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62-506: Most of the range is publicly owned and protected. In the far northeast, High Point State Park protects the area around High Point itself. Further southwest, Stokes State Forest encompasses much of the range from the southern boundary of High Point State Park to the eastern boundary of the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area . The recreation area encompasses the entire southern half of

124-476: A cool microenvironment that supports several northern species such as black spruce , hemlock, rowan , and creeping snowberry (Gaultheria hispidula), and bryophytes such as Isopterygium distichaceum. These ice caves are concentrated near Sam's Point in the northern Shawangunks. Larger limestone caverns occur along the lower slopes of the Rondout and Delaware River valleys. Lakes and wetlands occur mostly on

186-575: A few emergent marshes. The ridge is primarily Shawangunk Conglomerate , a hard, silica - cemented sedimentary conglomerate of white quartz pebbles and sandstone that directly overlies the Martinsburg Formation , a thick sequence of turbidite deposits of dark gray shale and greywacke . The Martinsburg Formation was deposited in a deep ocean basin during the Ordovician (470 million years ago). The Shawangunk Conglomerate

248-623: A low flat made by the Rondout Creek and Sandburgh Creek, the Basha Kill and various small kills, as well as the Neversink River and Delaware River at the southern end. These adjacent valleys are underlain by relatively weak sedimentary rock (e.g., sandstone, shale, limestone). There is an unusual diversity of vegetation on the ridge, containing species typically found north of this region alongside species typically found to

310-417: Is Culver's Gap , which was created by an ancient stream which was diverted and is now a wind gap. The base of Culver's Gap is at least 400 feet (120 m) below the top of the mountain. Culver's Gap is located near Culver's Lake , just west of Branchville . The second is a small gap in the mountain, south of Catfish Pond, which is north of the gap. This gap is about 350 feet (110 m) deep. Culver's Gap

372-473: Is about 4 miles (6.4 km) south of US Route 206, in which a dirt road leads to the base of it. A wooden staircase has been built near it, so people can climb to the top. A second falls is seasonable during heavy rains next to Interstate 80 near the Big Cliffs. Water slides over the rocks and drops over a small ledge before going under Interstate 80. There are several cliffs on the mountain. The largest

434-479: Is also a widely used familiar term for the ridge and has been in use at least since the mid-19th century. In a letter dated August and postmarked August 8, 1838, Hudson River School painter Thomas Cole corresponding with painter A.B. Durand writes, "Do let me hear from you when you get among the Gunks . I hope you will find every thing there your heart can wish." The Shawangunks, particularly around Lake Mohonk, were

496-431: Is at the northern end of Kittatinny Mountain. The mountain is a northern deciduous forest of various oaks, hickories, maples, birches, walnut, elm, ash, birch, sycamore, cherry, beech, chestnut, and sweet gum. Wild blueberries and rhodendrum also grow on the mountain. Animals such as whitetailed deer, gray squirrels, red squirrels, chipmunks, gray fox, bobcats, beaver, black bears as well as a large variety of birds inhabit

558-671: Is known as the Flatbrook Valley. The Port Jervis trough is at the northwestern end of the mountain. The Delaware River flows near the mountain at the south end, finally cutting across the ridge at the Delaware Water Gap just south of Mount Tammany . The Kittatinnies are a far northeastern extension of the Ridge and Valley province of the Appalachian Mountains . In Pennsylvania , the ridge forming

620-662: Is listed on the National Historic Lookout Register. The tower remains, but both it and the surrounding area are closed to the public. In 1912, the Conservation Commission built a wood fire lookout tower on the ridge east of Ellenville on High Point. In 1919, the Conservation Commission replaced it with a 47-foot-tall (14 m) Aermotor LS40 steel fire lookout tower. Due to increased use of aerial detection,

682-567: Is located at the Delaware Water Gap. The cliff is up to 300 feet (91 m) high and starts at Interstate 80 and extends about 400 meters along the mountain The second largest cliff is located 6 miles (9.7 km) north of the Gap, on the eastern side. Small rock faces exist on the western face and eastern face along the mountain. The southeastern face of the mountain has a steeper pitch than

