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 territori ...
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, which is the highest point in Monmouth County.[Facts and Figures](_blank)
Monmouth County, New Jersey
Monmouth County () is a county located on the coast of central New Jersey. The county is part of the New York metropolitan area and is situated along the northern half of the Jersey Shore. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the county's population wa ...
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 headlands 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 ...
, 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
Raritan Bay is a bay located at the southern portion of Lower New York Bay between the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey and is part of the New York Bight. The bay is bounded on the northwest by New York's Staten Island, on the west by Per ...
(part of New York Bay), lie entirely within the boundaries of Monmouth County. A thin barrier spit 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 ...
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)](_blank)
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.[Topoquest (Map Center: N40.37366, W74.22795; Beacon Hill)](_blank)
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 development, research and scientific developm ...
(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 te ...
) building their famous Holmdel Horn Antenna 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
The United States Army's Nike Ajax was the world's first operational guided surface-to-air missile (SAM), entering service in 1954. Nike Ajax was designed to attack conventional bomber aircraft flying at high subsonic speeds and altitudes abov ...
control center, and missile silo
A missile launch facility, also known as an underground missile silo, launch facility (LF), or nuclear silo, is a vertical cylindrical structure constructed underground, for the storage and launching of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs ...
.Marlboro
Marlboro (, ) is an American brand of cigarettes, currently owned and manufactured by Philip Morris USA (a branch of Altria) within the United States and by Philip Morris International (now separate from Altria) outside the US. The largest Mar ...
with elevations over 300 feet, induces a slight micro climate
A microclimate (or micro-climate) is a local set of atmospheric conditions that differ from those in the surrounding areas, often with a slight difference but sometimes with a substantial one. The term may refer to areas as small as a few squa ...
. 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 which shows that temperature
Temperature is a physical quantity that expresses quantitatively the perceptions of hotness and coldness. Temperature is measurement, measured with a thermometer.
Thermometers are calibrated in various Conversion of units of temperature, temp ...
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. ...
or 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 ...
.
Geology
The hills of the Navesink Highlands are composed of uplifted layers of hardened sands, mud, and gravel from the Atlantic Coastal Plain. The uplift of the Highlands is attributed to glacial rebound, although it is possible that other geologic processes are occurring.ironstone
Ironstone is a sedimentary rock, either deposited directly as a ferruginous sediment or created by chemical replacement, that contains a substantial proportion of an iron ore compound from which iron (Fe) can be smelted commercially. Not to be con ...
. 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.
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.
See also
* The Hominy Hills, a similar but less prominent coastal upland stretching west to east between Freehold
Freehold may refer to:
In real estate
*Freehold (law), the tenure of property in fee simple
* Customary freehold, a form of feudal tenure of land in England
* Parson's freehold, where a Church of England rector or vicar of holds title to benefice ...
and Asbury Park
Asbury Park () is a beachfront city located on the Jersey Shore in Monmouth County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is part of the New York metropolitan area.
As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city's population was 15,188
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