The Personality of Northwest New Jersey Skylands

“Skylands” is simply a perspective; a way of looking at and appreciating Northwestern New Jersey. “Thinking Skylands” endeavors to meld those characteristics shared by the constituent counties, towns, ridges, valleys, country roads and sections of interstate into a comprehensive portrait; one more attentive to geographic, cultural, and historical attributes than county and municipal borders. Explore the remarkable personality of this place!

Officially, the Skylands Region refers to Northwest New Jersey and includes the counties of Morris, Somerset, Hunterdon, Warren, and Sussex. Destinations just beyond those borders, in neighboring counties and states (Pennsylvania and New York), are equally intriguing and convenient, so don't be confused if you come across some of those here.

The region contains two national parks at its edges, 60,000 acres of state parkland, and a diverse and beautiful geography filled with lakes, rivers and picturesque hills dotted with farms.

The region's rustic nature is perfectly complemented by many vigorous towns and villages that offer wonderful entertainment, shopping and dining opportunities, fine museums, theaters and accommodations.

And there is a year round schedule of festivals, arts & crafts fairs, performance, exhibits, and educational events in New Jersey's Great Northwest.

Think Skylands!

Make it a point to get out and enjoy the pleasures of the season. We’ve collected lots of ideas for you and your family. Some may be obvious, some might surprise you. We hope we’re helpful when you’re planning an afternoon, a weekend, or perhaps a permanent relocation to New Jersey.

Fly Tying

Fishing for trout with flies is like solving a puzzle. The current, the fish, the bugs under the surface and in the air all seem indecipherable. The clues are there however, and the code can sometimes, although by no means always, be broken.

Foggy Mountain Breakdowns

Although there may have been as many as ten plane crashes along the Kittatinny Ridge in Sussex and Warren Counties, few people are aware of them. Due to the very rugged nature of the area's mountainous terrain, some of the wreckages have never been completely salvaged, and pieces still lie there.

Mt. Hope Mines

Ever wonder about all those depressions you see in the woods? Or old woods roads or dug out trenches with mounds of rock or soil around them? What went on around here, anyway?

Schuyler-Hamilton House

Romance ensued between Betsy Schuyler and Alexander Hamilton, as the young, ambitious soldier courted the beautiful socialite in this historic Morristown home during the 1779-80 Revolutionary War encampment.

Art and Fellowship and the Ross Farm

At the western edge of the Great Swamp, less than a mile from downtown Basking Ridge, lies the fifty-acre Boudinot-Southard-Ross Estate—also known today as The Ross Farm. This historic property has been home to several prominent families whose legacies shaped both New Jersey and the nation.

Coyotes: The Life of Wiley

A sharp yip travels across a dark field by Lamington Road. More yips, then howls, then yip-howls follow. People in a nearby lot freeze, car keys in their hands, as the canine version of a devil's fugue increases in tempo. The sound moves west, following a line of woods one hundred yards distant and not nearly distant enough

Hampton's Map

Trace a line of forts that protected New Jersey's northwestern frontier along the Delaware River during the French and Indian war.

Wildlife Management Areas

Guide to Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs) in Northwest New Jersey.

American Revolution Anniversary

General George Washington and the Continental Army spent almost half the American Revolution in this small state.

King of Drakesville

Just off the old, now-vanished, Ledgewood Circle, a stone's throw from the mall, the Drakesville Historic Park pays tribute to Morris County's pedigree of innovative pioneers.

Learning Lenape

For over 12,000 years the Lenape and their ancestors occupied northwestern New Jersey. Who were they? How did they live? What kinds of tools did they make and use? Archaeologists have been trying to answer these questions for over a century.

Morristown National Historical Park

To understand why it's a great story, walk to the top of the hill in Jockey Hollow that held 200 soldier huts in early 1790. Walk up one day in January and imagine staying there until it gets warm enough sometime in April to take off your down jacket.

Branding the Highlands: Who Knew?

The Highlands Council has embarked on a regional branding and tourism promotion effort.

Preserve, Protect, Restore

Friends groups, as we know them in relation to many of our parks and precious historic sites, are surely bound by their commitment to community and stewardship. Always not-for-profit and volunteer driven, with the occasional paid executive director, Friends groups connect people to natural places, as well as to our heritage, while enhancing the role of public lands in local communities.

The Morris Canal Greenway

The Morris Canal Greenway encompasses part of the historic Morris Canal's alignment and is a cooperative effort of the New Jersey Division of Parks and Forestry, the Canal Society of New Jersey, Waterloo Village and Friends of the Morris Canal. As you walk the Greenway you will see the remains of canal features, including inclined planes, locks, canal bed, and historic industries and communities directly related to the Morris Canal's operations.

Watershed Moments

Left to its own devices, every drop of rain that falls in Warren County eventually finds its way to the Delaware River. The route each drop takes is determined by what is known as a watershed, an area of land that drains into a creek, stream, river or lake. The long linear river valleys of the Paulins Kill, Pequest River, Pohatcong Creek, Lopatcong Creek and Musconetcong, which run generally parallel from northeast to southwest, are main channels for flow across the county towards its western border, all part of the larger Delaware River watershed.