High Point | |
---|---|
Highest point | |
Elevation | 1,804 ft (550 m) NAVD 88 [1] |
Prominence | 883 ft (269 m) [1] |
Listing | U.S. state high point 40th |
Coordinates | 41°19′15″N74°39′42″W / 41.32095°N 74.66155°W [2] |
Geography | |
Parent range | Kittatinny Mountains, Appalachians |
Climbing | |
Easiest route | A paved 2-lane roadway ascends directly to the summit |
High Point is a mountain peak within High Point State Park on the border of Wantage Township and Montague Township, Sussex County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Located in the portion of the state known as the Skylands, it is the highest elevation in the state, with a peak elevation of 1,803 feet (550 m). The closest city is Port Jervis, New York, which lies to the northwest. Besides being the highest peak in New Jersey, High Point is also the highest peak of the Kittatinny Mountains. Three states – New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania – can be seen from the summit.
At the peak is the High Point Monument, a 220-foot (67 m) obelisk, built in 1930 as a war memorial.
The mountain is in the 14,193 acres (57.44 km2) High Point State Park. Route 23 skirts the park and carries visitors from the New Jersey suburbs and from points in New York State. The park is administered by the New Jersey Division of Parks and Forestry.
As of the 2023 season, park entry was free. [3]
The land for High Point State Park, donated by Colonel Anthony R. and Susie Dryden Kuser of Bernardsville, New Jersey, was dedicated as a park in 1923. The pleasant landscaping was designed by the Olmsted Brothers of Boston, a prominent landscape architectural firm run by the sons of Central Park designer Frederick Law Olmsted.
To the south the Appalachian Trail follows a rocky ridge which offers many scenic views of the valleys and mountains surrounding the area. To the north, the trail drops off the ridge through hemlock gorges into former agricultural fields with a view of the surrounding countryside and the High Point Monument in the distance.
During the winter, portions of the parks trails are used for cross-country skiing. [4]
The Monument on High Point was built by Kuser to honor war veterans. Master mason Michael Maddaluna began construction of the 220-foot (67 m) tower – which has a base which is 34 feet square – in 1928 and completed it in 1930. The outside is made of New Hampshire granite and also Shawangunk quartz. There are four small windows through which observers have a view of the ridges of the Pocono Mountains toward the west, the Catskill Mountains to the north and the Wallkill River Valley in the southeast. The Monument is an obelisk monument similar to other war monuments, such as the one on Bunker Hill in Massachusetts. The Monument has 291 steps from the base to the highest viewing platform.
Plans were made to close the park as of July 1, 2008, under Gov. Jon Corzine's budget plan for 2009. Veterans groups, who have held an annual memorial at the site, expressed their opposition to the proposal, which was ultimately removed from the final budget. [5]
Sussex County is the northernmost county in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Its county seat is Newton. It is part of the New York metropolitan area and is part of New Jersey's Skylands Region. As of the 2020 census, the county was the state's 17th-most-populous county, with a population of 144,221, a decrease of 5,044 (−3.4%) from the 2010 census count of 149,265, which in turn reflected an increase of 5,099 (+3.5%) over the 144,166 persons at the 2000 census. Based on 2020 census data, Vernon Township was the county's largest in both population and area, with a population of 22,358 and covering an area of 70.59 square miles (182.8 km2). The county is part of the North Jersey region of the state.
Mount Mansfield is the highest mountain in Vermont, reaching an elevation of 4,393 feet (1,339 m) above sea level. Located in the northwest of the state, it is also the highest peak in the Green Mountains. Its summit is located within the town of Underhill in Chittenden County; the ridgeline, including some secondary peaks, extends into the town of Stowe in Lamoille County, and the mountain's flanks also reach into the town of Cambridge.
High Point may refer to:
Hunter Mountain is in the towns of Hunter and Lexington, just south of the village of Hunter, in Greene County, New York, United States. At approximately 4,040 feet (1,231 m) in elevation, it is the highest peak in the county and the second-highest peak in the Catskill Mountains.
Wawayanda State Park is a 34,350 acres (139.0 km2) state park in Sussex County and Passaic County in northern New Jersey. The park is in Vernon Township on the Sussex side, and West Milford on the Passaic side. There are 60 miles (97 km) of hiking trails in the park, including a 20 miles (32 km) stretch of the Appalachian Trail. The park is operated and maintained by the New Jersey Division of Parks and Forestry. The hiking trails are maintained and updated by the New York - New Jersey Trail Conference.
Whiteface Mountain is the fifth-highest mountain in the U.S. state of New York, and one of the High Peaks of the Adirondack Mountains, located in the town of Wilmington in Essex County. Set apart from most of the other High Peaks, the summit offers a 360-degree view of the Adirondacks and clear-day glimpses of Vermont and Canada, where Montreal can be seen on a very clear day. Because of its relative isolation, the mountain is exposed to prevailing winds from the west and frequently capped with snow and ice, making it an area of interest to meteorologists. Weather data has been collected on the summit since 1937. The mountain's east slope is home to a major ski area which boasts the greatest vertical drop east of the Rockies, and which hosted the alpine skiing competitions of the 1980 Winter Olympics. Unique among the High Peaks, Whiteface features a developed summit and seasonal accessibility by motor vehicle. The Whiteface Veterans Memorial Highway reaches a parking area at an elevation shortly below the summit, with the remaining distance covered by tunnel and elevator. The peak can also be reached on two hiking trails.