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744-630: Is located in High Point state park and has a road leading to the top. The second highest mountain is Sunrise Mountain, located within Stokes State Forest. The elevation here is 1,653 feet (504 m) and has a road leading almost to the top. At the top there is a shelter with a roof but no sides. The Kittatinny Mountain is of the Silurian Shawangunk Conglomerate which is mainly composed of quartz. Due to

806-685: Is owned by the Mohonk Mountain House and rock climbing requires authorized guides. Rock climbing is also permitted on the Peterskill and Dickie Barre cliff areas of Minnewaska State Park Preserve . The height of the cliff varies along the ridgeline, to a maximum of some 300 feet (91 m). In 1930, the Conservation Department built a 60-foot-tall (18 m) Aermotor LS40 steel fire lookout tower and observers cabin on Sayers Hill (Pocatello Mountain). The tower

868-526: Is smoky air" or "there is smoky air". Its noun-like participle is schawank, meaning "that which is smoky air". Adding the locative suffix gives us schawangunk "in the smoky air". Whritenour has suggested that the name derives from the burning of a Munsee fort by the Dutch at the eastern base of the ridge in 1663 (a massacre ending the Second Esopus War ). Use of the name spread quickly, and it

930-404: Is trapped by the bedrock or till, there are interspersed lakes and wetland areas. Soils on top of shale are thicker, less acidic, and more fertile. Topography on the top of the northern Shawangunks is irregular due to a series of faults that form secondary plateaus and escarpments. Ice caves are deep fissures in the conglomerate bedrock that retain ice through much of the summer, resulting in

992-672: 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 . As of the 2023 season, entrance to

1054-476: The Near Trapps , The Trapps , and Skytop . Of these four, The Trapps, is the longest, the most popular and most accessible, with the largest number of climbing routes . The Near Trapps is located immediately across Route 44/55 from The Trapps, and is second in popularity. Millbrook Mountain , the highest and most southerly cliff, is the most remote, and sees the least climbing activity. The Skytop cliff

1116-679: The Shawangunk Mountains or The Gunks , is a ridge of bedrock in Ulster County , Sullivan County and Orange County in the state of New York , extending from the northernmost point of the border with New Jersey to the Catskills . The Shawangunk Ridge is a continuation of the long, easternmost section of the Appalachian Mountains ; the ridge is known as Kittatinny Mountain in New Jersey, and as Blue Mountain as it continues through Pennsylvania. This ridge constitutes

1178-660: The Appalachian Trail at High Point State Park in New Jersey. It generally follows the spectacular Shawangunk Ridge north, occasionally using abandoned roads and rail beds. The New York/New Jersey Trail Conference lists seventeen recommended hikes on the Ridge. The development of rock climbing in the Shawangunks is attributed to Fritz Wiessner and Hans Kraus , pioneers of modern rock climbing. It has historically been centered around four major cliffs: Millbrook ,

1240-508: The Bruyn [purchase of Jan., 1682, the first appearance of the name in documentary record], as a phrase invented by the Indians to describe some feature of the landscape. Fried also notes that the name's swift spread in the deed record suggests it was in use as a proper name before the Bruyn purchase. Shawangunk appears nowhere in reference to the fort in the extensive, translated Dutch record of

1302-600: The Kittatinnies becomes known as Blue Mountain and runs southwest for 150 miles (240 km), nearly to Maryland . In Franklin County, Pennsylvania , however, a parallel ridge to Blue Mountain is named "Kittatinny Mountain"; the Pennsylvania Turnpike tunnels through both ridges (a very short distance apart) with the western tunnel named " Kittatinny Mountain " and the eastern one " Blue Mountain ." To

