The Sourlands is a region in the US state of

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 ...

that includes portions of

Hunterdon County Hunterdon County is a county located in the western section of the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the county's population was 128,947, making it the state's 18th-most populous county,Mercer County and Somerset County. It is centered on

Sourland Mountain Sourland Mountain is a long ridge in central New Jersey, extending from the Delaware River at Lambertville to the western end of Hillsborough Township near the community of Neshanic, through Montgomery Township and into Hopewell Township in ...

and comprises parts of Lambertville, East Amwell, West Amwell,

Hillsborough Hillsborough may refer to: Australia *Hillsborough, New South Wales, a suburb of Lake Macquarie Canada *Hillsborough, New Brunswick *Hillsborough Parish, New Brunswick * Hillsborough, Nova Scotia, in Inverness County *Hillsborough (electoral d ...

, Hopewell Boro, Hopewell Township, and Montgomery Township. The region is flanked by the Hopewell Fault to the south and

Amwell Valley The Amwell Valley is a small valley in Hunterdon County, New Jersey, between the Hunterdon Plateau and the Sourlands. It comprises Stockton, parts of Delaware Township, West Amwell, East Amwell, Flemington and Raritan Township. The region ...

to the north that runs from Mount Airy to an area just west of Flagtown and a diabase formation running from Lambertville to Mount Airy. The Sourland also include a hilly area towards the southwest called Pleasant Valley, with a number of farms. Although much of the Sourlands is not conducive to farming, Pleasant Valley and the slopes on the surrounding ridges have a number of farms. The slopes of the ridge to the north are also home to Unionville Vineyard.

Ridges

*Belle Mountain - an isolated trap rock hill between Sourland Mountain and Baldplate Mountain *Peach Ridge or Rocktown Ridge - runs along Rocktown and Wertsville Roads *Pennington Mountain - runs roughly from Bell Mountain to Stony Brook *Pheasant Hill - a ridge running from Harbourton to Skillman southeast of Sourland Mountain *

- the main ridge in the region runs from Goat Hill on the Delaware to Fort Hans near Flagtown

Towns and villages

* Hopewell, sits just below the southern ridge of the Sourlands * Lambertville, sits where the Sourlands meet the Delaware. Numerous ferries existed at this spot as

Old York Road Old York Road (originally York Road, with reference to New York) is a roadway that was built during the 18th century to connect Philadelphia with New York City. Through New Jersey it was built along the Raritan (Unami tribe) "Naraticong Trail", ...

avoided crossing

. * Mount Airy, sits along

and is still home to the Mt. Airy Church *

Wertsville, New Jersey Wertsville is an unincorporated community located along County Route 602 (Wertsville Road) in East Amwell Township of Hunterdon County, New Jersey, United States.

or Wert's Corner, was a village that grew up at the crossroads of Manners Road and Lindbergh Road and Wertsville Road. It was named after Christopher Werts. The village had a tavern and later a hotel. It also had a church, school, store, post office, wagon shop, shoemaker shop. Peacock's General Store, once popular with bicyclists, burnt to the ground on the night of February 28, 2014.

Former villages and hamlets

Amwell, New Jersey East Amwell Township is a Township (New Jersey), township in Hunterdon County, New Jersey, Hunterdon County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township's population was 4,013, reflecting a decline of 442 (−9. ...

, was a small hamlet, located on a tributary of Back Brook (now near the area between Rocktown Road and Rt. 31). *

Buttonwood Corners, New Jersey East Amwell Township is a township in Hunterdon County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township's population was 4,013, reflecting a decline of 442 (−9.9%) from the 4,455 counted in the 2000 Census, which ...

, named for the sycamore trees in the area, was located on Cedar Summit (at the corner of Zion and Lindberg Roads). The area extended from Burd Lane to South Hill Road and included houses, a tavern, the Mountain Grove School and Wyckoff's Peach farm. *Furman's Corner, named after Samuel Furman, brother-in-law of John Hart, was located at North Hill Road and Werstville Road. * Harbourton, New Jersey was a village named after John Harbort, whose stone home built in 1768 was used as a store, a hat factory, tavern and post office. Today the house still stands, but is a private residence. The village also had a church, wheelwright, blacksmith shops and a creamery. Johann Peter Rockefeller, who lived on a farmstead there is buried in a cemetery off of Rocktown-Lambertville Road. *Minnietown, named for Minnie True, was an African American hamlet on Rileyville Road on the south side of

. In the late 19th century, its residents were basketweavers for the Wyckoff Peach Farm. Today Hillbilly Hall Restaurant and Tavern and Minnietown Lane are all that exist there. *Montgomery was a village named after

Richard Montgomery Richard Montgomery (2 December 1738 – 31 December 1775) was an Irish soldier who first served in the British Army. He later became a major general in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, and he is most famous for l ...

at Wertsville and Montgomery Roads. A schoolhouse, blacksmith shop, and post office were here as well as the nearby mill on the Neshanic River (once called Verbryck's after Bernardus Verbryck and later called West's Mill). * Moore's Station, New Jersey, was a hamlet that grew up along the Belvidere Delaware Railroad that disappeared with the abandonment of the railroad. *New Market, likely named for the store that once was run there, was home to a tavern and sat to the west of Snydertown on Snydertown Road. It changed its name to Linvale when it required a post office in 1889, to distinguish it from New Market in Piscataway. Linvale was built near the Malayelick Trail. *

Rileyville, New Jersey East Amwell Township is a township in Hunterdon County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township's population was 4,013, reflecting a decline of 442 (−9.9%) from the 4,455 counted in the 2000 Census, which ...

