Campgaw Mountain
Encyclopedia
Campgaw Mountain is the northernmost ridge of the volcanically formed Watchung Mountains
, straddling the border of Franklin Lakes, Oakland, and Mahwah in Bergen County, New Jersey
. Located almost entirely within the bounds of Campgaw Mountain Reservation
, the mountain offers numerous outdoor recreational opportunities, including the only ski slope in the Watchungs. Campgaw Mountain is commonly considered to be part of the greater Ramapo Mountains
region, but the flora and geology of the mountain is quite different from the surrounding area and more closely resembles the nearby Preakness Range
to the south.
and Goffle Hill
ranges of the Watchungs to the south, somewhat isolating the ridge from the rest of the Watchung Mountains despite contiguous geology below the surface. In the north, the mountain terminates at the Ramapo Fault
, the western border of the Newark Basin
. Campgaw Mountain also marks the eastern edge of the Ramapo River Valley, forming a sizable basin between itself and the Ramapo Mountains.
An unusual trait of Campgaw Mountain is that it is composed of the ridges of both First and Second Watchung Mountain. Fyke Brook, a tributary of the Ramapo River, divides the two ridges, running northwest through a narrow valley along the northeastern corner of the mountain. Second Watchung Mountain comprises the majority of Campgaw Mountain at the surface.
. Evidence of the Lenape presence around Campgaw can be found in a former village that existed on the north side of the mountain, along the south bank of the Ramapo River
. Reflecting on this Native American heritage, the mountain is named for a Lenape chief, Kum-Kow, with the name Campgaw being a modern variation of the original spelling. Taken literally, the syllables in the name Kum-Kow probably translate to goose-hedgehog.
An historical account from 1834 indicates that Campgaw Mountain’s summits were once under extensive cultivation. This would seem to explain the numerous stone walls, apparently former property boundaries, running through the woods along the mountain. Another historical work from 1894 detailing New Jersey’s forests shows that Campgaw Mountain was covered by a nearly unbroken expanse of chestnut
, oak
, and redcedar
, indicating that cultivation along the ridgeline may have declined by that time. Campgaw Mountain was essentially wilderness in 1960 when property on the ridge was taken by the Bergen County Park Commission to create Campgaw Mountain Reservation
. The park, which opened in June 1961, forced many of the Ramapough Mountain Indians
inhabiting Campgaw Mountain and the surrounding area off their land.
In addition to the development of the park, Campgaw Mountain saw the construction of a Nike missile base during the height of the Cold War
. Installed on the mountain between 1955 and 1971, the base’s missiles served to guard New York City’s air space, standing by to intercept nuclear armed Soviet bombers. The facility was ultimately abandoned with the advent of intercontinental ballistic missiles.
The main ridge of the mountain is primarily composed of Preakness Basalt, being an extension of Second Watchung Mountain, but the northeast corner of the mountain is composed of Orange Mountain Basalt, as the ridge of First Watchung Mountain emerges from surrounding glacial sediments along the north side of main ridge. The combined ridges of First and Second Watchung Mountain make a slight turn to the west before terminating at the Ramapo Fault
, marking the northernmost limit of the Watchung
Mountains.
Campgaw Mountain appears somewhat detached from the rest of the Watchungs because it occupies a local syncline
(downfold) that is itself somewhat detached from the main Watchung syncline by an intervening anticline
(upfold). The effect of this is that, when traveling north from the Preakness Range
and Goffle Hill
, the ridges of First and Second Watchung Mountain seem to slowly dip back into the Earth before reemerging again as Campgaw Mountain. Despite the apparent gap at the surface, Campgaw Mountain is firmly linked to the rest of the Watchungs by the continuity of the ridges through the anticline.
, features a unique ecosystem in relation to the surrounding area. In fact, according to the U.S. EPA, Campgaw Mountain is in a level III and IV ecoregion that is completely different from the Ramapo Mountains. Specifically, Campgaw Mountain’s ecology is defined by its status as a level IV trap rock and conglomerate upland (ecoregion 64b), similar to the nearby Preakness Range
. Features of this ecoregion include thin, well drained soils and oak forests. Hemlock forests on northern facing slopes are also common to this ecoregion, and these are characteristically present along the northeastern slope of Campgaw Mountain.
