Temple Mountain is a 2,045-foot (623 m) ridge located in south-central New Hampshire within the Wapack Range of mountains. It lies within Sharon and Temple, New Hampshire; the 22-mile (35 km) Wapack Trail traverses the mountain, and the northern face includes the 350-acre (1.4 km2) Temple Mountain Reservation, owned by the state. The mountain is 3.5 miles (5.6 km) long and has several summits; three of them are named: Burton Peak 2,010 feet (610 m), Whitcomb Peak 1,710 feet (520 m), and Holt Peak, the high point.
The mountain was home to the former Temple Mountain Ski Area, which is now a state-owned recreation area.
Pack Monadnock Mountain is located directly to the north along the Wapack ridgeline; Kidder Mountain to the south. Much of the north face of the mountain, formerly the Temple Mountain Ski Area, is the state-owned Temple Mountain Reservation Area. Scattered ledges along the ridgeline offer long vistas west to Mount Monadnock and south along the spine of the Wapack Range; the abandoned ski area on the north side of the mountain offers 270-degree views.
The east side of the mountain drains into the Souhegan River watershed, thence into the Merrimack River and Atlantic Ocean; the west side drains into the Contoocook River, thence into the Merrimack River.
Famous quotes containing the words temple and/or mountain:
“If one doubts whether Grecian valor and patriotism are not a fiction of the poets, he may go to Athens and see still upon the walls of the temple of Minerva the circular marks made by the shields taken from the enemy in the Persian war, which were suspended there. We have not far to seek for living and unquestionable evidence. The very dust takes shape and confirms some story which we had read.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“If I am to be a thoroughfare, I prefer that it be of the mountain brooks, the Parnassian streams, and not the town sewers. There is inspiration, that gossip which comes to the ear of the attentive mind from the courts of heaven. There is the profane and stale revelation of the barroom and the police court. The same ear is fitted to receive both communications. Only the character of the hearer determines to which it shall be open, and to which closed.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)