The New Jersey Highlands are the surprise of the state for anyone who only knows it from the Turnpike. North-west of Boonton the land buckles into long wooded ridges of old granite and gneiss, with lakes in every hollow, rocky streams and roads that wriggle through forest for kilometre after kilometre. Boonton, Kinnelon and Butler sit on the edge of this country, small towns of seven to ten thousand people each, and they make a natural pause on the road back from Bear Mountain.
Boonton was an iron town. In the nineteenth century the falls of the Rockaway River powered a big ironworks here, fed by ore from the Highlands mines and by the Morris Canal, which climbed over the hills on inclined planes to carry coal and iron across the state. The ironworks have gone, but the gorge below the main street, now Grace Lord Park, still has the falls and a few old stone walls. On Pyramid Mountain, just outside Kinnelon, a glacial erratic called Tripod Rock, a boulder the size of a car balanced on three small stones, is a short hike from the road and one of the odder sights in the state.
Now the honest bit about swimming. Many of the lakes up here are reservoirs, like the big Boonton Reservoir, which supplies Jersey City and is strictly off limits, and many others are ringed by private lake communities with members-only beaches. For a public swim, head west to Lake Hopatcong, the largest lake in New Jersey, where Hopatcong State Park has a guarded beach in summer. It is a short ride, and the lake, busy with boats on weekends, has a cheerful old-resort feel.
The riding is quietly excellent. Route 23 is the main artery, fast and busy, but the side roads through Kinnelon, West Milford and the Wanaque area climb and twist along ridges, past reservoirs and through deep woods, with tight bends and blind crests. Surfaces vary from smooth to badly patched after winter frost, and deer are everywhere at dawn and dusk. Autumn, when the maples and oaks turn, is spectacular, and the traffic thins out after Labor Day.
Boonton has a pleasant old main street with cafés, diners and shops, and fuel is easy to find along Route 23 and the main roads. From here the last stretch back towards New York is quick on Interstate 287 and 80, so take a break, eat something and enjoy the trees before the traffic begins.