Goffle Hill
Encyclopedia
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 County, underlying a mostly suburban setting. While hosting patches of woodlands, perched wetlands, and traprock glades, the hill is largely unprotected from development. Extensive quarrying for trap rock
has obliterated large tracts of the hill in North Haledon
, and Prospect Park
. Conservation efforts seeking to preserve undeveloped land, such as the local Save the Woods initiative (2007–present), are ongoing.
and south of Campgaw Mountain
. West of the ridge is a narrow valley dividing the tall peaks of the Preakness Range
(part of Second and Third Watchung Mountain) from Goffle Hill. The east side of the ridge faces out over a wide, shallow valley extending to the Palisades. Historically, the ridge comprising Goffle Hill was known as Totoway Mountain, with the name Goffle Hill applied to the more prominent southern part of the ridge. Today, the name Goffle Hill is commonly used to describe the entire ridge despite the fact that the northern and southern sections of the ridge are quite different in terms of topography and surficial geology.
, Haledon
, North Haledon
, Hawthorne
and the township of Wyckoff
, running generally north to south. Starting at the Great Falls of the Passaic River
, the southern ridge rises gently to the north, culminating at an elevation of 602 ft40°58′33.81"N 74°10′07.93"W just inside of Hawthorne, near the border with North Haledon and Wyckoff. The summit marks the highest peak of Goffle Hill, though comparable peaks exist in the northern part of the ridge. The southern ridge is distinguished from the northern part of Goffle Hill by the presence of trap rock glades and vertical basalt cliffs which rise abruptly on portions of its eastern flank.
and the boroughs of Franklin Lakes
and a section of Oakland
, exists primarily as a low, broken ridgeline lacking in large precipices and running northwest to southeast. Modern maps show only one named peak on the northern ridge, a small trap rock prominence known as Knob Hill41°00′30.29"N 74°12′39.92"W which attains an elevation of 518 ft (157.9 m). This peak, which is located just north of Summit Ave in Franklin Lakes, marks the only significant trap rock found at the surface of the northern ridge. In addition to Knob Hill, five other unnamed peaks reach an elevation over five hundred feet, with the highest summit on the northern ridge reaching an elevation of 584 ft41°00′19.96"N 74°12′22.45"W in Franklin Lakes.
, whose language the ridge’s historical name, Totoway Mountain, is derived from. Totoway, or the more contemporary Totowa, means ‘the falls between river and mountain’. The term was used to describe the Great Falls of the Passaic River
, which spill over a notch in the ridge of First Watchung Mountain. Europeans later applied the name to the section of ridge north of the falls.
The ridge’s modern name, Goffle Hill, is derived from the Dutch. Goffle is a corruption of the word gaffel, which means ‘fork’, referring to the fact that Goffle Hill stood at a fork in a prominent Lenape trail. For a time, Goffle Hill was also known as Wagaraw Mountain. Wagaraw was a Lenape term, meaning ‘low country at the bend of the river’ –the north bend of the Passaic River.
It is fitting that the ridge’s Lenape names are derived from terms involving the Passaic River. Lenape camps have been discovered mostly along the banks of the river’s tributaries at the foot of the hill. Originally, these streams served as a vital freshwater and fishing source. Later, with the arrival of Europeans, the hill’s streams powered mills, aiding in the settlement and farming of the northern Passaic River valley. Trap rock and sandstone (freestone) quarrying on the hill served the building boom that occurred in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
During the American Revolutionary War
, the hill, as with the rest of the Watchungs, served as a lookout. In 1780, General Lafayette’s light infantry were stationed on the eastern flank of the hill. Lafayette’s headquarters were situated at the foot of the hill in what is presently Goffle Brook Park
in Hawthorne.
The northern part of Goffle Hill, except in a few locations, is buried under a mantle of glacially derived sediments and sandstone, greatly reducing its topographic prominence. The southern part of the ridge displays a significant amount of trap rock, though some underlying red sandstone reaches up to the ridgeline halfway along the border of North Haledon and Hawthorne where quarrying has stripped away overlying trap rock. The majority of exposed trap rock occurs along high mural precipices facing to the east.
Exposures of hornfels
on Goffle Hill are limited, but they occur readily in at least one location. Along the Hawthorne-North Haledon border a contact can be seen between adjacent sandstone and basalt. This contact reveals the presence of indurated red sandstone that has been baked into a grey hornfels by the heat of the First Watchung lava flow.
