590 



Report of the State Geologist. 



North Hudson. 



Topography. North Hudson is one of the largest townships in the 

 county. It lies just south of the principal peaks of the Adirondacks, but its 

 line includes the summit of Mount Dix, 4,842 feet above tide, the sixth in 

 altitude of the high peaks. McComb mountain reaches 4,425 feet but the 

 others are all below 4,000, and only one approximates this. The ridges have a 

 marked trend, a little east of north, and all the valleys and larger watercourses 

 show the same characteristic. The town contains several large and fairly open 

 valleys. On the northeast it is marked by rather low hills, 500 feet or so 

 above the upper waters of Schroon river which, near Deadwater pond, are 

 about one thousand feet above tide. The same character continues along the 

 east border. The Schroon river flows with a rather sluggish current 

 southwest across this portion, the total fall in twelve or fifteen miles being 

 about 200 feet. The valley is a fairly open one, is filled in with sand, and the 

 highway is nearly a dead level, often for long stretches. West of the Schroon 

 river the country "is much more rugged and elevated and is practically 

 uninhabited except for the sparsely distributed houses along the road to 

 Newcomb. 



Immediately west of the Schroon river, Saunders mountain, Old 

 Far and Little Far, Niagara mountain, Nippletop and Wyman hill make a 

 considerable rampart, that is broken where the " Branch " conies in from the 

 west to the Schroon river, making thus one of the few east and west streams 

 of the region. 



The next great ridge to the west containing Spotted mountain, 

 McComb and Dix, is separated from the ridge just mentioned, chiefly by 

 Niagara brook, which flows along the excessively steep westerly slope of 

 Niagara mountain, taking its water exclusively from the west side of 

 the valley. Further south comes in the " Blue Ridge," whose culmination is 

 Hoffman mountain, just over the line in Schroon. West of McComb 

 lies the valley of Elk lake, a wide and somewhat swampy one with the lake 

 in the middle. It forms the source of the " Branch. 1 ' West of this lies Boreas 

 mountain, nearly 4,000 feet (3,815) at its culmination, which makes the 

 watershed between the tributaries of the Schroon and the Boreas rivers, and 

 between the Schroon river and the East Branch of the Ausable river. The 

 headwaters of the Ausable and Boreas rivers are in another broad northeast 

 and southwest valley that is marked by wet meadows and lakes. In the 

 northwest corner of the town are Cheney Cobble mountain, 3,673 feet, and the 

 slopes of Allen mountain, that culminate just over the border at 4,345 feet. 



