Parsippany is a large, sprawling township in Morris County, with more than fifty thousand people, a lot of offices and a patchwork of highways, and it belongs to the belt of suburbs that runs west of Newark into the New Jersey hills. Its name may come from a Native word of uncertain meaning. To the north and west, the landscape starts to change, with ridges, lakes and woods of the Highlands rising, and the point lies right on the transition.
This part of the state was once iron country. Boonton, nearby, grew around the Boonton Iron Works, which fed on ore from the hills and the power of the Rockaway River, whose falls drop sharply through the middle of town. The Morris Canal, an engineering oddity completed in the early nineteenth century, carried coal and iron across the hills from the Delaware to the Hudson using inclined planes to haul boats uphill on rails, and traces of it survive in places. The town has a pleasant old centre with stone mills and steep streets.
Mountain Lakes is a quirk of its own, a planned community developed in the early twentieth century with Arts and Crafts houses scattered among lakes and trees and strict design rules, and it still has the look of a small storybook village. Behind it, the reservoir areas and woods are protected, with trails and quiet roads.
Riding here is a mix. The main roads, Route 46, Route 10 and the interstates, are fast, heavy and full of retail strips, and the local drivers are in a hurry. Step off them, and the lanes around Boonton and Mountain Lakes wind between lakes and old farms, with short climbs and tight bends. The surface is patched and sometimes broken by tree roots, and deer are numerous, particularly at dusk.
Practicalities are easy. Fuel, food, hotels and shops are everywhere, in a landscape built around cars, and the diners and delis serve large portions of eggs, bagels and pork roll. There is good Indian and Korean food in Parsippany, reflecting its diverse population.
Autumn is the best season, when the oaks and maples turn, and spring has its own charm with dogwood and redbud. Summer afternoon thunderstorms can be fierce, and winter snow can close the narrow hill roads for a day.