Farny Highlands Cluster

Between I-80 and NJ 23 in north central New Jersey lie 35,000 acres of rugged land known as the Farny Highlands.  No other area in north Jersey has the large continuous forests needed to preserve populations of endangered hawks, owls, and increasingly rare songbirds.  Headwater streams flow through the area to reach, ultimately, the Passaic, Delaware, and Hudson river basins.  In the process they not only supply drinking water to one-third of New Jersey residents, but also make the region a waterscape and a forested, mountainous landscape.

Glacial erratics and extensive boulder fields are common.  Relics of the iron mining and smelting industry dot the area

About two-thirds of the area is public open space, including the following parkland:

• Farny State Park,
• Wildcat Ridge Wildlife Management Area
• Mahlon Dickerson Reservation
• Weldon Brook Wildlife Management Area
• Rockaway River Wildlife Management Area
• Pyramid Mountain National Historical Area