The Navesink Highlands, sometimes referred to as the Highlands of Navesink and also known as the Atlantic Highlands, is a range of low hills and upland areas located along the

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 ...

Atlantic coast in

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 ...

. The hills of the Highlands reach over in elevation,Cook, George H. (''State Geologist''). ''Geology of New Jersey''. Newark, New Jersey: Daily Advertiser, 1868.
Available Online
/ref> reportedly reaching a maximum elevation of at

Crawford Hill Crawford Hill is located in Holmdel Township, New Jersey, United States. It is Monmouth County's highest point, as well as the highest point in New Jersey's coastal plain, standing at least 380 feet (116 m) above sea level. The hill is best kn ...

, which is the highest point in Monmouth County.Facts and Figures
Monmouth County, New Jersey Office of Economic Development. Accessed May 29, 2013. "Elevations: Highest - 391 ft above sea level (Crawford Hill, Holmdel)" The seaward front of the Navesink Highlands constitute the highest

headland A headland, also known as a head, is a coastal landform, a point of land usually high and often with a sheer drop, that extends into a body of water. It is a type of promontory. A headland of considerable size often is called a cape.Whittow, John ...

s along the United States east coast south of

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...

, with the highest point of the headlands reaching an elevation of at

Mount Mitchill Mount Mitchill in Atlantic Highlands, Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States, at , is the highest headland of the United States east coast south of Maine.

Geography

The Navesink Highlands, which stretch west to east along the south shore of Raritan Bay (part of

New York Bay New York Bay is the large tidal body of water in the New York–New Jersey Harbor Estuary where the Hudson River, Raritan River, and Arthur Kill empty into the Atlantic Ocean between Sandy Hook and Rockaway Point. Geography New York Bay is usu ...

), lie entirely within the boundaries of Monmouth County. A thin

barrier spit A spit or sandspit is a deposition bar or beach landform off coasts or lake shores. It develops in places where re-entrance occurs, such as at a cove's headlands, by the process of longshore drift by longshore currents. The drift occurs due ...

known as

Sandy Hook Sandy Hook is a barrier spit in Middletown Township, Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. The barrier spit, approximately in length and varying from wide, is located at the north end of the Jersey Shore. It encloses the southern en ...

fronts the ocean side of the Navesink Highlands, separated from the base of the most seaward hills by the narrow tidal channel of the

Shrewsbury River The Shrewsbury River is a short stream and navigable estuary. The stream is approximately 8 mi (13 km) long and is located in Central New Jersey. It extends east-northeast from its head of navigation at Oceanport to its confluence with ...

. The western portions of the Highlands, which attain the highest elevations of the range, are sometimes referred to as the Mount Pleasant Hills.Topoquest (Map Center: N40.39759, W74.15828; overview of central-western Navesink Highlands including the Mount Pleasant Hills)
Topoquest.com, 2008-2010. Retrieved 2011-09-05. The hills of this area include Beacon Hill, Telegraph Hill, and Crawford Hill. Beacon Hill is often referred to as the tallest "peak" in the range, however it only obtains an elevation of 373 feet. (USGS topographic map ''Marlboro, NJ'' shows a benchmark at the approximate summit of Beacon Hill with an elevation of 364 feet.)Topoquest (Map Center: N40.37366, W74.22795; Beacon Hill)
Topoquest.com, 2008-2012. Retrieved 2013-05-29. The actual tallest summit is Crawford Hill, followed by Telegraph Hill. This is evident by

Bell Labs Nokia Bell Labs, originally named Bell Telephone Laboratories (1925–1984), then AT&T Bell Laboratories (1984–1996) and Bell Labs Innovations (1996–2007), is an American industrial research and scientific development company owned by mult ...

(now

AT&T AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the world's largest telecommunications company by revenue and the third largest provider of mobile tel ...

