Mount Toby

Mount Toby
Mount Toby as seen from South Sugarloaf
Highest point
Elevation	1,269 ft (387 m)
Prominence	856 ft (261 m)
Coordinates	42°29′16″N 72°32′15″W / 42.48778°N 72.53750°W / 42.48778; -72.53750Coordinates: 42°29′16″N 72°32′15″W / 42.48778°N 72.53750°W / 42.48778; -72.53750
Geography
Location	Sunderland, Massachusetts, U.S.
Parent range	Associated with the Metacomet Ridge
Geology
Age of rock	190 million years
Mountain type	Fault-block; sedimentary
Climbing
First ascent	Elnathan Toby (first reported)
Easiest route	Telephone Line Trail

Mount Toby, 1,269 feet (387 m), is the highest summit of a sprawling collection of mostly wooded hills and knolls that rise from a distinct plateau-like upland in the towns of Sunderland and Leverett, Massachusetts, just east of the Connecticut River. This mountain mass, part of the Metacomet Ridge geology, is oval shaped and roughly three miles by two miles wide. Although three of the subordinate peaks have names of their own (Roaring Mountain, Ox Hill, Bull Hill), none of them are noteworthy on their own, and the designation “Mount Toby” is most often used (locally and formally) to describe the entire geologic mass. This article, therefore, describes the entire Mount Toby upland.

Mount Toby is notable for its high biodiversity, attractive woodlands, waterfalls, and its glacial kettle ponds (most notably Cranberry Pond). Although the summit is wooded, there is a fire tower, open to the public, which provides 360-degree views of Amherst and the Holyoke Range in the south; the Connecticut River and Mount Sugarloaf to the west; Mount Snow, Mount Ascutney, and Mount Monadnock in the north; and the nearby Peace Pagoda in Leverett to the east. Additionally, there are several cliffs located on the lower south and southwest facing slopes overlooking the Connecticut River Valley and the town of Sunderland.

Mount Toby is named for Captain Elnathan Toby, a settler from colonial Springfield, said to be the first Caucasian to summit the mountain. Like other peaks in the Connecticut River Valley in the 18th century, a resort hotel was built on the summit of Mount Toby, but it burned down a year after it was constructed, and was not rebuilt. The land was subsequently acquired by the Massachusetts Agricultural College (now the University of Massachusetts Amherst), and is currently part of the Mount Toby State Demonstration Forest owned and managed by the University.