The Taconic Mountains or Taconic Range () are a range of the Appalachian Mountains, running along the eastern border of New York State and adjacent New England from northwest Connecticut to western Massachusetts, north to central western Vermont. A physiographic region of the larger New England province, the range includes notable summits, including its high point, Mount Equinox in Vermont, and Mount Greylock, the highest point in Massachusetts. The Taconics contain several hundred miles of trails, including sections of the Appalachian Trail, and over sixty designated areas of land protected by federal, state, county, and municipal, government agencies and non-profit organizations spanning their four state range. Etymology Taconic, a Native American name, was once transliterated as the Taghkanic or Taughannock, meaning "in the trees" and used as the name of a Lenape chieftain. Taghkanic is still used in parts of eastern New York, as in the name of Taghkanic, New York, a small town in the region, for both features within and outside the Taconic Mountains region. Geography The Taconic Mountains begin in northwest Connecticut and northeast Dutchess County, New York. The range extends through western Berkshire County, Massachusetts and the adjacent counties in New York, then along the border of New York and Vermont to the town of Brandon, after it loses prominence and dwindles into scattered hills and isolated peaks which continue north toward Burlington, Vermont. To the south, the mountains fade into the interior Hudson Highlands range in New York. From the west, a wide region of foothills in New York State east of the Hudson River Valley gradually rises to the crest of the Taconic Mountains along the state's eastern border. To the east, the Taconic Mountains fall off abruptly, ending in the valleys of the Housatonic River, the upper Hoosic River, and the greater Valley of Vermont. The Berkshires and the Green Mountains rise to the east of the Taconics. Near their northern terminus they approach the eastern foothills of the Adirondack Mountains in Washington County, New York. In Massachusetts and Connecticut the geologically distinct Taconic Mountains are often incorrectly grouped as part of the Berkshires, while in Vermont they are similarly mis-grouped as part of the Green Mountains. Among the highest peaks of the Taconic Mountains are Mount Equinox , located in Manchester, Vermont, the range’s high point, Mount Greylock 3,491 feet (1,064m), the highest point in Massachusetts, and Mount Frissell , the highest