High Point State Park

High Point State Park in Sussex County, New Jersey, is a great destination for outdoor recreation and excellent views. 

As the highest elevation in the state, it offers visitors a unique blend of natural beauty, history, and year-round activities. Nestled atop the Kittatinny Ridge at 1,803 feet above sea level, High Point State Park is a jewel in New Jersey’s park system. 

Whether you’re seeking solitude on a wooded trail, family fun by the lake, or awe-inspiring views from the monument, High Point State Park delivers. It’s a destination where history, nature, and recreation converge—making it one of New Jersey’s most treasured outdoor escapes.

Spanning more than 16,000 acres, the park is best known for the High Point Monument, a 220-foot granite obelisk dedicated to New Jersey’s veterans. From its summit, visitors enjoy panoramic vistas stretching across three states—the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania, the Catskills of New York, and the rolling valleys of New Jersey.

For recreation seekers, High Point offers an abundance of options. The park boasts over 50 miles of trails, ranging from gentle walks to challenging hikes. These trails accommodate not only hikers but also mountain bikers, horseback riders, and, in winter, cross-country skiers and snowshoers. 

Seasonal changes transform the landscape: spring wildflowers, lush summer greenery, fiery autumn foliage, and serene snow-covered ridges make every visit distinct. Winter transforms High Point into a snowy playground. With trails open for snowmobiling, dogsledding, and skiing, the park becomes a hub for cold-weather recreation. Even in the chill, the monument and surrounding ridges remain accessible, offering crisp, clear views that reward those willing to brave the season. 

Water enthusiasts gravitate toward Lake Marcia, a spring-fed lake perfect for swimming in summer months, fishing, or enjoying a peaceful picnic by the shore. Families often spend the day at the designated beach area, while anglers cast lines for trout and bass. 

The park also features campgrounds, making it a favorite spot for weekend getaways under the stars. High Point is more than just a natural escape—it’s a place of discovery. Visitors can engage in geocaching adventures, explore historic sites, or participate in educational programs hosted by the Friends of High Point State Park. 

Wildlife enthusiasts will find deer, foxes, and a variety of bird species thriving in the park’s diverse habitats, offering ample opportunities for photography and quiet observationThe Tourist Checklist.

Stocking Landlocked Atlantic Salmon in New Jersey

 

NJDEP Fish & Wildlife’s Hackettstown State Fish Hatchery staff have been stocking landlocked Atlantic Salmon this fall. With the cooler weather, water temperatures dropped into the low 50s, allowing staff to safely stock the fish. 

Landlocked Atlantic Salmon are a freshwater form of Atlantic Salmon that do not migrate to the ocean. In New Jersey, they are actively stocked in select lakes each fall and are thriving as a recreational fishery.

The salmon averaged 14 inches and ranged from 11.7–16 inches, with some reaching 24 inches and 6 pounds.

Stocking occurs when surface temperatures drop below 60°F, typically in October–November. Each year’s salmon is marked with a distinctive fin clip to track age and health over time.

Following the stocking, staff were able to split next year’s fish into two tanks to allow room for growth.

The following waterbodies were stocked with Landlocked Salmon. These lakes are deep, cold, and well-oxygenated, with Alewife forage fish to support salmon year-round.

Tilcon Lake – 440

Lake Aeroflex – 505

Wawayanda Lake – 1,275

Merrill Creek Reservoir – 720

Holdover Trout Lakes (Tilcon, Aeroflex, Wawayanda)

Salmo salar sebago, is a freshwater variant of Atlantic Salmon. Native to eastern Canada and Maine; they were introduced successfully to New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts, and other northeastern states. Unlike their ocean-migrating cousins, landlocked salmon live entirely in freshwater lakes and reservoirs.

For anglers, the minimum size: 12 inches.
Daily limit: 2 salmon per day
Spring pre-season closure: All salmon must be released unharmed.
Trophy Trout Lake (Merrill Creek Reservoir): Minimum size: 15 inches. Combined daily limit: 2 fish (includes salmon, rainbow, and brown trout

All salmon stocked from 2022-2025 have a distinct fin clip marking the year they were stocked. This will help Fisheries Biologists assess the growth rates and condition factors of these fish during sampling. 