, named for Patrick Riley (general store and applejack distillery owner), was located on Rileyville Road on the north side of the ridge. A church, a school and a store as well as number of residences existed there in the 19th century * Rocktown, New Jersey was located near the Indian village, Wishelemensey on the Malayelick Trail. A stone house from 1739 is still standing there today. A school, a tavern and a store all existed there at some point. The village is located along Rocktown Hill Road. *

Snydertown, New Jersey Snydertown is an unincorporated community located within East Amwell Township in Hunterdon County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.John Hart Permelia's maternal grandfather, Moses Stout, ran the tavern here. Her great-grandfather, Jacob Quick, was the namesake of Quick's Corner * Woodsville, New Jersey was a village on the Brunswick Turnpike and Marshall's Corner Road. It was named after Joseph Wood, the store proprietor and postmaster of the village. The village had a store, a tavern, a post office, two blacksmith shops, a wheelwright, a school and a doctor. The village shrank over time as the railroads and Rt. 31 were both built away from it. * Zion, New Jersey was a village located at Long Hill Road and Rock Brook. A mill was built along Rock Brook, giving the village the name of Rock Mill and later Rock Mills. The village had numerous houses, a saw-mill, a store, a blacksmith, wheelwright shops and the Boozer School. In 1897, when Rock Mill was to receive a post office, they changed their name to avoid confusion with the nearby Rocky Hill. They named it Zion after the Mount Zion African Methodist Episcopal Church.

Natural features

*Baldplate Mountain offers vistas of the Delaware River and Pennsylvania *Devil's Half Acre, a large boulder field with talus caves. It can be reached through the Sourland Mountain Preserve by taking the northernmost trail 3/4 of the way up and then heading about 1/2 mile to the north/northwest *Fort Hans, a rock shelter on 3M property, was named for Hans Van Pelt, a pacifist who refused to fight in the Revolutionary War. It was later written on maps as Fort Haunts and Fort House. The shelter was also used by John Sullivan when camped at Clover Hill in

*Hart's Cave, a pile of boulders that John Hart supposedly fled to from the British. The site is just west of Buttonwood Corner, just north of Highfields (on private property) *Knitting Betty Rock, Zion Road, East Amwell—two slabs of rock on which a woman named Betty waited for her husband, a Revolutionary War Soldier, while knitting *Roaring Rock, Hillsborough, an area full of boulders where Roaring Brook passes underneath *Three Brothers (Pero's Hill - Pero the Hermit), Rileyville and Mountain Church Roads, East Amwell—three boulders sitting side by side atop a rock. The legend is that three men wishing to overcome the devil were turned into stone

Historic sites

*Cat Tail Brook Bridge - Stone bridge built in 1825 on Montgomery Road *Highfields (

Charles Lindbergh Charles Augustus Lindbergh (February 4, 1902 – August 26, 1974) was an American aviator, military officer, author, inventor, and activist. On May 20–21, 1927, Lindbergh made the first nonstop flight from New York City to Paris, a distance o ...

Estate) - Lindbergh Road, East Amwell *Howell Living History Farm - a Mercer County historical site in Pleasant Valley that also offers horse-drawn tours of the Pleasant Valley Rural Historic District. * Joseph Stout House (Hunt House} - 595 Province Line Road, Built by Colonel Joseph Stout and later owned by John Price Hunt, the house was a meeting place for

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...

and his officers. *Old Rocks Church - 260 Mount Airy-Habourton Road, church built in 1843

Trails and recreation areas

*Amwell Lake WMA – an WMA in Hopewell Township *Belle Mountain – formerly a ski area, the area is still used by sledders in the winter *Cedar Ridge Trail – trail in Hopewell Township *Dry Run Creek – 1.2 mile there-and-back *Eames Preserve – loop trail in Hopewell Township *Elks Preserve – 1-mile loop *Goat Hill – <1 mile *Hopewell Borough Park – 3 miles of trails *Hopewell Sourlands Trail – 1.7 mile one-way or 3.4 miles there-and-back *Laport Reserve – an easy loop trail in East Amwell *Nayfield Preserve – loop trail in Hopewell Township *Omick Woods at Rocktown Preserve – 1.8 mile round trip *Otto's Farm – 2 miles of trails *Pryde’s Point-Alexauken Creek – 3.4 miles of trails *Rock Hopper Trail – 2.3 miles one-way – trailhead-to-trailhead *Rock Mill Preserve – <1 mile loop *Rocky Brook Trail – 2.8 miles round trip *St. Michaels Farm Preserve – 7.3 miles of trail *Skyview Preserve – 1 mile loop *Sourlands Ecosystem Preserve – an area in East Amwell and Hopewell Township consisting of four trails: The Picnic Rock Trail (Green), Blue Trail, Yellow Trail and Orange Trail *Sourlands Foothills Trail / Hopewell Sourlands Trail – trail in Hopewell Township. *Sourland Mountain Preserve (Hunterdon Co.) – a small tract in East Amwell with four hiking trails * Sourland Mountain Preserve (Somerset Co.) – a large tract of land on the Sourland Ridge with numerous hiking trails. *Ted Stiles Preserve at Baldplate Mountain – preserve in Hopewell Township with numerous hiking trails *Marshalls Corner / Thompson Preserve – 1.6 miles of trails *Watershed Reserve – 10 miles of trails *Woosamonsa Ridge Preserve – 3 miles of trails

References

{{coord, 40.412680, -74.802361, display=title Regions of New Jersey