High Point State Park

What to Expect at High Point State Park

New Jersey tops out here. High Point State Park holds the summit of the Kittatinny Ridge, 1,803 feet above sea level, and the 220-foot obelisk planted on that summit is visible from half of Sussex County. Stand at its base on a clear day and the view runs three states deep: the Poconos to the west, the Catskills to the north, and the checkerboard farms of the Wallkill Valley spread out below. It is the one spot where you can look down on everything else in the state.

The numbers behind the view are just as outsized. The park covers more than 16,000 acres across Wantage and Montague townships in the far northwest corner of New Jersey, with over 50 miles of trails, three named lakes, roughly 18 miles of the Appalachian Trail, and a mountaintop bog that has no business existing at this altitude. You can burn a full day here without seeing most of it, which is exactly why locals keep coming back.

The Climb to the Top

When the monument interior is open, the climb is the thing to do, and it costs nothing extra: entry comes with your park admission. The stairs begin as a spiral with open, grated treads, rise to a landing, then narrow into a closed staircase for the final stretch, 291 steps in all. At the top waits a small stone room with three modest windows set a bit high in the walls: Lake Marcia glitters to the east, the Pennsylvania ridges roll out to the west, and the Kittatinny crest runs south toward the Delaware Water Gap. Fair warning from people who make the climb regularly: the windows are small and the walls are thick, so the sweeping 360-degree panorama actually belongs to the plaza at the monument’s base. Climb it anyway. Counting off all 291 steps inside a granite needle is the kind of thing you only get to do once per state, and this is the only state where the needle marks the top.

A Park Built by Gift and by Hand

In 1923, Colonel Anthony Kuser and his wife Susie Dryden Kuser gave the state nearly 11,000 acres of Kittatinny ridgeline, and the park has grown past 16,000 acres since. The Kusers hired the Olmsted Brothers, the landscape firm run by the sons of Central Park’s designer, to plan the grounds. Then they paid for the crown: an obelisk of New Hampshire granite faced with local quartzite, begun in 1928 and dedicated on June 21, 1930 as the New Jersey Veterans’ Memorial. Climbing its 291 steps became a rite of passage for generations of Sussex County kids, went dark during a long closure starting in 1997, and returned after a $3.6 million restoration finished in 2005. The stairs are open again, seasonally and as staffing permits, so check before you count on the climb.

The rest of the park owes its shape to the Civilian Conservation Corps. From 1933 to 1941, CCC crews stationed at Camp Kuser cut some 25 miles of roads, built two of the lakes, and laid out campgrounds, shelters, and much of the trail system in use today. Pass a stone culvert or an old picnic shelter on your walk and you are likely looking at Depression-era handiwork.

The Kuser Mansion and Its Lost Museum

Not every chapter of the park’s story survives on the ground. The Kusers’ summer home, a Colonial Revival mansion rebuilt from the old High Point Inn, became the park office and a museum after the 1923 gift, and by 1930 it held what was called the second-largest museum collection in New Jersey: Civil War cannons, a Union general’s sword, taxidermied moose and bears, jade and ivory carvings, even shrunken heads. Then the collection scattered. Some pieces were transferred to other state sites, some were destroyed or discarded, and some, including two 1,200-pound bronze cannons, simply vanished, in that case from an unlocked garage. The mansion itself, closed since the late 1970s, was demolished in 1995 after restoration plans stalled. mySussex is digging through the surviving state records and museum inventories to piece together exactly what happened, and we’ll publish the full story when that work is done.

Trails, Water, and Quiet Corners

Monument Trail and the Appalachian Trail

More than 50 miles of trails cross the park, from half-mile strolls to all-day loops. The signature hike is the Monument Trail, which rings the summit ridge with steady three-state views; hikers commonly run it as a 3.8-mile out-and-back or stretch it into loops of 7 miles and more. Roughly 18 miles of the Appalachian Trail pass through on the way north from Stokes State Forest toward the New York line, with rustic trailside shelters for overnight hikers. Designated multi-use routes welcome mountain bikers and horseback riders in the warm months, and snowshoers, skiers, and even dogsledders once the snow flies.

Do not skip the observation platform. Along the Appalachian Trail stretch of the monument loop, a raised wooden deck climbs above the treetops on the ridge south of the summit, and plenty of regulars call its view the best in the park: the Wallkill Valley spreading east, the monument standing to the north, Pennsylvania to the west, and on a sharp, clear day the Catskills and the long profile of Sam’s Point over the New York line. Unlike the monument interior, the platform is out there every day of the year, no schedule to check, and it makes a satisfying consolation summit on days the obelisk stairs are closed.

Lake Marcia and the Cedar Swamp

Lake Marcia sits just below the summit, a spring-fed, 20-acre lake at 1,570 feet whose sandy beach opens for swimming in summer when lifeguards are on duty. Swimming at the top of New Jersey is its own kind of novelty, and on an August weekend the beach earns its crowd. For something stranger and far quieter, walk the 2.5-mile loop through the Dryden Kuser Natural Area, the first designated Natural Area in the state, named for the Kusers’ son, a state senator and devoted birdwatcher. The trail circles an Atlantic white cedar bog perched near 1,500 feet, the highest swamp of its kind known anywhere. A numbered trail guide, available at the park office or interpretive center, matches posts along the route and turns the walk into a self-guided nature lesson.

Steenykill Lake

On the park’s northern edge off Route 23 sits Steenykill Lake, the corner most visitors skip. It has its own boat launch, and paddling its reed-lined water with the monument standing on the ridge above is one of the best cheap thrills in Wantage. From the lakeshore, the blue-dot Steeny Kill Trail climbs about 0.7 miles to meet the Monument Trail, a favorite quieter route to the top.

Camping and the Cold Months

Fifty family campsites line Sawmill Lake from April 1 through October 31, each with a fire ring, a picnic table, and room for a couple of tents; some fit small trailers, and many allow pets. Rates run $20 a night for New Jersey residents and $25 for everyone else, with two group sites holding up to 25 people apiece. Sites book through the state’s camping reservation system, and summer weekends go early.

Winter may be the park’s best-kept secret. The High Point Cross-Country Ski Center grooms a trail network near Lake Marcia (a trail pass applies there from December 1 to April 1), while everything south of Route 23 stays open for winter use without a pass. Entrance is free from Labor Day to Memorial Day weekend, so the off-season, when the haze drops and the crowds thin, costs nothing at all. Leashed pets are welcome on the trails year round, here and across Sussex County’s parks and trails.

---

You’ll find High Point State Park at 1480 State Route 23 in Wantage, open every day of the year from 8am. Call (973) 875-4800 or check the state park service’s High Point page for seasonal gate hours, swimming updates, and monument climbing days before you make the drive.