Houvenkopf or Hovenkopf Mountain is a mountain in Bergen County,

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 ...

. It extends into New York, where it forms the western side of the southern entrance to Ramapo Pass. The major peak on the New Jersey side rises to and is known as Stag Hill. It is separated by a deep saddle from the major peak on the New York side known as the Hooge Kop proper, which rises to about . Houvenkopf Mountain is located in

Mahwah, New Jersey Mahwah is the northernmost and largest municipality by geographic area () in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the population of the township was 25,487, a decline of 403 from the 25,890 counted in the ...

and overlooks Hillburn to the north, Suffern to the east, and

Ringwood, New Jersey Ringwood is a borough in Passaic County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 11,735, a decline of 493 (−4.0%) from the 2010 census count of 12,228,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. They range in height from in New Jersey, and in New York. Several parks and forest preserves en ...

History

Houvenkopf Mountain's name is derived from the Dutch "Hooge Kop," meaning "High Head." Its summit was known as Split Rock or Pigeon Rock, because locals used to spread grain around the summit boulders to catch

passenger pigeon The passenger pigeon or wild pigeon (''Ectopistes migratorius'') is an extinct species of pigeon that was endemic to North America. Its common name is derived from the French word ''passager'', meaning "passing by", due to the migratory habits ...

s. The mountain was the subject of the poem titled "Mount Houvenkopf" by

Joyce Kilmer Alfred Joyce Kilmer (December 6, 1886 – July 30, 1918) was an American writer and poet mainly remembered for a short poem titled "Trees" (1913), which was published in the collection ''Trees and Other Poems'' in 1914. Though a prolific poet wh ...

, written in 1918. Parts of the mountain are publicly accessible as part of the

Ramapo Valley County Reservation The Ramapo Valley County Reservation, also known as the Ramapo Reservation, is a county park located in Mahwah, New Jersey in Bergen County, bordering Ringwood State Park to the north and the Ramapo Mountain State Forest to the south. The park ...

References

External links

NY-NJ Trail Conference: Ramapo Valley County Reservation
{{Mountains of New Jersey Mountains of Bergen County, New Jersey Mahwah, New Jersey Mountains of New Jersey Ramapos