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1364-693: The Kittatinny Mountain, at the northwestern end is the Port Jervis trough, also called the Minisink Valley. Next to the mountain on the western side is the Flatbrook Valley or Walpack Valley which runs from Steam Mill to Flatbrookville . From the Delaware Water Gap to the New York line is 40 miles (64 km) but the ridges continues into New York State where it is known as the Shawangunk Mountains . The ridge continues to nearly Kingston, New York . The Wisconsin glacier covered

1426-542: The Mohonk Preserve protects and manages over 8,000 acres of the Shawangunk Ridge, including the world-renowned Trapps climbing cliffs, and features over 70 miles of historic carriage roads and trails. In 2007 Shawangunk Ridge State Forest and Witches Hole State Forest were added. The Long Path long-distance hiking trail follows the ridge from Sullivan County to the vicinity of Kerhonkson ; south of it

1488-585: The Second Esopus War. Shawangunk became associated with the ridge during the 18th century. In the original Lenape, the word is tri-syllabic, Sha-wan-gun, although in an occasional 18th-century deed it is written with a fourth syllable. The correct pronunciation approximates sha (short a) - wan (as in want) - goon (as in book). The trailing k is sub vocal and modifies the sound of the n. European colonists began to truncate Shawangunk into "Shongum" ( / ˈ ʃ ɒ n ɡ ʌ m / SHON -gum ). Shongum

1550-607: The Shawangunk Conglomerate, are exposed north of Shawangunk Ridge in the Rosendale Natural Cement Region, where they can be directly examined in abandoned mines. Strata along the eastern margin of Shawangunk Ridge are truncated by erosion, resulting in the prominent cliffs characteristic of Shawangunk Ridge. The Shawangunk Conglomerate is very hard and resistant to weathering ; whereas the underlying shale erodes relatively easily. Thus,

1612-788: The Shawangunk Ridge Trail connects to the Appalachian Trail near High Point . There are several old carriage trails on the Ridge including; Smiley Road from Ellenville into Minnewaska State Park Preserve; and Old Plank Road and Old Mountain Road in Shawangunk Ridge State Forest. Many of the foot trails are updated and maintained by the New York-New Jersey Trail Conference . There are also many waterfalls in

1674-490: The Shawangunk region, such as: VerKeerderkill Falls , Awosting Falls , and Vernooy Kill Falls. In 2004, a luxury development plan for buildings has threatened the ridge line, and as a result a grassroots "Save the Ridge" campaign has become extremely popular in the area. In 2006 a court ordered the sale of property by the private owner to settle a case brought on by the developer. The Open Space Institute of NY purchased

1736-500: The area two thousand years ago from the Mississippi River valley traveled on the mountain in search of plant foods and game. They collected acorns, walnuts, hickory nuts, beech nuts, chestnuts, and butternuts from the deciduous forest and collected water from fresh streams. The Lenapes also hunted deer, elk, and bear on the mountain. There is one waterfall on the western side of the mountain known as Buttermilk Falls . This

1798-749: The area. The area warmed more around 8000 BC so oak, maple, birch, willow, and other deciduous trees began to grow. Paleo Indians inhabited the Delaware River Valley around 10,500 BC. after the Wisconsin Glacier melted. They hunted, fished and gathered plants to eat in the Delaware Valley and on Kittatinny Mountain. They had no permanent camps and traveled often in search of food. As the glacier melted, grasslands developed which eventually turned into coniferous and later deciduous forests after thousands of years. Big game roamed

1860-495: The entire mountain about 21,000 BC, and melted about 13,000 BC. The terminal moraine is located near Belvidere . The glacier has left end moraines, periglacial rock fields, and kettles , at the northern end of the mountain in Stokes State Forest . The area was a Tundra biome after the glacier melted and then became a Taiga biome as the climate warmed. At that time coniferous trees such as spruce and pine inhabited

1922-481: The flat-topped ridges at the northern and southern ends of the area and, to a lesser extent, along the western side of the middle part of the ridge. Lakes and ponds occurring on conglomerates tend to be clear, nutrient-poor, and very acidic, due to the limited buffering capacity of the bedrock. The northern Shawangunks have five lakes, the "sky lakes," which are, from north to south: Mohonk Lake, Lake Minnewaska, Lake Awosting, Mud Pond, and Lake Maratanza. The pH in four of