In addition to oak, chestnut
and redcedar
were historically prominent on Campgaw Mountain. Today, chestnuts have been eliminated by the accidental importation of chestnut blight
in the early twentieth century. Redcedar, however, is still abundant along the ridgeline, unlike on nearby Goffle Hill
, where the tree has been all but extirpated, and in the Preakness Range
, where redcedar has become rare.
Watchung Mountains
The Watchung Mountains are a group of three long low ridges of volcanic origin, between 400 ft. and 500 ft. high, lying parallel to each other in northern New Jersey in the United States...
, straddling the border of Franklin Lakes, Oakland, and Mahwah in Bergen County, New Jersey
Bergen County, New Jersey
Bergen County is the most populous county of the state of New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, its population was 905,116. The county is part of the New York City Metropolitan Area. Its county seat is Hackensack...
. Located almost entirely within the bounds of Campgaw Mountain Reservation
Campgaw Mountain Reservation
Campgaw Mountain Reservation is a 1351 acre county park of Bergen County, New Jersey. It is located mostly within Mahwah, but includes some areas of Oakland and Franklin Lakes. The park includes a ski area and the peak of Campgaw Mountain at a elevation.The ski area has two 2-person chairlifts...
, the mountain offers numerous outdoor recreational opportunities, including the only ski slope in the Watchungs. Campgaw Mountain is commonly considered to be part of the greater Ramapo Mountains
Ramapo Mountains
The Ramapo Mountains are a forested chain of the Appalachian mountains in northeastern New Jersey and southeastern New York in the United States...
region, but the flora and geology of the mountain is quite different from the surrounding area and more closely resembles the nearby Preakness Range
Preakness Range
The Preakness Range is a range of the trap rock Watchung Mountains on the western edge of the Newark Basin in northern New Jersey. A large portion of this range is included in High Mountain Park Preserve, offering miles of hiking trails with vistas overlooking New Jersey and New York City...
to the south.
Geography
Campgaw Mountain extends for three miles approximately north to south along the border of Franklin Lakes, Oakland, and Mahwah. The peak of the mountain rises to 752 feet (229 meters) in Mahwah, becoming the fourth highest peak of Watchungs, though the height of the mountain as measured from its base is generally less than 400 feet (122 meters). A shallow gap exists between Campgaw Mountain and the PreaknessPreakness Range
The Preakness Range is a range of the trap rock Watchung Mountains on the western edge of the Newark Basin in northern New Jersey. A large portion of this range is included in High Mountain Park Preserve, offering miles of hiking trails with vistas overlooking New Jersey and New York City...
and Goffle Hill
Goffle Hill
Goffle Hill, also referred to as Goffle Mountain and historically known as Totoway Mountain and Wagaraw Mountain, is a range of the trap rock Watchung Mountains on the western edge of the Newark Basin in northern New Jersey. The hill straddles part of the border of Bergen County and Passaic...
ranges of the Watchungs to the south, somewhat isolating the ridge from the rest of the Watchung Mountains despite contiguous geology below the surface. In the north, the mountain terminates at the Ramapo Fault
Ramapo Fault
The Ramapo Fault zone, spanning more than 185 miles in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, is a system of faults between the northern Appalachian Mountains and Piedmont areas to the east. This fault is perhaps the best known fault zone in the Mid-Atlantic region, and some small earthquakes...
, the western border of the Newark Basin
Newark Basin
The Newark Basin is a sediment-filled rift basin located mainly in northern New Jersey but also stretching into south-eastern Pennsylvania and southern New York. It is part of the system of Eastern North America Rift Basins.-Geology:...
. Campgaw Mountain also marks the eastern edge of the Ramapo River Valley, forming a sizable basin between itself and the Ramapo Mountains.
An unusual trait of Campgaw Mountain is that it is composed of the ridges of both First and Second Watchung Mountain. Fyke Brook, a tributary of the Ramapo River, divides the two ridges, running northwest through a narrow valley along the northeastern corner of the mountain. Second Watchung Mountain comprises the majority of Campgaw Mountain at the surface.
