High Point (New Jersey)

High Point

High Point Monument and Lake Marcia
Highest point
Elevation 1,802 ft (549 m)  NAVD 88[1]
Prominence 883 ft (269 m) [1]
Listing U.S. state high point 40th
Coordinates 41°19′15″N 74°39′42″W / 41.32095°N 74.66155°W / 41.32095; -74.66155Coordinates: 41°19′15″N 74°39′42″W / 41.32095°N 74.66155°W / 41.32095; -74.66155 [2]
Geography
Parent range Kittatinny Mountains, Appalachians
Climbing
Easiest route A paved 2-lane roadway ascends directly to the summit
Aerial photo of High Point State Park
High Point Monument, designed by Marion Sims Wyeth

High Point, in Montague, Sussex County, New Jersey, in the Skylands Region, is the highest elevation in the state at 1,803 feet (550 m). It is southeast of Port Jervis, New York. High Point is the highest peak of the Kittatinny Mountains. Three states – New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania – can be seen from the top.

At the peak is the High Point Monument, a 220-foot (67 m) obelisk, built in 1930 as a war memorial.

High Point State Park

The mountain is in the 14,193 acre (57 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.

Entrance fees are charged from Memorial Day weekend to Labor Day.[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]

War veterans monument

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.

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]

Summit panorama

High Point view
View from High Point

See also

References

Notes

  1. 1 2 "High Point, New Jersey". Peakbagger.com. Retrieved May 17, 2011.
  2. ↑ "High Point". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey. Retrieved May 17, 2011.
  3. ↑ "High Point State Park". New Jersey Division of Parks and Forestry. Retrieved October 24, 2006.
  4. ↑ "High Pont Cross Country Ski Center". Retrieved March 3, 2015.
  5. ↑ Howell, Jr., Tom (April 3, 2008). "Veterans upset over plan to shut High Point". New Jersey Herald. Archived from the original on April 8, 2008. Retrieved May 17, 2011.


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