Mills Reservation is a

county park A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are green spaces set aside for recreation inside towns and cities. N ...

, consisting of a protected wooded area located in Cedar Grove and Montclair,

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. The reservation is maintained by the Essex County Park Commission. The reservation has several walking and jogging trails, including the

Lenape Trail The Lenape Trail is a trail through Essex County, connecting many county parks and reservations, wooded spaces, and historical sites. It begins in Newark, New Jersey and ends in Millburn, New Jersey. It was established in 1982. It is the fifth l ...

, four major trails, and two smaller trails. One of the four main trails leads to a cliff that overlooks the

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

skyline A skyline is the outline or shape viewed near the horizon. It can be created by a city’s overall structure, or by human intervention in a rural setting, or in nature that is formed where the sky meets buildings or the land. City skylines ...

. Mills Reservation is located on the First Watchung Mountain, one of three

Watchung Mountains The Watchung Mountains (once called the Blue Hills) are a group of three long low ridges of volcanic origin, between high, lying parallel to each other in northern New Jersey in the United States. The name is derived from the American Native Lena ...

which are long, low ridges of volcanic origin in northern New Jersey.

Geography

Mills Reservation is located atop First Watchung Mountain in

Montclair, New Jersey Montclair () is a township in Essex County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Situated on the cliffs of the Watchung Mountains, Montclair is a wealthy and diverse commuter town and suburb of New York City within the New York metropolitan area. As ...

and

Cedar Grove, New Jersey Cedar Grove is a township in north central Essex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township's population was 12,411, reflecting an increase of 111 (+0.9%) from the 12,300 counted in the 2000 Census, w ...

. It is a 157.15-acre tract of forest, grassland, and cliffs. Views from Montclair to

Newark Newark most commonly refers to: * Newark, New Jersey, city in the United States * Newark Liberty International Airport, New Jersey; a major air hub in the New York metropolitan area Newark may also refer to: Places Canada * Niagara-on-the ...

, the

Hudson River The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between N ...

, and

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

can be seen from Quarry Point, a 500-foot basalt ledge on a ridge on the south end of the park.

Activities

Activities in Mills Reservation include walking, jogging, hiking, and sightseeing of different plants and animal species, as in all forest parks. However, bike riding is prohibited by the county. The New Jersey Audubon Hawk Watch began in 1959 in Mills Reservation. Montclair Hawk Watch meets at the park during each spring for two months, as many raptors' migratory patterns are directly above the reservation.

Trails

Mills Reservation has a number of walking trails: * The Mills Loop Trail, marked by white blazes, is a complete loop of the park which extends for one and a half miles and is the main walking trail. * The Eastview Trail is slightly over one mile long and goes along the east side of the park, and is designated by blue blazes. It can be accessed by the Normal Avenue parking area or by the Old Quarry Road parking area. * The Woodland Trail is slightly less than one mile long, is marked by purple blazes, and runs down the center of the park. * The Reservoir Trail is one mile long and goes along the west side of the park, and is marked by red blazes. It can be accessed by the Normal Avenue parking area or by the Old Quarry Road parking area. * The

, a 34 mile-long trail which runs through many of Essex County's parks and reservations, goes through Mills Reservation for one-and-a-half miles and is marked by yellow blazes. It begins west of the Normal Avenue parking area and exits in Mountainside Park, and can also be accessed through the Old Quarry Road parking area. * The Lenape Link Trail is a short trail which connects the Normal Avenue parking area and the northern entry of the Lenape Trail into the park, designated by black on yellow blazes. * The Mills Gate Trail is a side loop of the Mills Loop Trail marked by orange blazes.

History

From 1890 to 1918, proprietors Osborne & Marsellis operated a quarry below what is now Quarry Point on the south end of the reservation, using steam power to blast rock from the side of the cliff. In 1952, David and Ella Mills of the Davella Mills Foundation purchased 118 acres of the land in order to preserve it, and donated it to Essex County. The park was designed by the

Olmsted Brothers The Olmsted Brothers company was a landscape architectural firm in the United States, established in 1898 by brothers John Charles Olmsted (1852–1920) and Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. (1870–1957), sons of the landscape architect Frederick Law ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the 13th of many military searchlights across the metropolitan area was installed in Mills Reservation at Quarry Point, overlooking New York City. The searchlight was eventually removed from the spot, leaving a large concrete circle in its place. Earlier the platform may have been the base of a water tower for the steam machinery and fire fighting system of the quarry there of Osborne & Marselis etc. There are also some reports that that cliff-edge location was used as a fire-beacon station in George Washington's communication, and earlier as a smoke-signal point by the Indians.

References

External links

Essex County: Mills ReservationYahoo Local: Mills Reservation County Park
{{Montclair Parks, New Jersey Parks in Essex County, New Jersey County parks in New Jersey Montclair, New Jersey Upper Montclair, New Jersey Watchung Mountains