Mount Mansfield, Mountain peak in Underhill, US.

Mount Mansfield rises to 4,393 feet (1,339 meters) as the tallest summit in Vermont and shows a ridgeline that looks like a reclining human profile. The alpine tundra near the top shelters plant species that have grown here since the Ice Age and appear nowhere else outside arctic regions.

The mountain takes its name from the town of Mansfield, dissolved in stages: its western part was annexed to Underhill in 1839 and the eastern part to Stowe in 1848. In 1772 Ira Allen crossed the ridge and reached the summit while surveying the town. In 1859 William Henry Harrison Bingham sold 400 acres along the ridgeline to the University of Vermont for $1,000, on condition the land be used for science.

The ridgeline carries names like The Forehead, The Nose, and The Chin because it resembles a human face when seen from the side. Hikers use these landmarks today to locate their position on the mountain and plan their route.

A toll road runs from Stowe Base Lodge up to a point called The Nose, where hiking trails continue the rest of the climb. The road typically opens from May through October, depending on snow and weather conditions at higher elevations.

Snowfall has been recorded on the summit in every month of the year, and the deepest snow measured there lay 149 inches (3.8 m) on April 2, 1969. The single heaviest daily fall, 28 inches (71 cm), came on March 15, 2017.