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This week
High Point Monument Loop
Sussex, NJ (Montague Township) · ~85 minutes from Hoboken
Weekend forecast — Hoboken
Saturday
81°F
Sunny · wind 7–10 mph
Sunday
77°F
Sunny · wind 9 mph
Source: NWS
The Aha
You hike to the highest point in New Jersey (1,803 ft), then walk inside a 220-foot granite obelisk built as a WWI memorial and climb its spiral staircase to an observation deck with a 360-degree view spanning New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. The tower's only open to climb roughly Memorial Day through Columbus Day — so this is one of the last weekends this year you can actually go inside it. Then you drive twenty minutes to Warwick, NY, where the apple orchards are just opening for picking season.
A monument you climb from the inside, on the one peak where three states meet your eye at once. That's the bar for this newsletter.
Quick stats
- Distance from Hoboken
- ~60 miles / 85 min via Route 23 N
- Trail length
- 4.5-mile loop (Blue Dot, Iris & Monument Trails)
- Elevation gain
- ~850 ft
- Difficulty
- Moderate. Rocky and rooty in spots, short steep pitches near the summit ridge.
- Time on trail
- 2.5 to 3.5 hours with kids, plus tower time
- Best for ages
- 7 and up. Younger kids can still do the short paved walk up to the monument itself from the closer lot and skip the full loop.
- Cost
- $10/car NJ resident, $20 non-resident (High Point State Park day-use fee, Memorial Day–Labor Day weekends)
- Dogs?
- Yes, on leash (not permitted inside the monument)
Why your kids will actually like this one
- A 291-step spiral staircase inside a war memorial. The obelisk isn't just a thing you look at from below — you walk in the base and climb an actual stone stairwell to the top, narrow windows letting in light the whole way up.
- The "three states at once" moment. From the observation deck, you can point out New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania without turning your head much. Kids old enough to read a map get a kick out of finding the state lines.
- Rock scrambling near the summit ridge. Short, hands-on-rock pitches that feel like an adventure but aren't exposed or scary — the kind of terrain that turns "are we there yet" into "can we do that part again."
- Early fall color at elevation. At 1,800 feet, leaves often start turning by late September before anywhere near Hoboken does — a preview of foliage season on a single hike.
The trail, in plain English
Park at the main High Point State Park lot near the monument. The loop starts on the Blue Dot Trail, heading out through oak and hemlock forest that's rocky and rooty underfoot from the first quarter mile — good sneakers or light hikers matter more here than on a smooth path. After about a mile you'll pick up the Iris Trail, which does the real work of the loop, climbing gradually with a few short, steep, hands-on-rock pitches as you approach the summit ridge. This is the part that feels like a real hike.
The Monument Trail brings you back around to the obelisk itself, where the reward is twofold: the view from the ridge, and then the option to walk inside the tower and climb the spiral staircase to the observation deck (open roughly Memorial Day through Columbus Day, so check hours before you go). If younger kids have had enough by the time you're back near the monument, you can skip the last stretch of trail and walk the short paved path straight up to the tower instead — same payoff, a fraction of the mileage.
The full loop closes back at the parking lot. Total elevation gain is moderate (~850 ft) and spread out rather than front-loaded, so it doesn't hit like a wall the way some fire-tower hikes do — it's more a steady climb with a couple of short punchy sections.
Pro tips
- Confirm the tower's open hours before you drive up. The interior observation deck typically runs Wednesday–Sunday through Labor Day weekend and keeps limited hours into fall — a quick call to the park (973-875-4800) saves a disappointed kid at the door.
- Bring the day-use fee in cash or card. $10 NJ residents / $20 non-residents on weekends through Labor Day.
- Sunny and clear both days this weekend (81°F Saturday, 77°F Sunday) — genuinely ideal hiking weather, but the summit ridge is exposed, so pack sun protection even though it won't feel hot climbing.
- The rocky, rooty sections are easy to roll an ankle on if you're not watching your feet — worth a reminder to kids before you're deep in conversation about something else.
- No food service in the park — pack a real lunch or picnic and save the eating-out for Warwick afterward.
The "cute town" payoff: Warwick, NY
Twenty minutes from the trailhead, Warwick's Main Street is surrounded by orchards that open for picking right around now. Some easy hits:
- 🍎 Masker Orchards — Family-run u-pick apple orchard open since the early 1900s, with hayrides, a corn maze, and a country store selling cider donuts.
- 🍏 Pennings Farm Market & Cidery — Farm market with a beer garden and bakery, attached to a working cidery — good one-stop for parents who want a cider flight while the kids run around.
- 🍺 Drowned Lands Brewery — Family- and dog-friendly farm brewery with an outdoor beer garden, fire pits, and wood-fired pizza.
- 🍦 Bellvale Farms Creamery — Homemade ice cream on a working dairy farm with 50+ flavors and its own waffle cones; the post-hike stop that erases any trail complaints.
- 📚 The Book & Nook — Indie bookstore just off Main Street with toys, comics, and a kids' book club, if you want to stretch your legs before the drive home.
What to pack
Water (1L per person), sturdy sneakers or hiking shoes, layers for the exposed summit ridge, snacks, sunscreen, sunglasses, a small first-aid kit, and cash or a card for the park's day-use fee.
Quick rating
👨👩👧 Kid-friendly factor
4 / 5
🚗 Drive worth it?
Absolutely
🍽️ Or skip the trail
Where We're Eating
Not feeling the drive this week? Here's where to take the kids instead — in the city and across the river. (No connection to this week's hike.)
🍕 In the City
- Jing Fong (Chinatown) — rolling dim sum carts roll past your table so the kids point and pick instead of parsing a menu, and it's been doing this since 1978, so the food's the real thing, not a compromise. Big, loud banquet-hall room built for the 6-and-up crowd rather than toddlers; expect to share a communal table and wait a bit on weekends.
- The Handpulled Noodle (West Harlem) — build-your-own noodle bowls (pick the noodle, pick the protein) with the noodle-pulling happening in view, which buys you a solid five minutes of quiet while they watch. Small room, no reservations — go off-peak or bring patience for the wait.
🌉 In Jersey
- Razza (Jersey City) — a wood-fired pizzeria good enough that it's the headline, not the kids' concession — high chairs and a kids menu exist, but you're really coming for James Beard-nominated pizza. Waits run up to an hour at peak; Resy helps but walk-ins are the norm, and it's dine-in closed Mondays.
- Zeppelin Hall Biergarten (Jersey City) — long communal picnic tables indoors and out mean nobody notices if your table gets loud, and pretzels/bratwurst/burgers are easy kid food. Kids under 21 have to be out by 9pm as it shifts into more of an adult bar scene later.
👀 New & Worth Knowing
- Mensho Ramen (Journal Square, Jersey City) — the East Coast debut of a Michelin-recognized Tokyo ramen brand, opening this fall in a new plaza space. Not yet open and no confirmed kids-menu details, but ramen is about as universal a kid food as exists, so it's one to watch. source