Sugarloaf Mountain, located in Frederick County and overlooking Montgomery County, stands not because it was built up, but because everything around it was worn away. Unlike most mountains that were formed by the collision of tectonic plates or volcanic activity, Sugarloaf Mountain owes its existence to a very different process… erosion.
Located near Dickerson, Sugarloaf Mountain rises about 800 feet above the surrounding countryside and stands as a striking geological landmark in central Maryland. But instead of being pushed upward by the Earth’s crust, the mountain actually formed as the land around it eroded away over millions of years.
The mountain is primarily composed of extremely hard quartzite, a rock that originated as sandstone and was later transformed under intense heat and pressure. This quartzite proved much more resistant to erosion than the softer surrounding rock layers. Over countless millennia, wind, water, and other natural forces wore down the surrounding landscape, leaving behind the more durable quartzite ridge that became Sugarloaf Mountain…