, redcedar
and chestnut
were the most abundant trees on Goffle Hill. Today, chestnuts have been eliminated by the accidental importation of chestnut blight
in the early twentieth century. Redcedar, which was cited as the most prevalent tree on the ridge in 1894, a pioneering tree of secondary forest
, can be found only in a few isolated clusters along the southern ridgeline.
A few trap rock glades continue to exist on Goffle Hill, though development is slowly reducing their numbers. The majority of the remaining trap rock glades straddle the ridgeline of Goffle Hill along the border of North Haledon
and Hawthorne
. Residential development has been hindered somewhat at the ridgeline due to the presence of high, vertical basalt cliffs. However, quarrying has removed a considerable section of trap rock glade in this area.
Perched wetlands are scattered along the ridge. One of the larger wetlands contains Goffle Pond, which feeds a headstream of Goffle Brook
. Other significant wetlands help feed Molly Ann Brook
and Deep Voll Brook
.
As of 2009, Goffle Hill contains no preserved land. Only one park, Hofstra Park, a municipal recreation facility maintained by Prospect Park
, exists wholly on Goffle Hill. Goffle Brook Park
, maintained by Passaic County, sits on the foot of the hill, partly overlapping the lowest part of the eastern flank.
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...
on the western edge 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:...
in northern New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
. The hill straddles part of the border of Bergen County and Passaic County, underlying a mostly suburban setting. While hosting patches of woodlands, perched wetlands, and traprock glades, the hill is largely unprotected from development. Extensive quarrying for trap rock
Trap rock
Trap rock is a form of igneous rock that tends to form polygonal vertical fractures, most typically hexagonal, but also four to eight sided. The fracture pattern forms when magma of suitable chemical composition intrudes as a sill or extrudes as a thick lava flow, and slowly cools.Because of the...
has obliterated large tracts of the hill in North Haledon
North Haledon, New Jersey
As of the census of 2000, there were 7,920 people, 2,626 households, and 2,077 families residing in the borough. The population density was 2,300.6 people per square mile . There were 2,675 housing units at an average density of 777.0 per square mile...
, and Prospect Park
Prospect Park, New Jersey
Prospect Park is a borough in Passaic County, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2000 Census, the borough population was 5,779....
. Conservation efforts seeking to preserve undeveloped land, such as the local Save the Woods initiative (2007–present), are ongoing.
Geography
Goffle Hill generally refers to the ridge of First Watchung Mountain north of the Passaic RiverPassaic River
The Passaic River is a mature surface river, approximately 80 mi long, in northern New Jersey in the United States. The river in its upper course flows in a highly circuitous route, meandering through the swamp lowlands between the ridge hills of rural and suburban northern New Jersey,...
and south of Campgaw Mountain
Campgaw Mountain
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...
. West of the ridge is a narrow valley dividing the tall peaks of 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...
(part of Second and Third Watchung Mountain) from Goffle Hill. The east side of the ridge faces out over a wide, shallow valley extending to the Palisades. Historically, the ridge comprising Goffle Hill was known as Totoway Mountain, with the name Goffle Hill applied to the more prominent southern part of the ridge. Today, the name Goffle Hill is commonly used to describe the entire ridge despite the fact that the northern and southern sections of the ridge are quite different in terms of topography and surficial geology.
Southern Ridge
The southern ridge traverses the boroughs of Prospect ParkProspect Park, New Jersey
Prospect Park is a borough in Passaic County, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2000 Census, the borough population was 5,779....
, Haledon
Haledon, New Jersey
Haledon is a borough in Passaic County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough population was 8,318.Haledon was incorporated as a borough by an Act of the New Jersey Legislature on April 8, 1908, replacing the now-defunct Manchester Township, based on the...
, North Haledon
North Haledon, New Jersey
As of the census of 2000, there were 7,920 people, 2,626 households, and 2,077 families residing in the borough. The population density was 2,300.6 people per square mile . There were 2,675 housing units at an average density of 777.0 per square mile...
, Hawthorne
Hawthorne, New Jersey
Hawthorne is a borough in Passaic County, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2000 Census, the borough population was 18,218.Hawthorne was originally part of the now-defunct Manchester Township, which was later subdivided to create Hawthorne, Haledon, North Haledon, Prospect Park,...
and the township of Wyckoff
Wyckoff, New Jersey
Wyckoff is a township in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township population was 16,696. As of the 2000 Census, Wyckoff ranked 54th in 100 highest-income places in the United States...