Ringwood State Park is a 4,444 acres (17.98 km2) state park in Passaic County in northeastern New Jersey, USA. The Park is located in the heart of the Ramapo Mountains in Ringwood. Its forests are part of the Northeastern coastal forests ecoregion.
High Point State Park is a state park straddling the border of Wantage Township and Montague Township in Sussex County, within the Skylands Region of northwestern New Jersey, United States, near the border with New York State and Pennsylvania. The park covers 15,413 acres (62.37 km2). Part of the Kittatinny Mountains, the highest point in the state of New Jersey, the aptly named High Point, sits in the northern reaches of the park, at elevation 1,803 feet (550 m). Route 23 skirts the park and provides access for visitors from the New Jersey suburbs and from points in New York. The park is administered by the New Jersey Division of Parks and Forestry.
Beacon Mountain, locally Mount Beacon, is the highest peak of Hudson Highlands, located south of City of Beacon, New York, in the Town of Fishkill. Its two summits rise above the Hudson River behind the city and can easily be seen from Newburgh across the river and many other places in the region. The more accessible northern peak, at 1,516 feet (462 m) above sea level, has a complex of radio antennas on its summit; the 1,595 feet (486 m) southern summit has a fire lookout tower, which was built in 1931.
The Skylands Region is a region of New Jersey located in the northern and central parts of the state. It is one of seven tourism regions established by the New Jersey State Department of Tourism; the others are Gateway Region, Greater Atlantic City Region, the Southern Shore Region, the Delaware River Region, the Shore Region, and the Central Jersey Region.
New Jersey is a state within the United States of America that lies on the north eastern edge of the North American continent. It shares a land border with the state of New York along the north, ratified by both states after the New York – New Jersey Line War, which is its only straight line border.
Stokes State Forest is a state park located in Sandyston, Montague and Frankford in Sussex County, New Jersey, United States. Stokes comprises 16,447 acres (66.56 km2) of mountainous woods in the Kittatinny Mountains, extending from the southern boundary of High Point State Park southwestward to the eastern boundary of the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area. The park is operated and maintained by the New Jersey Division of Parks and Forestry.
The Appalachian National Scenic Trail spans 14 U.S. states over its roughly 2,200 miles (3,500 km): Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine. The southern end is at Springer Mountain, Georgia, and it follows the ridgeline of the Appalachian Mountains, crossing many of its highest peaks and running almost continuously through wilderness before reaching the northern end at Mount Katahdin, Maine.
Giant Mountain, also known as Giant of the Valley, is a mountain in the Adirondacks in the U.S. state of New York. It is the twelfth-highest peak in New York, with an elevation of 4,627 feet (1,410 m), and one of the 46 High Peaks in Adirondack Park. It is located in the Giant Mountain Wilderness Area, in the town of Keene in Essex County. The mountain is named for its towering appearance from the nearby Pleasant Valley to the east, which sits at a low elevation.
Halcott Mountain is one of the Catskill Mountains of the U.S. state of New York. It is mostly located in Greene County, with some of its lower slopes in Delaware and Ulster counties. Its exact summit elevation has not been officially determined, but the highest contour line on the mountain is 3,520 feet (1,070 m). It is one of the peaks on the divide between the Delaware and Hudson watersheds.
Brace Mountain is the peak of a ridge in the southern Taconic Mountains, near the tripoint of the U.S. states of New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts. Its 2,311-foot (704 m) main summit is located in New York; it is the highest point in that state's Dutchess County.
Anthony Rudolph Kuser was a businessman and philanthropist who donated the land that makes up New Jersey's highest point and had the monument there built as a war memorial.
Bald Hill, located in the hamlet of Farmingville, New York, part of the Town of Brookhaven, is one of the highest areas of elevation on Long Island. The highest elevation in the Bald Hill area is 331 feet (101 m). Though local residents often claim it to be the highest point on Long Island, that honor actually belongs to Jayne's Hill in the Town of Huntington at 401 feet (122 m). Also, nearby Telescope Hill, about 0.8 miles (1.3 km) WSW, is slightly higher at 334 feet (102 m). Bald Hill in Brookhaven should also not be confused with Bald Hill in Riverhead.
Goffle Hill, also referred to as Goffle Mountain and historically known as Totoway Mountain and Wagaraw Mountain, is a range of the trap rock Watchung Mountains on the western edge of the Newark Basin in northern New Jersey. The hill straddles part of the border of Bergen County and Passaic County, underlying a mostly suburban setting. While hosting patches of woodlands, perched wetlands, and traprock glades, the hill is largely unprotected from development. Extensive quarrying for trap rock has obliterated large tracts of the hill in North Haledon, and Prospect Park. Conservation efforts seeking to preserve undeveloped land, such as the local Save the Woods initiative (2007–present), are ongoing.