Highland Lakes, New Jersey

Hidden Valley was a ski resort in Vernon Township, New Jersey, United States, located off of County Route 515, near the intersection with Route 94, approximately an hour's drive from the George Washington Bridge. Since January 2016, the area has been repurposed as the National Winter Activity Center, which provides education and ski/snowboard instruction to groups that might not have access to winter sports.

Vernon Township is a township in Sussex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is located about a one hour drive from New York City and is part of the New York Metropolitan Area. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 22,358, a decrease of 1,585 (−6.6%) from the 2010 census count of 23,943, which in turn reflected a decline of 743 (−3.0%) from the 24,686 counted in the 2000 census. It is both the most populous municipality and the largest in area in the county.Vernon is home to Mountain Creek (formerly Great Gorge and Vernon Valley), a ski resort and water park as well as the Crystal Springs Resort's Minerals Hotel and Elements Spa. The Hidden Valley ski resort, which opened in 1976 and occupied a 140-acre (57 ha) property that included one of New Jersey's three remaining downhill skiing facilities, closed at the end of the 2013 season and could find no buyers at an auction held that year; it has since reopened as the National Winter Activity Center. The Great Gorge Playboy Club was located in the Vernon community of McAfee, but was sold and turned into a hotel, now called the Legends Resort & Country Club. Opened in 1972 at a cost of $20 million (equivalent to $139.9 million in 2022), featuring 700 rooms and 27 holes of golf, the hotel was sold to Americana in 1982 and later was resold to Metairie Corp. which branded the property as the Legends Resort and Country Club. In 2017, the township started eviction proceedings against low-income residents who had been living in the defunct resort on a permanent basis.

Vernon Center is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) located in Vernon Township, in Sussex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2010 United States Census, the CDP's population was 1,713.

Black Creek is a 6.6-mile-long (10.6 km) tributary of Pochuck Creek in Sussex County, New Jersey in the United States.

Action Park was an amusement and water park located in Vernon Township, New Jersey, United States, on the grounds of the Vernon Valley/Great Gorge ski resort. The park consisted primarily of water-based attractions and originally opened to the public in 1978, under the ownership of Great American Recreation (GAR). Action Park featured three separate attraction areas: the Alpine Center, Motorworld, and Waterworld. The last was one of the first modern American water parks. Many of its attractions were unique, attracting thrill-seekers from across the New York metropolitan area. While extremely popular, Action Park had a reputation for poorly designed rides, undertrained and underaged staff, intoxicated guests and staff, and a consequently poor safety record. At least six people are known to have died as a result of mishaps on rides at the park. Healthcare workers and local residents had nicknamed the place "Traction Park", "Accident Park", "Class Action Park" and "Friction Park".Little effort was made by state regulators to address those issues, despite the park's history of repeat violations. GAR's management resorted to illegal financial schemes to keep itself solvent, which led to indictments of its executives, some of whom, like founder Gene Mulvihill, pled guilty to some charges. In its later years, personal injury lawsuits led to the closure of increasing numbers of rides and eventually the entire park closed in 1996. In 1998, resort developer Intrawest announced the purchase of the majority of the Vernon Valley/Great Gorge ski area, including Action Park and other developable real estate lands that GAR owned. The park received a massive overhaul, which included extensively renovating and repairing attractions, especially those deemed either outright unsafe or inappropriate relative to Intrawest's vision of the park, with some being removed entirely. Afterward, the park reopened under a different name.

The Hamburg Mountains are a range of the New York-New Jersey Highlands region of the Appalachian Mountains. The summit, reaching a height of 1,473 feet (449 m), lies within Sussex County, New Jersey.

High Breeze Farm, also known as Barrett Farm, is located in the Highland Lakes section of Vernon Township, in Sussex County, New Jersey, United States.

Mountain Creek is a ski resort in Vernon Township, Sussex County, New Jersey, United States. It is located on New Jersey Route 94 in the New York Metropolitan Area, 47 miles (76 km) from the George Washington Bridge. Mountain Creek contains 167 acres (68 ha) of land for skiing area, night skiing, snowboarding, and snowmaking activities. The resort also includes a snow tubing park, zip-lines, an alpine coaster, a bike park, and a seasonal water park that operates from May to September. Being a famous ski resort, Mountain Creek has a total of 9 lifts and 2 magic carpets. Mountain Creek was owned and operated by Intrawest Resorts Holdings, Inc. until May 2010 when it was sold to neighboring Crystal Springs Resort. Crystal Springs then sold the property to a New Jersey family. On May 5, 2017, Mountain Creek filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The resort emerged from bankruptcy in August 2019.

Wawayanda State Park is a 34,350 acres (139.0 km2) state park in Sussex County and Passaic County in northern New Jersey. The park is in Vernon Township on the Sussex side, and West Milford on the Passaic side. There are 60 miles (97 km) of hiking trails in the park, including a 20 miles (32 km) stretch of the Appalachian Trail. The park is operated and maintained by the New Jersey Division of Parks and Forestry. The hiking trails are maintained and updated by the New York - New Jersey Trail Conference. The park is part of the Northeastern coastal forests ecoregion. It is home to the red-shouldered hawk, the barred owl and the great blue heron, and includes 1,300-foot (396 m) Wawayanda Mountain and glacially-formed, spring-fed Wawayanda Lake with a swimming beach and boat launch and group camping. The 1,325 acres (5.36 km2) Bearfort Mountain Natural Area is a part of the park, with Terrace Pond at 1,380 feet (420 m) near the top. The mountain forest includes swamp hardwood, hemlock and mixed hardwood and chestnut oak forest communities; some rock outcrops have a 360-degree view of the surrounding highlands. 2,167 acres (8.77 km2) Wawayanda Swamp Natural Area is an Atlantic white cedar swamp with a mixed oak-hardwood forest and a lake and Laurel Pond. 399 acres (1.61 km2) Wawayanda Hemlock Ravine Natural Area is a 300 feet (91 m) ravine formed by Doublekill Creek surrounded by a hemlock and mixed hardwood forest. The Appalachian Trail is located on the western edge of the area.

Pochuck Creek is an 8.1-mile-long (13.0 km) tributary of the Wallkill River in Orange County, New York and Sussex County, New Jersey, in the United States.Pochuck Creek is called Wawayanda Creek (pronounced "way way yonda") above its confluence with the tributary Black Creek.Wawayanda Creek starts northeast of Warwick, New York, and runs mostly within Orange County, dipping into New Jersey for several miles and joining Black Creek just north of Highland Lakes. Pochuck Creek then turns north and returns to New York.

Bearfort Mountain, historically known as Bear Ford Mountain, is a mountain ridge located near Wawayanda State Park in West Milford, Passaic County, New Jersey. It is a continuation of Bellvale Mountain in New York. The Appalachian Trail crosses along the ridge into New York. Puddingstone of the Skunnemunk Conglomerate is visible along the ridge.At an elevation of 1,331 feet (406 m) the ridge is the site of a 68 feet (21 m) high fire lookout tower built by the New Jersey Forest Fire Service.The mountain was depicted in an 1850 painting by Jasper Francis Cropsey, an American landscape artist of the Hudson River School.

Cedar Pond is a reservoir in West Milford, New Jersey.