Kittatinny Mountain (Lenape: Kitahtëne) is a long ridge traversing primarily Sussex County in northwestern New Jersey, running in a northeast–southwest axis, a continuation across the Delaware Water Gap of Pennsylvania's Blue Mountain (also known as Kittatinny Ridge). It is the first major ridge in the far northeastern extension of the Ridge and Valley province of the Appalachian Mountains, and reaches its highest elevation (the state's highest), 1,803 feet, at High Point in Montague Township. Kittatinny Mountain forms the eastern side of Wallpack Valley; the western side comprises the Wallpack Ridge (highest elevation: above sea level.

Protected areas

Most of the range is publicly owned and protected. In the far northeast, High Point State Park protects the area around High Point itself. Further southwest, Stokes State Forest encompasses much of the range from the southern boundary of High Point State Park to the eastern boundary of the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area. The recreation area encompasses the entire southern half of the range, and also contains the smaller Worthington State Forest, which also protects the southwestern end of the range near the Delaware Water Gap itself.

Geology

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thumb|Kittatinny Mountain cross section

The name Kittatinny comes from a Lenape Native American word meaning "endless hill" or "great mountain".

This mine is located in the Silurian High Falls Formation on the west side of the mountain. This sandstone is very hard and made mining very difficult. The copper was between 2 and 3 percent in the ore which made mining unprofitable. Mining was done in the 1800s, by various companies which went bankrupt. The mine sold several times.

Silver mining began in the 1880s with John Snook digging a mine at the northern end and western face of the Kittatinny mountain in an area now known as Stokes State Forest. He extracted silver ore for a short time and the silver ore was depleted. The mine is now flooded with water.

thumb|300px|right|Map of the "Sedimentary Appalachians" Province in the [[New York Bight region including the Valley and Ridge Province and the Allegheny Plateau and the Catskill Mountains]]

Kittatinny and Flatbrook Valleys

To the east of the Kittatinny Mountain, is the Kittatinny Valley. This is drained by the Paulinskill river in the south and the Wallkill River in the north. The Big Flatbrook drains the mountain on the northwestern end beginning at Steam mill swamp and flows in a southwesterly direction which drains into the Delaware River near Flatbrookville. This area is known as the Flatbrook Valley.

The Port Jervis trough is at the northwestern end of the mountain.

The Delaware River flows near the mountain at the south end, finally cutting across the ridge at the Delaware Water Gap just south of Mount Tammany.

The Kittatinnies are a far northeastern extension of the Ridge and Valley province of the Appalachian Mountains. In Pennsylvania, the ridge forming the Kittatinnies becomes known as Blue Mountain and runs southwest for , nearly to Maryland. In Franklin County, Pennsylvania, however, a parallel ridge to Blue Mountain is named "Kittatinny Mountain"; the Pennsylvania Turnpike tunnels through both ridges (a very short distance apart) with the western tunnel named "Kittatinny Mountain" and the eastern one "Blue Mountain." To the north in New York, the ridge is known as the Shawangunk Mountains which goes to Kingston, New York.

See also

  • Kittatinny Formation
  • Wallpack Ridge
  • Mount Tammany Fire Road

References

  • USGS.gov: Delaware River Valley and Kittatinny Mountain Region