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1984-426: The grassland which allowed Paleo Indians to survive. Around 8000 B.C. deciduous trees began to grow, in which nut trees began to grow to allow the collection of nuts. This allowed Paleo Indian populations to increase slowly. The Marshall Creek Mastodon found just north of the Gap was dated at 10,210BC ±180 years. Other big game existed at the time such as caribou and muskox . The Lenape Native Americans that came to

2046-674: The hardness of the quartz , the mountain is extremely resistant to weathering . Around four hundred fifty million years ago, a chain of volcanic islands shaped like an arch collided with proto North America. The North American Plate went under the chain of islands. The islands went on top of the edge of North America creating the Highlands and the Kittatinny Valley which is the Ordovician Martinsburg Shale . Quartz and other sedimentary conglomerate

2108-684: The intense heat allowed the rock layers to bend, thus the Kittatinny Mountain was born. Near the base of the west side of the mountain is the Silurian High Falls Formation , which is red and green shale and sandstone . The east side of the mountain near the base is of the Ordovician Martinsburg Formation which contains slate , shale and sandstone. The top of the mountain has a fairly even elevation ranging between 1,400 feet (430 m) and 1,600 feet (490 m). There are two exceptions. One

2170-485: The lakes averages about 4 (acidic); Lake Mohonk, which partially overlays shale bedrock and is therefore partially buffered, is closer to neutral pH (7.0). The Shawangunks contain mainly public lands as well as several small residential areas. A large portion of the northern Ridge is protected by Minnewaska State Park Preserve , which also now manages Sam's Point Preserve with more than 100 miles (160 km) of hiking trails and several climbing areas. Established in 1963,

2232-541: The land and has signed it over to Minnewaska State Park Preserve. The Trust for Public Land and Open Space Institute actually agreed to purchase the land for $ 17 million. At closing, however, the contract was assigned and title was taken in the name of the Palisades Interstate Park Commission , a federally chartered commission, although the funds for the purchase apparently came from the New York state Environmental Protection Fund. Unlike

2294-598: The major public land holdings on the Shawangunk Ridge, the Mohonk Preserve is a private land trust requiring a day fee depending on use. In May 2007 the state Department of Environmental Conservation initiated the development of its Shawangunk Ridge Unit Management Plan to include Shawangunk Multiple Use Area , Witch's Hole State Forest , Shawangunk Ridge State Forest , Roosa Gap State Forest , Wurtsboro Ridge State Forest , Huckleberry Ridge State Forest , and three detached Forest Preserve parcels. The goal of

2356-589: The mountain. Turkey Vultures and Red Tail Hawks are also common. Fish such as trout, pickerel, and bass are also in the lakes. Copper mining began in the 1750s at the Pahaquarry Copper Mine , which is 8 miles (13 km) north of the Gap, off Old Mine Road . This mine is located in the Silurian High Falls Formation on the west side of the mountain. This sandstone is very hard and made mining very difficult. The copper

2418-640: The north in New York , the ridge is known as the Shawangunk Mountains which goes to Kingston, New York. High Point State Park 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 km ). Part of

2480-613: The northwestern face. The top of the mountain has 14 lakes and ponds. Sunfish Pond, Catfish Pond, Mountain Ridge Lake, Blue Mountain Lake, Long Pine Pond, Lake Success, Crater Lake, Hemlock Lake, Kittatinny Lake, Steeny Kill Lake and Lake Marcia are some of them. Lake Marcia is the lake with the highest elevation on the mountain, 1,574 feet (480 m) above sea level. This lake is located in High Point State Park which

2542-547: The park is free. High Point Monument , built at the summit, offers views of farmland and forest, hills and valleys in three states, out to the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area , where the Delaware River separates the ridges of New Jersey from those of Pennsylvania . High Point offers trails for hiking and cross-country skiing and areas for camping and fishing . The land for High Point State Park, donated by Colonel Anthony R. and Susie Dryden Kuser,

