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Caledonia Mountain is an unincorporated community in New Brunswick, Canada.

Geography
Caledonia Mountain is located in Hillsborough Parish, Albert County, New Brunswick.

Caledonia Mountain is located within the provincial riding of Albert and the federal riding of Fundy Royal.

Caledonia Mountain Road is a rural highway which runs through the settlement, connecting the community directly to the nearby town of Chester. Prosser Brook is located to the west and southwest of the settlement, with Rosevale situated between the two. It was previously unpaved, but was chipsealed in the early 2010s. Several short roads connected to the highway are also referred to by the name Caledonia Mountain Road. Other streets servicing the community include Caledonia Lane and Sawmill Creek Road.

Caledonia Mountain
Caledonia Mountain shares a name with the plateau it is situated on, Caledonia Mountain, which peaks at an elevation of 400 m above sea level and has a maximum prominence of 123-133 m.  The peak of Caledonia Mountain is the highest point in Hillsborough parish. A tower is located at the peak and can be reached by road.

The mountain lends its name to the Caledonia Mountain Pluton, the igneous geological formation of which it is a part; the Caledonia terrane, a crustal fragment adjacent to the Broad River Group; and the Caledonian Highlands, a massif which makes up much of the Fundy Highlands. The Caledonian Highlands runs adjacent and parallel to the Bay of Fundy, extending from the Saint John River Valley in the southwest to the Petitcodiac River Valley in the northeast, bounded to the northwest by the New Brunswick Lowlands. The upper sections of the mountain are covered in hard compact clay slates while bituminous coal shales appear along its northern base similar to those found in nearby Albert Mines. The plateau extends as far east as Shepody, with its eastern spur being Shepody Mountain, and has an average elevation of roughly 300 m. There are few lakes on the plateau, with most water flowing down the mountain through gorges or over waterfalls where it enters the Kennebecasis River, Petitcodiac River, or Chignecto Bay. Bray Brook flows through the community.

The mountain is also home to the deepest cave in New Brunswick, a 300 m-long passage located west of the Caledonia Mountain community and south of Berryton.

Other peaks on the plateau surrounding the community include Jonah Hill (elevation 311 m), Lewis Mountain (372 m), and Solomon Hill (291 m). Baltimore Creek flows through the settlement.

Geology
Caledonia Mountain's namesake is believed to have formed 615 million years ago, in the Neoproterozoic Era, during an arc-related magmatic event which also gave rise to other local mountains and outcroppings. As a result, Caledonia Mountain is the source of some of New Brunswick's oldest rock.

There are two confirmed gold deposits in and around Mount Caledonia, at Peck Creek and nearby Sawmill Creek. Rock samples recovered from Caledonia Mountain contain above-average amounts of iron, titanium, phosphate, and vanadium, suggesting that economically-viable mining prospects may exist in the area. The clay slates on the mountain were once quarried for use as roofing materials. The bituminous shales found at the Caledonia Mine site in Caledonia Mountain have the highest yield of any in Albert County, greater even those sourced from the nearby Albert Mine.

Soils in the area are mostly represented by the Lomond Unit, a series of shallow and stony dirt derived from felsic volcanic rock and generally not very fertile. Moderately-fertile granitic soil occurs in two large areas and a few other deposits of deep, non-compacted loam; while compact loam is present but more rare.

The Canadian National Seismic Network constantly monitors the Caledonia Mountain plateau with a seismogram set up near the community. The live data feed from the seismogram is streamed online in real-time.

Climate
Despite being inland, Caledonia Mountain and other communities in the Caledonia Highlands receive nearly as much precipitation as occurs along the Fundy Coast due to geographic lifting bringing moisture-laden oceanic air up to the highlands. On average, the entire plateau receives about 1,400 mm of precipitation per year. High elevation and humidity combine to give the area a wet and cool climate responsible for frequent winter storms, though it has higher summer temperatures than coastal communities. Historically, the region has experienced a relatively low risk of forest fires compared to other areas in New Brunswick.

