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 ponds as of this writing. There is also a hill or mountain that bulges out to the west, directly above Greenwood Lake.
One intriguing feature of Sterling Forest is a Cedar Pond, a large pond surrounded by a cedar swamp in the park's broad central upland at an elevation of 1030 feet. Dense, dark, extensive stands of cedar, probably second growth, line the swampy shoreline. Other stretches of shore are rocky slopes covered with rhododendron and mountain laurel, beneath hardwoods and white pines.
Some of the hills in the higher terrain of the park have hemlock and mountain laurel on their north facing slopes, and mixed oaks on their south slopes. I also noticed that many of the south slopes are steeper, with more exposed ledges. Around the ledges, some beautiful stunted pitch pines and occasional red cedar can be seen. White pine is also present in these upland forests - not quite common, but notable because it’s hardly present at all in the Wyanokes, Ramapos or Harriman, which are south and east of here.
Of course the region is overwhelmingly dominated by mixed oaks. During this extremely dry fall, on the driest sites with the thinnest soils, it seems like a lot of the oaks have turned brown before they had the chance to get their fall colors. From a viewpoint, it was easy to spot where soils had desiccated because of the contrast between green and brown.
Wetter, lower slopes have sugar maple and hickories. Streams and wetlands have beech and occasionally yellow birch. In really favorable sites there is occasional tulip poplar. Persimmon is prevalent here and there in little groves. Some areas have an extensive shrub layer of which hazel. Sasafrass is fairly prevalent. Spicebush is around some of the lower swamps. There is another wetland shrub I am still trying to figure out. I also noticed one tree I couldn’t quite identify, in a valley at about 600 feet. It may have been a sourwood, because of the deep red fall leaves and the furrowed bark, but it would be way out of its range. Intriguing.
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 ponds as of this writing. There is also a hill or mountain that bulges out to the west, directly above Greenwood Lake.
One intriguing feature of Sterling Forest is a Cedar Pond, a large pond surrounded by a cedar swamp in the park's broad central upland at an elevation of 1030 feet. Dense, dark, extensive stands of cedar, probably second growth, line the swampy shoreline. Other stretches of shore are rocky slopes covered with rhododendron and mountain laurel, beneath hardwoods and white pines.
Some of the hills in the higher terrain of the park have hemlock and mountain laurel on their north facing slopes, and mixed oaks on their south slopes. I also noticed that many of the south slopes are steeper, with more exposed ledges. Around the ledges, some beautiful stunted pitch pines and occasional red cedar can be seen. White pine is also present in these upland forests - not quite common, but notable because it’s hardly present at all in the Wyanokes, Ramapos or Harriman, which are south and east of here.
Of course the region is overwhelmingly dominated by mixed oaks. During this extremely dry fall, on the driest sites with the thinnest soils, it seems like a lot of the oaks have turned brown before they had the chance to get their fall colors. From a viewpoint, it was easy to spot where soils had desiccated because of the contrast between green and brown.
Wetter, lower slopes have sugar maple and hickories. Streams and wetlands have beech and occasionally yellow birch. In really favorable sites there is occasional tulip poplar. Persimmon is prevalent here and there in little groves. Some areas have an extensive shrub layer of which hazel. Sasafrass is fairly prevalent. Spicebush is around some of the lower swamps. There is another wetland shrub I am still trying to figure out. I also noticed one tree I couldn’t quite identify, in a valley at about 600 feet. It may have been a sourwood, because of the deep red fall leaves and the furrowed bark, but it would be way out of its range. Intriguing.
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