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2604-454: The past, the ridge was chiefly noted for mining and logging and a boom-era of huckleberry picking. Fires were regularly set to burn away the undergrowth and stimulate new growth of huckleberry bushes. Today the ridge has become known for its outdoor recreation, most notably as one of the major rock climbing areas of North America, with many guides offering rock climbing trips in the area. Also known for its biodiversity and scenic character,

2666-455: The project was to develop "management objectives" for the properties, including those concerning permissible forms of public recreation and access. Following an announcement of the project's launch, no further statements had been issued by the DEC regarding its work as of June 2009. The Shawangunk Ridge Trail heads north approximately 40 miles (64 km), to Sam's Point Preserve in New York from

2728-442: The quartz conglomerate forms cliffs and talus slopes, particularly along the eastern margin of the ridge. The entire ridge was glaciated during the last Wisconsin glaciation , which scoured the ridges, left pockets of till , and dumped talus (blocks of rock) off the east side of the ridge. On top of the ridge, the soils are generally thin, highly acidic, low in nutrients, and droughty, but in depressions and other areas where water

2790-417: The range, and also contains the smaller Worthington State Forest , which also protects the southwestern end of the range near the Delaware Water Gap itself. The name Kittatinny comes from a Lenape Native American word meaning "endless hill" or "great mountain". The highest peak in the range is High Point at 1,803 feet (550 m), which is also the highest point in the state of New Jersey. This peak

2852-549: The ridge has been designated by The Nature Conservancy as a significant area for its conservation programs. The English name, Shawangunk, derives from the Dutch Scha-wan-gunk, the closest European transcription from the colonial deed record of the Munsee Lenape , Schawankunk (German orthography). Lenape linguist Raymond Whritenour reports that schawan is an inanimate intransitive verb meaning "it

2914-530: The ridge through hemlock gorges into former agricultural fields with a view of the surrounding countryside and the High Point Monument in the distance. The monument was built to honor war veterans, through the generosity of the Kusers. Construction began in 1928 and completed in 1930. At the top of the 220 feet (67 m) structure (the base is 34 square feet (3.2 m )), observers have views of

2976-750: The ridges of the Pocono Mountains toward the west, the Catskill Mountains to the north and the Wallkill River Valley in the southeast. At the top of New Jersey's tallest knob, the Monument is an obelisk monument similar to other war monuments, such as the one located on Breed's Hill in Massachusetts . Shawangunk Mountains The Shawangunk Ridge / ˈ ʃ ɑː w ə ŋ ɡ ʌ ŋ k / , also known as

3038-687: The south or restricted to the Coastal Plain. The results is an area where many regionally rare plants are found at or near the limits of their ranges. Other rare species found in the area are those adapted to the harsh conditions on the ridge. Upland communities include chestnut oak and mixed-oak forest, pine barrens including dwarf pine ridges, hemlock -northern hardwood forest, and cliff and talus slope and cave communities. Wetlands include small lakes and streams, bogs , pitch pine - blueberry peat swamps, an inland Atlantic white cypress swamp, red maple swamps, acidic seeps, calcareous seeps, and

3100-498: The subject for several Hudson River School painters. The Shawangunk Ridge is the northern end of a long ridge within the Appalachian Mountains that begins in Virginia , where it is called North Mountain , continues through Pennsylvania as Blue Mountain , becomes known as the Kittatinny Mountains after it crosses the Delaware Water Gap into New Jersey and becomes the Shawangunks at the New York state line. These mountains mark

3162-411: The tower ceased fire lookout operation at the end of the 1971 fire lookout season, and was later removed. In 1948, the Conservation Department built a 35-foot-tall (11 m) Aermotor steel fire lookout tower on the ridge northeast of Wurtsboro . Due to increased use of aerial detection, the tower ceased fire lookout operations at the end of the 1972 fire lookout season. The tower was later sold, and

