The Metacomet Ridge, of which it is a part, continues north as a series of low sedimentary hills and dwindling trap rock outcrops to just two miles south of the Vermont and New Hampshire borders in Northfield, Massachusetts.

[3] Pocumtuck (Pocumtuc) was the name of a now extinct tribe of Native Americans who lived in the area prior to 1800.

With a great stake in hand, he waded the river until he found the beaver, and so hotly chased him that he sought to escape by digging into the ground.

[8] Around this time, a giant beaver species (Castoroides ohioensis) thrived from the post-glacial front to as far south as Florida.

[9] A similar legend about the killing of a giant beaver by a helper-spirit and the subsequent transformation of the corpse into a landform occurs among the native Mi'kmaq people of Nova Scotia (see Glooscap).

The range is a non-contiguous extension of the Metacomet Ridge that extends through New England from Long Island Sound to the Vermont border.

These layers were formed between 190 and 210 million years ago as the continent of North America began rifting apart from Africa and Eurasia.

Backslope plant communities tend to be similar to the adjacent upland plateaus and nearby Berkshires, containing species common to the northern hardwood and oak-hickory forest ecosystem types.

The range also supports extensive populations of whorled pogonia, a plant on the Massachusetts Environmental Protection Agency's watch list.

[2][12] The Massachusetts Audubon Society considers the Rocky Mountain section of Pocumtuck Ridge "exceptionally rich in its diversity of [bird] species, especially during migration.

"[13] Activities enjoyed on the Pocumtuck Range include hiking, mountain biking, snowshoeing, backcountry skiing, hunting (in season), picnicking, and bird watching.