, running generally north to south. Starting at the Great Falls of the Passaic River
Great Falls (Passaic River)
The Great Falls of the Passaic River is a prominent waterfall, high, on the Passaic River in the city of Paterson in Passaic County in northern New Jersey in the United States. The Congress authorized its establishment as a National Historical Park in 2009...
, the southern ridge rises gently to the north, culminating at an elevation of 602 ft40°58′33.81"N 74°10′07.93"W just inside of Hawthorne, near the border with North Haledon and Wyckoff. The summit marks the highest peak of Goffle Hill, though comparable peaks exist in the northern part of the ridge. The southern ridge is distinguished from the northern part of Goffle Hill by the presence of trap rock glades and vertical basalt cliffs which rise abruptly on portions of its eastern flank.
Northern Ridge
The northern part of Goffle Hill, underlying the area of SicomacSicomac
Sicomac is an area in Wyckoff, New Jersey.The first known human inhabitants of the area were the Lenni Lenape Native Americans who lived north of the Raritan River and spoke a Munsee dialect of Algonquian...
and the boroughs of Franklin Lakes
Franklin Lakes, New Jersey
Franklin Lakes is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 census, the borough population was 10,590. As of the 2000 Census, Franklin Lakes had the 18th-highest per-capita income of all 566 municipalities in the state. Nationwide, Franklin Lakes ranked 17th among the...
and a section of Oakland
Oakland, New Jersey
Oakland is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough population was 12,754.Oakland was incorporated as a borough by an Act of the New Jersey Legislature on April 8, 1902, from portions of Franklin Township.-History:The Van Allen House...
, exists primarily as a low, broken ridgeline lacking in large precipices and running northwest to southeast. Modern maps show only one named peak on the northern ridge, a small trap rock prominence known as Knob Hill41°00′30.29"N 74°12′39.92"W which attains an elevation of 518 ft (157.9 m). This peak, which is located just north of Summit Ave in Franklin Lakes, marks the only significant trap rock found at the surface of the northern ridge. In addition to Knob Hill, five other unnamed peaks reach an elevation over five hundred feet, with the highest summit on the northern ridge reaching an elevation of 584 ft41°00′19.96"N 74°12′22.45"W in Franklin Lakes.
History
Goffle Hill was first inhabited by the 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...
, whose language the ridge’s historical name, Totoway Mountain, is derived from. Totoway, or the more contemporary Totowa, means ‘the falls between river and mountain’. The term was used to describe the Great Falls of the Passaic River
Great Falls of the Passaic River
The Great Falls of the Passaic River is a prominent waterfall, high, on the Passaic River in the city of Paterson in Passaic County in northern New Jersey in the United States. The Congress authorized its establishment as a National Historical Park in 2009...
, which spill over a notch in the ridge of First Watchung Mountain. Europeans later applied the name to the section of ridge north of the falls.
The ridge’s modern name, Goffle Hill, is derived from the Dutch. Goffle is a corruption of the word gaffel, which means ‘fork’, referring to the fact that Goffle Hill stood at a fork in a prominent Lenape trail. For a time, Goffle Hill was also known as Wagaraw Mountain. Wagaraw was a Lenape term, meaning ‘low country at the bend of the river’ –the north bend of the Passaic River.
It is fitting that the ridge’s Lenape names are derived from terms involving the Passaic River. Lenape camps have been discovered mostly along the banks of the river’s tributaries at the foot of the hill. Originally, these streams served as a vital freshwater and fishing source. Later, with the arrival of Europeans, the hill’s streams powered mills, aiding in the settlement and farming of the northern Passaic River valley. Trap rock and sandstone (freestone) quarrying on the hill served the building boom that occurred in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
During the American Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
, the hill, as with the rest of the Watchungs, served as a lookout. In 1780, General Lafayette’s light infantry were stationed on the eastern flank of the hill. Lafayette’s headquarters were situated at the foot of the hill in what is presently Goffle Brook Park
Goffle Brook Park
Goffle Brook Park is a public, county park spanning much of the length of Goffle Brook through the borough of Hawthorne in Passaic County, New Jersey...
in Hawthorne.
Geology
Goffle Hill formed as molten rock extruded onto the surface 185 million years ago. At that time the range 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 range was elevated as erosion removed the sandstone and shale surrounding the basalt lava flows of Goffle Hill.The northern part of Goffle Hill, except in a few locations, is buried under a mantle of glacially derived sediments and sandstone, greatly reducing its topographic prominence. The southern part of the ridge displays a significant amount of trap rock, though some underlying red sandstone reaches up to the ridgeline halfway along the border of North Haledon and Hawthorne where quarrying has stripped away overlying trap rock. The majority of exposed trap rock occurs along high mural precipices facing to the east.
