Mt. Sugarloaf is a survivor of millions of years of geological movement. Its distinctive shape comes from encounters with glaciers that scraped away its sides to form sheer sandstone walls. The reddish color of Sugarloaf’s sandstone, or “arkose”, comes from iron deposited at the bottom of the deep Lake Hitchcock, which once covered this region.  The iron was below enough water that oxygen could not “rust” or decay it.