Spring Mountain, on which reside McAdoo, Hazleton, and a number of other towns is more a hilly plateau than a distinct mountain peak. Its average elevation is about a thousand feet higher than the area valleys. This plateau has several characteristic appendages or extensions which are given 'mountain names' locally. It runs about 30 miles from southwest to notheast, from the Green Mountain appendage near Catawissa and Bear's Head at Delano, to Buck Mountain near the Lehigh River.

The width extent of Spring Mountain at Rte. 309 is about 13 miles measured from the points of ascents from the valleys. The complete profile betweeen Sybertsville and Tamaqua is shown in the altitude profile.

The altitude profile on a line perpendicular to the typical NE-SW flow of the ridges centered on Rte. 309 is shown on the right hand picture. WP1, (waypoint1), is near Sybertsville in the Conyngham Valley. WP2 is at Tamaqua. The highest point on this traverse, (slightly SW of Kelayres on the map in the left hand picture), is near the 10 mile marker measured from WP1, or about 6.3 miles from Tamaqua. Near Still Creek the altitude is 1130 ft. The vertical scale has been exaggerated for maximum clarity in the right hand picture. Statistics for the profile are shown to the right, as evaluated at Tamaqua.

A closer view, 'McAdoo - Hazleton PA 3D Terrain', was obtained from this plot by a small scale and view angle adjustment. On this map see 'Bear's Head', (locally, the Delano Mountain). Bear's Head, a southern extension of the general Spring Mountain ridge, is the highest point in the Mid-Anthracite coal field, rising to an elevation of 2100 feet. Interstate 81 hugs the top of this ridge from its ascent near Ravine, PA, to it's descent into the Conyngham Valley past Hazleton.