) building their famous

Holmdel Horn Antenna The Holmdel Horn Antenna is a large microwave horn antenna that was used as a satellite communication antenna and radio telescope during the 1960s at Bell Telephone Laboratories in Holmdel Township, New Jersey, United States. It was designate ...

on the summit of Crawford Hill, while the

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

picked Telegraph Hill for a main Nike missile control center, and missile silo. The Mount Pleasant area, generally comprising portions of

Holmdel Holmdel Township (usually shortened to Holmdel) is a township in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. The township is centrally located in the Raritan Valley region, being within the regional and cultural influence of the Raritan Baysh ...

and Marlboro with elevations over 300 feet, induces a slight micro climate. In the winter, it is possible for the Mount Pleasant region to receive more snow than lower elevation areas. This is due to

lapse rate The lapse rate is the rate at which an atmospheric variable, normally temperature in Earth's atmosphere, falls with altitude. ''Lapse rate'' arises from the word ''lapse'', in the sense of a gradual fall. In dry air, the adiabatic lapse rate is ...

which shows that

temperature Temperature is a physical quantity that expresses quantitatively the perceptions of hotness and coldness. Temperature is measured with a thermometer. Thermometers are calibrated in various temperature scales that historically have relied o ...

drops on average 3.5 - 5 degrees for every 1000 feet of elevation. Due to the influence of the ocean in the winter, the hills often receive

snow Snow comprises individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes. It consists of frozen crystalline water throughout ...

at 31 degrees while lower elevations receive mixed

precipitation In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravitational pull from clouds. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, sleet, snow, ice pellets, graupel and hail. ...

rain Rain is water droplets that have condensed from atmospheric water vapor and then fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is responsible for depositing most of the fresh water on the Earth. It provides water f ...

Geology

The hills of the Navesink Highlands are composed of uplifted layers of hardened sands, mud, and gravel from the

Atlantic Coastal Plain The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the "Old World" of Afr ...

. The uplift of the Highlands is attributed to

glacial rebound Post-glacial rebound (also called isostatic rebound or crustal rebound) is the rise of land masses after the removal of the huge weight of ice sheets during the last glacial period, which had caused isostatic depression. Post-glacial rebound a ...

, although it is possible that other geologic processes are occurring. The current height of the hills is partly a consequence of their structure. The topmost geologic layer of the Highlands, the Cohansey Formation, is composed of sand, gravel, and erosion resistant ironstone. This layer forms a hard capstone along the highest summits of the Highlands, protecting more easily weathered underlying geologic layers such as the

Navesink Formation The Navesink Formation is a 66 to 70 mya greensand glauconitic marl and sand geological formation in New Jersey. It is known for its Cretaceous period fossil shell beds and dinosaur bones. Description The Navesink Formation, named after Navesin ...

Recreation

The Navesink Highlands offer a variety of recreational and educational opportunities to the region. These include hiking, fishing, historical venues, and even fossil collecting.

Holmdel Park Holmdel Park is located in Holmdel Township, New Jersey and is part of the Monmouth County Park System. The initial park land was established in 1962, with an additional section added in 2001. Holmdel Park is also the home of the Holmdel Arbore ...

contains several hills in the Mt. Pleasant portion of the range, and is nationally known for its difficult cross country courses. Parks, preserves, and historical sites from east to west: * Navesink Twin Lights Museum *

Hartshorne Woods Park Hartshorne Woods Park (pronounced: hurt-shern) is a county park located in Northern Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States, in New Jersey's Bayshore Region. The park has of trails, several old military bunkers and a small beach with a fishi ...

* Mount Mitchill Scenic Overlook County Park * Huber Woods * Poricy Park * Deep Cut Gardens * Tatum Park *

References

{{Coord, 40.39964, -74.03652, type:landmark_globe:earth_region:US-NJ, display=title Landforms of Monmouth County, New Jersey Raritan Bayshore Mountains of New Jersey Highlands

Geography

Geology

Recreation

See also

References