Sterling Forest
Sterling Forest is an area of intricate rugged terrain located between the Ramapo River and Greenwood Lake on the New York / New Jersey border. Roughly 20 miles west of the Hudson, it is mostly in the Passaic River’s watershed. Part of the larger NJ/NY Highlands region, it has typical features including rocky hilltops, precambrian metamorphic bedrock, boulder strewn valleys and swamps. For whatever reason, the hilltops are less glacially scoured than elsewhere in the Highlands. There are no great expanses of exposed bedrock here, like there are in Harriman and the Wyanoke Plateau, although there are ledges with nice views throughout the forest. There is high terrain along the divide between the Wanaque River (Greenwood Lake) and the Ramapo River but it’s not really a ridge, more of a jumbled series of hills. On either side are lower hills, rocky slopes and small valleys with streams and wetlands in them. On a small stream called Jennings Brook there are a couple of active beaver pond