Ecology
Caledonia Mountain is part of New Brunswick's Central Uplands ecoregion, which includes the Caledonia Highlands and the Madawaska Highlands in the northwest corner of the province, separated by the New Brunswick Lowlands. The Caledonia Highlands cover an area of 140,789 ha including and surrounding Caledonia Mountain. Both sections of the Central Uplands are covered in boreal forest, and the igneous bedrock surrounding Caledonia Mountain has also given rise to a number of small alder carrs, marshes, and peatlands in the area. As of 2007, forest made up an estimated 95% of the Caledonia Highlands.

Unlike the rest of the province, Caledonia Mountain's forest is not dominated by northern coniferous trees but instead has a mix of species, with hardwoods preferring the higher elevations before giving way to balsam fir, cedar, and various spruces on the slopes and the base of the mountain. Less common trees which are present in the forest include basswood, beech, butternut, green ash, hemlock, ironwood, red oak, sugar maple, white ash, white birch, and yellow birch. Certain tolerant hardwood species can also be found on the north and northeastern slopes of Caledonia Mountain, sheltered there from the oceanic air blowing in from the Bay of Fundy. As a result of the area's high amount of precipitation, fire-dependent trees like trembling aspen and pine are uncommon in the Caledonia Highlands than surrounding regions. A 2007 assessment of the Central Uplands theorized that poplar, also rare in the ecoregion, has difficulty surviving in the Caledonia Mountain area due to cool soil temperatures.

Hobblebush is the most recognizable understorey species in the area but mountain fern moss, mountain maple, shining clubmoss, striped maple, wood fern, and wood sorrel are also common in the forest's underbrush. Blueberry, maidenhair spleenwort, sheep laurel, small-flowered anemone, and wintergreen are less common; while some nearby cliffs and gorges house disjunct populations of rare northern and Arctic plants.

Birds known to live in the region include the downy woodpecker, goshawk, hairy woodpecker, golden-crowned kinglet, grey jay, northern shrike, and pine grosbeak. The community is located near Caledonia Gorge, a provincially-protected Acadian forest.

History
The lands on and surrounding Caledonia Mountain have traditionally been the territory of the Maliseet and Mi'kmaq nations. Radiocarbon dating has determined the oldest-known artifact from the area to be roughly 10,000 years old, originating from the period shortly after the glaciers receded from the area. Prior to the arrival of European colonists, the land served as a source of chert and slate as well as a hunting ground.

Europeans first arrived in the Caledonia Mountain area in the mid-18th century, but the lack of arable farmland and navigable waterways made the region difficult to access.

Caledonia Mountain was founded by Scottish settlers in 1810. Named in reference to the Roman exonym for Scotland, it was established around the time that New Ireland (later renamed to Hibernia in reference to the Roman exonym for Ireland) was founded by Irish settlers in neighbouring Queens County, on the site of what is now CFB Gagetown.

One of the earliest government ordinances referencing Caledonia was the establishment of two roads in 1835 connecting the colony to nearby Black River Settlement, Hibernia, and Hopewell. Courier service first came to the settlement in 1847, and a local post office was established in 1853 under the name 'Caledonia'. The name of the post office was changed to 'Caledonia Settlement' in 1867, and finally to 'Caledonia Mountain' in 1912.

The settlement's first church and adjoining cemetery were established in 1854 and remained in use until at least 1932. The church was eventually abandoned while the cemetery gradually fell out of use and became overgrown, but in 1979 was reclaimed and restoration began. An estimated 50 grave markers had been lost in the interim, and by July 2001 it had again fallen into a state of disrepair with fewer than thirty visible grave stones. The foundations of the original church remain visible. Most of the surviving headstones belong to members of seven local families – the Bennet, Bishop, Bray, Reid, Starrat, Tingley, and Turner families – some of which have remained in the area to the present day. It is reported that two other cemeteries have been established in Caledonia Mountain, but their locations have since been lost.

