The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-07-19
A WILDERNESS NEAR THE CITY.
CHARMS or THE HINTERLAND OF
THE HUDSON HIGHLANDS.
Nature still Reigns There. Only Fifty Miles
From New fOrk-IlttIe known beali"
ties of Its Lakes, Forests and Noun
tains--HOme OF Primitive Race.

Of the wilder ana more ruBSeu IeBiohS
of this State the most accessible from the
metropolis is what may be termed the
hinterland of the Hudson Highlands.
Strangely enough this region has long re-
NAMED unknown to the large majority
of New Workers. who enjoy frequent summer
outings into the country.
This Highland region is bounded by
rough triangle whose apex is in New Jersey
lust beyond the Ramapo Pass and whose
base is the Hudson between Cornwall ana
Jones Point. II contains about forty
mountain lakes within radius OF ten miles,
and an almost unbroken forest covering.
Hedged in though it is by such places as
the United States Military Academy at
West Point, Tuxedo Park, many large
estates, and string OF popular summer
resorts the Highland country has thus
far remained unspoiled One can easily
get lost in it's woods The visitor can
climb its hills and look over wide stretches
of more hills; and he can walk all day in
one direction without crossing any high
way better than a woods road.
Many interesting days trips may be
taken into the interior west Of the river,
entering the mount aims from Fort Mont
gomery, West Point OF Cornwall or from
any of the Erie railroad stations between
Ramapo and Mountainville. There is
as yet no accurate map of the country,
although the United States Geological
Survey is about to publish the results OF
its work there. The completion Of the
map has been delayed long after the sur
rounding districts had been plotted, on
account OF the impossibility Of rapid work
in so rough section.
A good county map will give the ex-
plorer a fair idea of the main roads, which
mostly follow the mountain cloves, but
many of the crossroads have become over
| grown and in few cases they have become
almost oblterated by the forest growth.
The timber throughout this region aver
ages about fifty years old, with newer wood
| in scattered tracts, and several stretches OF
| virgin timber One of the last is on Gro
Nest, on the West Point reservation.
Another is beyond the Ramapo, and here,
| in wonderfully wild country, there lives
| a primitive race descended from the Indians
and negro slaves who escaped before the
Revolution. These people have intermar
,, ried again and again, and among them are
! a number of almost pure abinos.
They live almost entirely on the pro-
ceeds of berries and small game, and the
sale of baskets, which they make them
selves. They are shy and suspicious of
! strangers, and seldom come down into the
towns.
OF the lakes Que of the most interesting Is
Popolo Lake, two miles long, with many
| points and islands and unusually pictur-
esoue hills. II is about 700 feet above the
sea level, and its scenery resembles that
of the higher Adirondacks. At its head
| a mountain stream enters the lake under
natural bridge, over which passes an old
road.
Well UP on the side of North Mountain,
! which rises from the western bank and
! from which one can see eight lakes, lies
Wood Lake. Three miles to the eastward
| there is a similar placing Of lakes, where
Long and Round ponds, distant from
each other only few hundred yards, have
a difference in elev alton of about five
| hundred feet with a precipitous cliff be-
tween. Viewed from the side of the noun
: tain they look Ike silver balance scales
| Further west again is string of half n
| dozen lakes. each surrounded by its wooded
! hills Of the more solitary lakes unqrles
| tionably the most charming 10 Sutherland
! Pond
! Living under the shadow of Mount Roscal
and Black Rock in one Of the most secluded
! parts of the range. reached only after
an hours hard walking and climbing
| over wild trails. One needs guide TO find
it, but the climber, as he scrambles down
| the face of the mountain. and looks out on
the lake from the fine Cliff which rises from
! its shore, will feel himself we'll repaid for his
| labor Sut herland Pond is almost hidden
among the hills which enclose it, and the
explorer who stumbles upon it will have
70 build raft if he wants to take sail,
| for there is no boat there.
Two miles from Sutherland Pond liz one
| of the series of ascending rock formations
| peculiar TO the Highlands, upon the face
of which is an Old Man Of the Mountain
! which will become famous when the country
is better known. 1t can be seen for miles,
hanging sheer above the tree tops several
hundred feet below it.
This point is typical of many others in
the Highlands and comma nds one of the
! finest views to be had, being almost the
! highest point in the range. The High
| land peaks along the river seem far below
| il. The sweep Of the vision here is a circle
of nearly 100 miles in diameter.
On the north one can see the Catskills,
| fifty miles distant; on the east the green
! hills Of Connecticut and Mount Everett in
| Massachusetts, on the south the upper
/ extension of the Hackensack meadows,
| and on the west Mount Adam and Mount
hills about Port Jervis, so that the gaze
rests on five States.
| But the finest views are in the foreground,
over the forests and lakes which make this
country seem like n smaller edition OF the
| North Woods. 1t has the rock MOSES and
precipices of the Adirondacks rather than
| the comparatively gentle slopes Of the
| Catskills, carrying far inland the stern
character Of the southern sides OF Storm
| King, Gro Nest and the other river hills.
Indeed, the Highlands are. geologically.
! related TO the Adirondacks. and scientists
| tell us that tho two regions were among
| the first parts of the North American CONT
| nent to rise above the waters
There is much of human interest, too,
in these hills, for all their wildness. In
! Papolo Glove, far depressed below Bear
| Mountain. are the Forest Of Dean iron
mines. temporarily oiu,cd, which extend
| 1900 feet into the magnetic ore bed, and
| burrow nearly a thousand feet below the
! surface, They have been worked almost CON
tinuo,lSly since l7f0, and ore for one Of the
Revolutionary cha ms which obstructed the
/ Hudson was taken from here and carried
| on donkey back over the range to Deacon
now called the Moodna, at Cornwall
just outside the Highland triangle, too,
| is the Sterling mine. Of still earlier begin
ming, and at Greenwood, now Arden, are
the ruined furnaces which smelted ore
taken from Highland mines, and used
= to form the famous PARROT cannon of the
! civil war.
| All through these mountains, in some
| of the widest glens, one is continually
! discovering the water-filIed shafts of old
| mines, for there were once dreams of