[html ]The majestic 3,165 foot historic Monadnock Mountain can be seen from almost anywhere in southwestern New Hampshire, but the Cathedral of the Pines offers the most breathtaking view.

Ralph Waldo Emerson dubbed Mount Monadnock “the new Olympus” and Nathaniel Hawthorne described it as “a sapphire in the sky.” Henry David Thoreau, Herman Melville, Mark Twain, Rudyard Kipling, Edwin Arlington Robinson, and Willa Cather, are a few of the other literary notables who drew inspiration from the mountain’s mystique.

Mount Monadnock, designated a National Natural Landmark in 1987, is located within the town of Jaffrey and surrounded by the 5,000 acre Monadnock State Park. The mountain’s accessibility and miles of hiking trails contribute to its popularity as a tourist destination. It is said to be the second-most climbed mountain in the world, after Mt. Fuji.

For the millions of people who have climbed Mount Monadnock over the years, including Thoreau, Emerson, and their literary kin, and for those who have viewed the peak from the Cathedral of the Pines, the mountain has been and continues to be a source of inspiration and reflection and a symbol of spiritual and environmental awareness.[/html]