Logging first became viable in the area in the mid to late 19th century. A quarry was opened at Caledonia Mountain in the 1860s, mining the mountain's clay for roofing materials which would be used in constructing buildings throughout the province, including Fredericton. In 1866, Caledonia Mountain consisted of 50 families and had an agricultural economy.

Growth in the settlement was slow, though the colonial government continued to profit by selling crown land on the mountain to developers. In 1870, local businessman James Peck purchased 100 acres of land in Caledonia Mountain for $60 (New Brunswick dollars) after borrowing $1,775 from British authorities to construct the Shepody Bridge, a rail bridge which later collapsed on 19 June 1894. By 1871 the community had grown to a population of 200 and in 1898 had grown further to 220, by which time Caledonia Mountain consisted of residential homes, farmland, a post office, a general store, and the church and cemetery. By this time Caledonia Mountain had more than double the population of nearby Hibernia, despite both towns being founded in the same year. Agriculture remained the dominant industry in the area into the 20th century, at which time Caledonia Mountain was known for its many cattle pastures. Large herds of beef cattle which would be imported to the Hopewell Hill Rail Station and driven up the mountain in spring and then back down the mountain to be loaded onto trains at the same station in autumn, blocking the road to the community for long periods of time. After being raised in Caledonia Mountain, the cattle would be sent to a meat-processing plant in Moncton.

Several nearby settlements to the west of Caledonia Mountain were abandoned between July 1952 and September 1953, when the Department of National Defence announced it would be expropriating the lands of 750 families from 20 communities in order to build CFB Gagetown. This included Hibernia, which had been founded around the same time as Caledonia and survived its early years as a colony through an infrastructural and postal system it shared with Caledonia Mountain.

Gold was first discovered in Caledonia Mountain in 1892, but exploration for the mineral never took off as it did in other regions. In the 1980s, the discovery of gold in a Brunswick Mining and Smelting Corporation mine renewed interest in gold exploration and triggered a minor gold rush in the Caledonia Zone. By 1990, Kenora Gold Occurrences had located a copper-gold vein in the vicinity of the Vernon mine west of Fundy National Park, but other prospectors – including those employed by the Corona Corporation and Maritime Resource Research – failed to turn up anything of significance. The Canadian National Seismic Network began monitoring the plateau with a seismogram in Caledonia Mountain on 26 July 1993, seven months after a 2.6-magnitude tremor became the first documented earthquake in the region on 27 December 1992.

On 23 February 2009, a 15-year-old boy became lost while snowshoeing with his dog on Caledonia Mountain, but was rescued from the nearby woods by the RCMP and the CFB Greenwood Ground Search and Rescue team early the next morning while experiencing hypothermia.

The hospitality economy in Caledonia Mountain boomed during the COVID-19 pandemic, as demand for short-term rentals through services like Airbnb led to a boost in popularity after the nationwide vaccine rollout made travel feasible for most demographics.

Services
Caledonia Mountain is located within the Local Service District of Hopewell.

Since the passage of the Regional Health Authorities Act in 2004, Caledonia Mountain has been part of New Brunswick's Health Region 1, Subregion 3. The community is part of the New Brunswick Health Council's Moncton and South-East Area health zone, and the closest hospital is the Moncton Hospital. The community is serviced by the Riverside-Albert Fire Department and policed by the Caledonian Region detachment of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

Recreation
Outdoor activities like hiking and snowshoeing are popular in the area, but local authorities like the RCMP have suggested taking caution when in the woods due to the remoteness and unpredictability of the local climate.

The Southeastern New Brunswick Snowmobilers Association (SENBSA) is based in Mount Caledonia. In March 2019, the SENBSA headquarters was used by New Brunswick Energy and Resource Development Minister Mike Holland and Fundy Royal MP Alaina Lockhart to announce that the provincial and federal governments would invest a combined $200,000 into improving New Brunswick's snowmobile trail system.

Notable residents

 * Jennifer Shelby, speculative fiction author