It is an odd little zone, only about forty kilometres from Manhattan as the crow flies, yet wooded, hilly and full of reservoirs and rocky ridges that make it feel like a different world from the city.
The big feature is the Wanaque Reservoir, a long arm of water built in the 1920s to supply drinking water to the cities of northern New Jersey. It sits among forested hills and, with the Monksville Reservoir above it, forms a large and quiet landscape. Local roads wind along its shores, through the villages of Ringwood and Wanaque, climbing and dipping between stone walls, old farmhouses and clumps of oak and maple.
The Ramapo Mountains here are old and low, worn down over hundreds of millions of years, but the rock is hard and the ridges are steep, giving the roads some real character. Ringwood has a historic ironworks heritage, as the Highlands once supplied cannonballs and iron to the Continental Army during the American Revolution, and the nearby state parks hold old furnaces and mansion grounds. The area is thick with hiking trails, and autumn here is excellent, with a deep red and gold canopy.
For motorcyclists the riding is narrow, twisty and often tight, with blind corners, patchy surfaces and a lot of local traffic, especially at weekends and during the commute, so a relaxed pace works best. Deer are everywhere, and they like dusk, so take care. Routes north toward Greenwood Lake and the New York line open out into a more spacious, rolling ride, while the roads that lead south end up in dense suburbs.
Fuel and food are easy in Wanaque, Pompton Lakes and Bloomingdale, with plenty of diners, delis and pizza places, the staples of this part of New Jersey. A good local habit is a pork roll sandwich for breakfast. Late spring and early autumn are the sweet spots, while winter can bring ice to the shaded roads and closures after snowstorms.