For New Yorkers
Take New York City, for example. Within sight of the upper part of Manhattan Island and accessible by ferries is the Palisades Interstate Park owned jointly by the states of New York and New Jersey. Of the total area of more than thirty-six thousand acres New Jersey owns some thousand acres of the section running for twelve miles along the Palisades ridge. In this nearer section the motorist may find secluded camping sites that seem almost out of the world of mankind, while in the Bear Mountain portion of the park there are great stretches that are a veritable wilderness.
Going further afield the week-ender from New York City can find camping sites in the Catskills at such places as Chichester, westward of Kingston. Up through the Westchester hills, too, are many beautiful and secluded spots where the New Yorker may be “far from the madding crowd” within a brief hour or two from the traffic of Fifth Avenue. If he is willing to spend several hours going forth [[17]]he can visit for his week-end the State Forests of North New Jersey. In these reserves are the ridge and western slope of a stretch of the Kittatinny Mountain range which slopes down on the west to the Delaware River. At Branchville as he approaches the State Forest he can call up the State Forester, who will accord the camper the courtesies of his department and assist the motorist in locating his camp site. Here camp sites, spring water, trout fishing, and small game hunting in season are offered without cost to the public. Three lakes where fishing, boating, and hunting may be had are near by. Wild deer, which may be hunted in season, exist in considerable numbers in the Kittatinny Mountains. The camp sites here available are of several kinds; some of them near good roads, some in clearings or old fields, and some deep in the woods. New Jersey residents’ applications naturally receive first attention, but there are thousands of acres, and visitors from other states are welcomed.