History
Before the arrival of Europeans, Campgaw Mountain was inhabited by Munsee (Minsi) LenapeLenape
The Lenape are an Algonquian group of Native Americans of the Northeastern Woodlands. They are also called Delaware Indians. As a result of the American Revolutionary War and later Indian removals from the eastern United States, today the main groups live in Canada, where they are enrolled in the...
. Evidence of the Lenape presence around Campgaw can be found in a former village that existed on the north side of the mountain, along the south bank of the Ramapo River
Ramapo River
The Ramapo River is a tributary of the Pompton River, approximately 30 mi long, in southern New York and northern New Jersey in the United States.-Course:...
. Reflecting on this Native American heritage, the mountain is named for a Lenape chief, Kum-Kow, with the name Campgaw being a modern variation of the original spelling. Taken literally, the syllables in the name Kum-Kow probably translate to goose-hedgehog.
An historical account from 1834 indicates that Campgaw Mountain’s summits were once under extensive cultivation. This would seem to explain the numerous stone walls, apparently former property boundaries, running through the woods along the mountain. Another historical work from 1894 detailing New Jersey’s forests shows that Campgaw Mountain was covered by a nearly unbroken expanse of chestnut
American Chestnut
The American Chestnut is a large, deciduous tree of the beech family native to eastern North America. Before the species was devastated by the chestnut blight, a fungal disease, it was one of the most important forest trees throughout its range...
, oak
Oak
An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus Quercus , of which about 600 species exist. "Oak" may also appear in the names of species in related genera, notably Lithocarpus...
, and redcedar
Juniperus virginiana
Juniperus virginiana is a species of juniper native to eastern North America, from southeastern Canada to the Gulf of Mexico, east of the Great Plains...
, indicating that cultivation along the ridgeline may have declined by that time. Campgaw Mountain was essentially wilderness in 1960 when property on the ridge was taken by the Bergen County Park Commission to create Campgaw Mountain Reservation
Campgaw Mountain Reservation
Campgaw Mountain Reservation is a 1351 acre county park of Bergen County, New Jersey. It is located mostly within Mahwah, but includes some areas of Oakland and Franklin Lakes. The park includes a ski area and the peak of Campgaw Mountain at a elevation.The ski area has two 2-person chairlifts...
. The park, which opened in June 1961, forced many of the Ramapough Mountain Indians
Ramapough Mountain Indians
The Ramapough Mountain Indians, also known as Ramapo Mountain Indians or the Ramapough Lenape Nation, are a group of approximately 5,000 people living around the Ramapo Mountains of northern New Jersey and southern New York. Their tribal office is located on Stag Hill Road on Houvenkopf Mountain in...
inhabiting Campgaw Mountain and the surrounding area off their land.
In addition to the development of the park, Campgaw Mountain saw the construction of a Nike missile base during the height of the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
. Installed on the mountain between 1955 and 1971, the base’s missiles served to guard New York City’s air space, standing by to intercept nuclear armed Soviet bombers. The facility was ultimately abandoned with the advent of intercontinental ballistic missiles.
Geology
Campgaw Mountain formed as molten rock extruded onto the surface 185 million years ago. At that time the mountain occupied the northern section of an active rift valley running through northern and central New Jersey and part of Pennsylvania. After the rift failed in the early Jurassic, the mountain was elevated as erosion removed the sandstone and shale surrounding the basalt lava flows of Campgaw Mountain.The main ridge of the mountain is primarily composed of Preakness Basalt, being an extension of Second Watchung Mountain, but the northeast corner of the mountain is composed of Orange Mountain Basalt, as the ridge of First Watchung Mountain emerges from surrounding glacial sediments along the north side of main ridge. The combined ridges of First and Second Watchung Mountain make a slight turn to the west before terminating at the Ramapo Fault
Ramapo Fault
The Ramapo Fault zone, spanning more than 185 miles in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, is a system of faults between the northern Appalachian Mountains and Piedmont areas to the east. This fault is perhaps the best known fault zone in the Mid-Atlantic region, and some small earthquakes...
, marking the northernmost limit of the Watchung
Mountains.