Exposures of hornfels
Hornfels
Hornfels is the group designation for a series of contact metamorphic rocks that have been baked and indurated by the heat of intrusive igneous masses and have been rendered...
on Goffle Hill are limited, but they occur readily in at least one location. Along the Hawthorne-North Haledon border a contact can be seen between adjacent sandstone and basalt. This contact reveals the presence of indurated red sandstone that has been baked into a grey hornfels by the heat of the First Watchung lava flow.
Ecology
The native forests of Goffle Hill have been devastated by suburbanization and disease. An 1894 New Jersey forestry report indicated that, in addition to oakOak
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...
, 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...
and 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...
were the most abundant trees on Goffle Hill. 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, which was cited as the most prevalent tree on the ridge in 1894, a pioneering tree of secondary forest
Secondary forest
A secondary forest is a forest or woodland area which has re-grown after a major disturbance such as fire, insect infestation, timber harvest or windthrow, until a long enough period has passed so that the effects of the disturbance are no longer evident...
, can be found only in a few isolated clusters along the southern ridgeline.
A few trap rock glades continue to exist on Goffle Hill, though development is slowly reducing their numbers. The majority of the remaining trap rock glades straddle the ridgeline of Goffle Hill along the border of North Haledon
North Haledon, New Jersey
As of the census of 2000, there were 7,920 people, 2,626 households, and 2,077 families residing in the borough. The population density was 2,300.6 people per square mile . There were 2,675 housing units at an average density of 777.0 per square mile...
and Hawthorne
Hawthorne, New Jersey
Hawthorne is a borough in Passaic County, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2000 Census, the borough population was 18,218.Hawthorne was originally part of the now-defunct Manchester Township, which was later subdivided to create Hawthorne, Haledon, North Haledon, Prospect Park,...
. Residential development has been hindered somewhat at the ridgeline due to the presence of high, vertical basalt cliffs. However, quarrying has removed a considerable section of trap rock glade in this area.
Perched wetlands are scattered along the ridge. One of the larger wetlands contains Goffle Pond, which feeds a headstream of Goffle Brook
Goffle Brook
Goffle Brook is a tributary of the Passaic River which flows south through a section of Passaic County and Bergen County in New Jersey and drains the eastern side of the First Watchung Mountain...
. Other significant wetlands help feed Molly Ann Brook
Molly Ann Brook
Molly Ann Brook is a tributary of the Passaic River which flows south between the northern ranges of First Watchung Mountain and Second Watchung Mountain in Passaic County and Bergen County, New Jersey...
and Deep Voll Brook
Deep Voll Brook
Deep Voll Brook, also known as Deep Brook , is a tributary of Goffle Brook and part of the Passaic River watershed. The brook drains part of the eastern flank of First Watchung Mountain, cutting through portions of Bergen and Passaic county in New Jersey...
.
Conservation
Development along Goffle Hill has accelerated in recent years, with new homes and backyards being built atop former trap rock glades and forests. As the ridgeline of the mountain has become increasingly suburbanized, fears have been raised about runoff and the continued destruction of what could be preserved in the public interest. Currently, locals in Hawthorne in Wyckoff have formed an initiative known as Save the Woods, which is seeking to preserve 19 acres (76,890.3 m²) of woodlands soon to be developed. Other initiatives to stop a townhouse development in Hawthorne and a residential development Wyckoff have failed. It is thought that these developments have since led to an increase in local flooding.As of 2009, Goffle Hill contains no preserved land. Only one park, Hofstra Park, a municipal recreation facility maintained by Prospect Park
Prospect Park, New Jersey
Prospect Park is a borough in Passaic County, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2000 Census, the borough population was 5,779....
, exists wholly on Goffle Hill. Goffle Brook Park
Goffle Brook Park
Goffle Brook Park is a public, county park spanning much of the length of Goffle Brook through the borough of Hawthorne in Passaic County, New Jersey...
, maintained by Passaic County, sits on the foot of the hill, partly overlapping the lowest part of the eastern flank.
Recreation
From north to south,- High Mountain Golf Club
- Goffle Brook ParkGoffle Brook ParkGoffle Brook Park is a public, county park spanning much of the length of Goffle Brook through the borough of Hawthorne in Passaic County, New Jersey...
- Hofstra Park