The Bear Mountain section of the Taconic Plateau looms over this dairy farm in Salisbury. Steep slopes like these form in the Uplands because of differences in the hardness of metamorphic rocks. As erosion slowly chiseled out Connecticut's landscapes over many millions of years, those areas underlain by hard metamorphic rock proved more resistant and remain relatively high. Hard metamorphic rocks like schist and gneiss hold up Bear Mountain while the valley in the foreground is underlain by soft marble.