Salmon Versus Trout

New Jersey stocks landlocked Atlantic salmon and trout. They are closely related cold-water fish, but they differ in origin, behavior, appearance, and fishing regulations. Landlocked salmon are a freshwater form of Atlantic salmon, while trout encompass several species with diverse traits.

Landlocked Atlantic Salmon (Salmo salar sebago) are a freshwater variant of Atlantic salmon, originally native to Maine and eastern Canada but live entirely in lakes and reservoirs.

Salmon caught in NJ

Salmon prefer deep, cold lakes with forage fish, like alewives. They are stocked annually in NJ lakes like Wawayanda and Merrill Creek. They are often more migratory in behavior, even when landlocked. Salmon have a silvery body with small black spots mostly above the lateral line. Known for strong, acrobatic fights.Slightly forked tail and thinner caudal peduncle. Sleek, torpedo-shaped profile. Single row of vomerine teeth (roof of mouth). Adipose fin present, like all salmonids.

Rainbow trout caught in NJ

Trout (e.g., Rainbow, Brown, Brook): Includes multiple species across genera (Oncorhynchus, Salmo, Salvelinus). Native to North America, Europe, and Asia, with varied habitats. Trout thrive in streams, rivers, and lakes, and are less migratory and more territorial.

Rainbow trout (which are stocked by the state) have a pink stripe and speckled body. Their tails are forked. Rainbow trout can adapt to lakes and rivers. They have a marbled pattern with white-edged fins and zig-zag vomerine teeth. They are considered easier to catch in streams and stocked ponds, and are popular for fly fishing and beginner anglers.

Brown trout are golden-brown with black and red spots. 

Brook trout prefer small, cold streams. Their tail shape is square.

Geological Hike at Haney's Mill

View on the Delaware Water Gap (1871) by Edmund Foerster

The Delaware Water Gap is bounded by Mt. Minsi in Pennsylvania and Mt. Tammany in New Jersey. Once touted as a scenic Wonder of the World, it is an impressive site when motoring through on Interstate 80 or viewed from the overlooks along Route 611 on the Pennsylvania side.

Before the Gap formed. Mt. Minsi and Mt. Tammany formed one continuous ridge -- the Kittatinny Ridge, along which the Appalachian Trail runs through the park today. Here at the Gap, this ridge is composed of two different sedimentary rock formations: the Shawangunk Formation and the Bloomsburg Redbeds.

Haney’s Mill is in the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area of New Jersey, and it offers a beautiful view and an interesting geologically themed hike that allows you to walk back 430 million years. (That should impress the kids.)

via http://www.geocaching.com

The presence of limestone not far from the sandstones and shales on neighboring Kittatinny Mountain is evidence of environmental changes that occurred in this region over millions of years.

If you look up and to the west, you’ll see the crest and western flank of Kittatinny Mountain. The rocks you see on Kittatinny Mountain are older than the limestones in the outcrop there.

The gray, white, and red rocks on Kittatinny Mountain, called sandstones and shales, formed from sediments that were deposited in rivers and shallow marine environments. The light gray rocks where you will be hiking are limestones, formed under different conditions, in the quieter waters of lagoons and intertidal zones.

The gray sandstones are middle Silurian in age, approximately 430 million years old. They formed from quartz-rich sediments left behind by fast-moving rivers that once flowed through the Taconic Mountains. The Taconic Mountains were part of a mountain range that once existed to the east and north of this site, but has since eroded away.

Over several million years, conditions changed, and the environment became more tranquil. Slow-moving rivers carried less sand and clay to the coast, and the coastal waters became clear. Slowly the type of sediment that formed in the marine waters changed from river-supplied sand and clay to limestone formed by marine animals.

THE TRAIL: A footpath, located across Capner Street, can be accessed through the paved parking lot on the north side of the park. The entrance to the footpath is just before the electrical transfer station adjacent to the Morales Nature Preserve. Once on the footpath, proceed north approximately 50 yards, until you see a path to the right angling down toward the brook. The exposures run north-south along the brook. You can park in the small dirt lot just south of the bridge over Flat Brook. This is also a popular fly-fishing spot.


Information for Teachers and Lifelong Learners:
http://www.nps.gov/dewa/forteachers/curriculummaterials.htm
http://www.njgeology.org/
DELAWARE WATER GAP  (Images of America)
When Dinosaurs Roamed New Jersey