High Point State Park

High Point State Park NJ and the Monument on the Ridge

The obelisk went up between 1928 and 1930, and at 1,803 feet above sea level it still marks the highest ground in New Jersey. High Point State Park NJ was the state’s first park, dedicated in 1923 after Colonel Anthony R. Kuser and his wife Susie Dryden Kuser turned over their mountaintop property. The Olmsted Brothers of Boston, sons of the man who laid out Central Park, designed the grounds. Much of the stonework you walk past was set by Civilian Conservation Corps crews in the 1930s.

The monument honors New Jersey veterans of all wars. It is faced with New Hampshire granite and local quartzite, and 291 stairs run up the inside to the observation level, where the Pocono Mountains sit to the west, the Catskills to the north, and the Wallkill River Valley rolls out southeast. The interior opens seasonally and only when staffing allows, so call ahead. Only the first floor is accessible.

Trails, Lakes, and the Cedar Swamp

More than 50 miles of trail run through the park, and the Appalachian Trail crosses the ridge here on its way north toward the Delaware. The Monument Trail Loop is the one most people do: roughly 3.4 miles with about 515 feet of gain, and a wooden observation deck partway around that frames the obelisk beautifully in October. If you want something flatter, walk the shoreline path at Lake Marcia, a 20-acre glacial lake perched at about 1,570 feet with a beach, bathhouse, and seasonal concession.

Cedar Swamp Trail

The Dryden Kuser Natural Area was New Jersey’s first designated natural area, and its Atlantic white cedar bog sits around 1,500 feet, unusually high for that habitat. An easy 2.5-mile loop circles it, with numbered posts keyed to an interpretive guide available at the park office. Birders come for cerulean warblers in spring and Cooper’s hawks in winter.

Camping, Fees, and Getting There

Sawmill Lake Campground holds about 50 tent and trailer sites on the south side of Route 23, and two furnished cabins sit at Steenykill Lake. Sawmill and Steenykill are both stocked and open to electric-motor boats. Entrance fees are charged per vehicle only from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day, which makes a crisp October Saturday one of the best-value days of the year up here. Winter brings cross-country skiing, ice fishing, and a very quiet ridge, and the hiking trails across Sussex County stay open right through it. Stokes State Forest is fifteen minutes south if you want to make a full day of it.