Campgaw Mountain appears somewhat detached from the rest of the Watchungs because it occupies a local syncline
Syncline
In structural geology, a syncline is a fold, with younger layers closer to the center of the structure. A synclinorium is a large syncline with superimposed smaller folds. Synclines are typically a downward fold, termed a synformal syncline In structural geology, a syncline is a fold, with younger...
(downfold) that is itself somewhat detached from the main Watchung syncline by an intervening anticline
Anticline
In structural geology, an anticline is a fold that is convex up and has its oldest beds at its core. The term is not to be confused with antiform, which is a purely descriptive term for any fold that is convex up. Therefore if age relationships In structural geology, an anticline is a fold that is...
(upfold). The effect of this is that, when traveling north from the Preakness Range
Preakness Range
The Preakness Range is a range of the trap rock Watchung Mountains on the western edge of the Newark Basin in northern New Jersey. A large portion of this range is included in High Mountain Park Preserve, offering miles of hiking trails with vistas overlooking New Jersey and New York City...
and Goffle Hill
Goffle Hill
Goffle Hill, also referred to as Goffle Mountain and historically known as Totoway Mountain and Wagaraw Mountain, is a range of the trap rock Watchung Mountains on the western edge of the Newark Basin in northern New Jersey. The hill straddles part of the border of Bergen County and Passaic...
, the ridges of First and Second Watchung Mountain seem to slowly dip back into the Earth before reemerging again as Campgaw Mountain. Despite the apparent gap at the surface, Campgaw Mountain is firmly linked to the rest of the Watchungs by the continuity of the ridges through the anticline.
Ecology
Campgaw Mountain, while adjacent to the Ramapo MountainsRamapo Mountains
The Ramapo Mountains are a forested chain of the Appalachian mountains in northeastern New Jersey and southeastern New York in the United States...
, features a unique ecosystem in relation to the surrounding area. In fact, according to the U.S. EPA, Campgaw Mountain is in a level III and IV ecoregion that is completely different from the Ramapo Mountains. Specifically, Campgaw Mountain’s ecology is defined by its status as a level IV trap rock and conglomerate upland (ecoregion 64b), similar to the nearby Preakness Range
Preakness Range
The Preakness Range is a range of the trap rock Watchung Mountains on the western edge of the Newark Basin in northern New Jersey. A large portion of this range is included in High Mountain Park Preserve, offering miles of hiking trails with vistas overlooking New Jersey and New York City...
. Features of this ecoregion include thin, well drained soils and oak forests. Hemlock forests on northern facing slopes are also common to this ecoregion, and these are characteristically present along the northeastern slope of Campgaw Mountain.
In addition to oak, chestnut
American Chestnut
The American Chestnut is a large, deciduous tree of the beech family native to eastern North America. Before the species was devastated by the chestnut blight, a fungal disease, it was one of the most important forest trees throughout its range...
and redcedar
Juniperus virginiana
Juniperus virginiana is a species of juniper native to eastern North America, from southeastern Canada to the Gulf of Mexico, east of the Great Plains...
were historically prominent on Campgaw Mountain. Today, chestnuts have been eliminated by the accidental importation of chestnut blight
Chestnut blight
The pathogenic fungus Cryphonectria parasitica is a member of the ascomycota category, and is the main cause of chestnut blight, a devastating disease of the American chestnut tree that caused a mass extinction in the early 1900s of this once plentiful tree from its historic range in the eastern...
in the early twentieth century. Redcedar, however, is still abundant along the ridgeline, unlike on nearby Goffle Hill
Goffle Hill
Goffle Hill, also referred to as Goffle Mountain and historically known as Totoway Mountain and Wagaraw Mountain, is a range of the trap rock Watchung Mountains on the western edge of the Newark Basin in northern New Jersey. The hill straddles part of the border of Bergen County and Passaic...
, where the tree has been all but extirpated, and in the Preakness Range
Preakness Range
The Preakness Range is a range of the trap rock Watchung Mountains on the western edge of the Newark Basin in northern New Jersey. A large portion of this range is included in High Mountain Park Preserve, offering miles of hiking trails with vistas overlooking New Jersey and New York City...
, where redcedar has become rare.
