page_title: Watchung Mountains
section_title: Recreation
hierarchical_section_title: Watchung Mountains / Recreation
caption_attribution_description: Map of Watchung Reservation, Union County, NJ, USA
context_page_description: The Watchung Mountains are a group of three long low ridges of volcanic origin, between 400 and 500 feet high, lying parallel to each other in northern New Jersey in the United States. The Watchung Mountains are known for their numerous scenic vistas overlooking New York City, Newark and New Jersey skylines, as well as their isolated ecosystems containing rare plants, endangered wildlife, rich minerals, and globally imperiled trap rock glade communities. The ridges traditionally contained the westward spread of urbanization, forming a significant geologic barrier beyond the piedmont west of the Hudson River; the town of Newark, for example, once included lands from the Hudson to the base of the mountains. Later treaties moved the boundary to the top of the mountain, to include the springs. The Watchungs are basalt uplifts, geologically similar to the Palisades along the Hudson river. In many places, however, the mountains have become sinuous islands of natural landscape within the suburban sprawl covering much of contemporary northeastern New Jersey.
context_section_description: Parks and reservations from north to south:
  Campgaw Mountain Reservation, Campgaw Mountain (First and Second Watchung Mountain)
  Franklin Lakes Nature Preserve, Goffle Hill (First Watchung Mountain)
  High Mountain Park Preserve, Preakness Range (Second Watchung Mountain)
  Great Falls State Park Under Development, First Watchung Mountain
  Garret Mountain Reservation, First Watchung Mountain
  Rifle Camp Park, First Watchung Mountain
  Mills Reservation, First Watchung Mountain
  Hilltop Reservation, Second Watchung Mountain
  Eagle Rock Reservation, First Watchung Mountain
  Riker Hill Park, Riker Hill (Third Watchung Mountain)
  Lenape Trail, First, Second, and Third Watchung Mountain
  South Mountain Reservation, First and Second Watchung Mountain
  Watchung Reservation, First and Second Watchung Mountain
  Washington Rock State Park, First Watchung Mountain
  Washington Valley Park, First Watchung Mountain
  Leonard J. Buck Garden/Moggy Hollow Natural Area, Second Watchung Mountain
caption: Map showing details of Watchung Reservation
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