Devils Backbone (Highland County, Virginia)

Devils Backbone
Devils Backbone in 2009
Highest point
Elevation	3,829 ft (1,167 m) [1]
Coordinates	38°30′50″N 79°31′34″W / 38.51389°N 79.52611°WCoordinates: 38°30′50″N 79°31′34″W / 38.51389°N 79.52611°W
Geography
Devils Backbone Blue Grass, Highland County, Virginia, United States
Parent range	Ridge-and-valley Appalachians
Topo map	USGS 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. Retrieved February 7, 2014.
2. "The National Map". United States Geological Survey. Retrieved February 7, 2014.
3. 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.
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.