Devils Backbone
The Devils Backbone rock formation
Devils Backbone in 2009
Highest point
Elevation3,829 ft (1,167 m)[1]
Coordinates38°30′50″N 79°31′34″W / 38.51389°N 79.52611°W / 38.51389; -79.52611
Geography
Parent rangeRidge-and-valley Appalachians
Topo mapUSGS Snowy Mountain, Monterey

Devils Backbone (also Devil's Backbone) is a ridge and rock outcrop located in Highland County, Virginia, United States. The ridge is located approximately 7.6 miles (12.2 km) north-northeast of Monterey, Virginia near the village of Blue Grass.[2]

Along the crest of the ridge line is a near vertical outcrop of Tuscarora Sandstone approximately 84 feet (26 m) thick.[3][4][5] This formation gives the ridge its name of Devils Backbone, as the outcrop has been described "like the vertebrae of some monstrous prehistoric animal".[6] The formation has also been described as resembling that of "the comb on the head of a domestic fowl".[3]

References

  1. ↑ "Devils Backbone". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. Retrieved February 7, 2014.
  2. ↑ "The National Map". United States Geological Survey. Retrieved February 7, 2014.
  3. 1 2 Morton, Oren Frederic (1922). A Handbook of Highland County: And a Supplement to Pendleton and Highland History. Highland Recorder. p. 10.
  4. ↑ Morton, Oren Frederic (1911). A History of Highland County, Virginia. p. 24. ISBN 9780722246450.
  5. ↑ Wilkes, Gerald P. (2013) [2011]. "Geology of the Monterey Quadrangle, Virginia" (PDF). Charlottesville, Virginia: Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy: Division of Geology and Mineral Resources. p. 5. Retrieved February 7, 2014.
  6. ↑ Workers of the Writers' Program of the Work Projects Administration in the State of Virginia (1992) [1940 by Oxford University Press]. Virginia: A Guide to the Old Dominion. Richmond, Virginia: Virginia State Library and Archives. Retrieved February 7, 2014.


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