TheHudson Highlands aremountains on both sides of theHudson River inNew York state lying primarily inPutnam County on its east bank andOrange County on its west. They continue somewhat to the south inWestchester County andRockland County, respectively. The highlands are asubrange of theAppalachian Mountains.
North to south they fall betweenNewburgh Bay andHaverstraw Bay, the latter forming the northern region of theNew York - New Jersey Highlands.
The Hudson River enters this region in the south atDunderberg Mountain nearStony Point, and from the north in the vicinity ofBreakneck Ridge andStorm King Mountain nearCornwall, New York. These highlands have played a significant role in America's environmental, cultural, and military history.
The bedrock of the Highlands is part of theReading Prong and more than a billion years old, formed during theGrenville Orogeny. It represents the very core of the Appalachian range, which has been formed by successive mountain-building events (orogenies). The present mountains have been exposed by the process ofisostasy through the lateCenozoic Era. The hills were given their rounded form whenglaciers cut through theAppalachian Mountains here. The Highlands are among the lowest summits in that range, and theAppalachian Trail reaches its lowest elevation in the Trailside Zoo betweenBear Mountain State Park andBear Mountain Bridge. Conversely, the river becomes narrower and deeper through the Highlands, reaching its deepest point of 216 feet (66 m), nearGarrison. Many stretches are challenging tonavigate, earning nicknames like "World's End."
Prior toEuropean exploration, the Hudson Highlands were inhabited by Native AmericanLenape people.Henry Hudson and his crew on theHalf Moon were the first Europeans known to see the Highlands when they explored the river in 1609.
The mountains became strategically important during theAmerican Revolutionary War, when it was important for theContinental Army to hold the river valley and prevent the British from cuttingNew England off from the rest of the colonies. During the Revolutionary War, to prevent British shipping from using the river, theHudson River Chain was forged at theSterling Iron Works inWarwick, New York, a town inOrange County. From 1778 to 1782, the chain was stretched across the river from theFort Clinton atWest Point. The site of the fort is today the easternmost point of the grounds of theUnited States Military Academy. The only surviving piece of the boom and chain is currently on display atWashington's Headquarters State Historic Site inNewburgh, New York.
Several decades after independence,Thomas Cole started an artistic movement by painting America's wild and rugged landscapes— especially, at first, the Highlands— with the stark contrasts and shadows they offered, in a way that suggested raw nature, a world reborn. After the movement had faded, a critic derisively referred to the movement as theHudson River School; the name stuck as the label for the new nation's first homegrown artistic movement.
In the early 20th century, in response to damage caused by quarrymen and loggers in the Highlands, localconservationists began to press for public ownership of the area's woods and mountains. Their efforts paid off in the first of severalstate parks that now blanket the chain.
Later that century, an ambitious power-generating plan that would have dug intoStorm King Mountain led to alandmark lawsuit by environmental groups that made history when the judge ruled that aesthetic impacts of such large projects could be considered and that a coalition of citizen groups had legal standing. This landmark lawsuit formed the basis for a large body of case law concerning environmentalism.
East (north to south)
West (north to south)
