the sights after the long mule-pulled four hour trip up to Summit Hill, which featured other tourist services and a 100 foot observation tower. The views from the tower looked over the bucolic Pennsylvania landscape between the
Nesquehoning Ridge and Pisgah Mountain on the North side, and Pisgah and the
Mauch Chunk Range on the south valley. The
saddle pass between the northern ridges topped by Summit Hill, and
Lansford, Pennsylvania generated the springs and run off of
Panther Creek which runs nearly due west into the
Little Schuylkill River at
Tamaqua, Pennsylvania which path eventually allowed conventional steam powered rail trackage to be built into the valley after a convoluted and lengthy path around and between Nesquehoning Ridge and
Broad Mountain via
Delano Junction, a railroad nexus still in use today. ==Notes==