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3224-567: The western and northern edge of the Great Appalachian Valley . The ridge is widest (7.5 miles (12.1 km)) near the northern end and narrow in the middle (1.25 miles (2.01 km)), with a maximum elevation of 2,289 feet (698 m) near Lake Maratanza . The ridge rises above a broad, high plain which stretches to the Hudson River to the east. On the west the low foothills of the Appalachian Mountains mingle with

3286-418: The western border of the Great Appalachian Valley . The ridgetop, which widens considerably at its northern end, has many public and private protected areas , including Wurtsboro Ridge State Forest, Shawangunk Ridge State Forest, Minnewaska State Park Preserve , Witch's Hole State Park and Mohonk Preserve. The ridge is not heavily populated; its only settlement of consequence is the hamlet of Cragsmoor . In

3348-532: Was a route used by Paleo Indians and the Lenape Native Americans to go through the mountain to trade and hunt. The second is a groove or depression in the mountain ridge near Catfish Pond. This is about 373 feet (114 m) deep as the base of the depression is 1,100 feet (340 m) and the top of the mountain at that place is 1,473 feet (449 m). The top of the mountain ranges from 50 meters wide to nearly 4 miles (6.4 km) wide. West of

3410-467: Was between 2 and 3 percent in the ore which made mining unprofitable. Mining was done in the 1800s, by various companies which went bankrupt. The mine sold several times. Silver mining began in the 1880s with John Snook digging a mine at the northern end and western face of the Kittatinny mountain in an area now known as Stokes State Forest. He extracted silver ore for a short time and the silver ore

3472-476: Was dedicated as a park in 1923. The pleasant landscaping was designed by the Olmsted Brothers of Boston, a prominent landscape architectural firm of that time. The brothers were the sons of Frederick Law Olmsted , who designed Central Park . To the south, the Appalachian Trail follows a rocky ridge which has views of the valleys and mountains surrounding the area. To the north, the trail drops off

3534-665: Was depleted. The mine is now flooded with water. To the east of the Kittatinny Mountain, is the Kittatinny Valley. This is drained by the Paulinskill river in the south and the Wallkill River in the north. The Big Flatbrook drains the mountain on the northwestern end beginning at Steam mill swamp and flows in a southwesterly direction which drains into the Delaware River near Flatbrookville. This area

3596-794: Was deposited over the Martinsburg Formation in thick braided river deposits during the Silurian (about 420 million years ago); both sequences of sedimentary rock were subsequently deformed in a continental collision associated during the assembly of the Pangean supercontinent during the Permian (about 270 million years ago). This collision deformed strata within the ridge in a northward plunging series of asymmetric folds (e.g., anticlines and synclines ) that are inclined gently westward. These same folds, involving strata that overlie

3658-420: Was mistakenly identified as the Munsee pronunciation by the Reverend Charles Scott writing on Shawangunk's etymology for the Ulster County Historical Society in 1861. The error has been reinforced in ethnographic sources and ridge literature, and by historians, librarians, and ridge educators for more than 140 years. Both "Shawangunk" and "Shongum" are popular usages among locals native to the region. The "Gunks"

3720-410: Was purchased with funds provided from the county and town, to protect the eastern and southern slopes of the Shawangunk Ridge. The tower was dismantled and moved to its current location in 1948. The tower ceased fire lookout operations at the end of the 1988 fire lookout season. It was officially closed in early 1989 by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation . The Graham Lookout Tower

3782-418: Was recorded in numerous land deeds and patents after the war. Historian Marc B. Fried writes: It is conceivable that this was...the Indians' own proper name for their village [and fort] and that the name was appropriated for use in subsequent land dealings because of the proximity of the...tracts to the former Indian village....The second possibility is that the name simply came into existence in connection with

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3844-427: Was transported to the inland sea , which was over part of the Martinsburg Shale. A small continent then collided with North America around four hundred million years ago. Geologic pressure resulted, which caused compression and then folding and faulting resulted. The folding ran perpendicular to the directional forces. During folding, intense heat melted silica which cemented the quartz and other stones together. Also

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