The University, located within the Preakness Range of the Watchung Mountains, has a wide variety of natural resources both on and near campus: High Mountain Park Preserve is one of the largest tracts of forested land in the Piedmont area of northern New Jersey. The property, adjacent to the University, encompassed nearly 1,200 acres of woodlands and wetlands and is owned and managed by the Nature Conservancy, Wayne Township, and the State of New Jersey. It often serves as a site for faculty and student research, as well as a source of recreation for the community. Click here for more information about High Mountain Park Preserve. The University campus houses three ponds. Oldham Pond, a 26-acre pond located in North Haledon, was donated to the University in 1998 by the Bayer Corporation. The pond is utilized by biology and environmental science students in efforts to better understand this urban-impacted ecosystem. The pond is adjacent to the University’s Alumni House. The other ponds are Gaede’s Pond, located on Pompton Road, adjacent to Hobart Hall, and the pond behind the University’s 1600 Valley Road Building. Buttermilk Falls, located in North Haledon near Entry 6, is a 40- to 45-foot falls free-falling off a ledge into an old sandstone quarry. A trail passes behind the falls, allowing visitors to stand in a "cave" of falling water. In winter, the falls freezes into a stack of huge icicles.
