This cache is part of the Kittatinny Valley State Park Interpretive Geo-trail, created to highlight the natural and historic features of the park through the family-friendly sport of geocaching.
KITTATINNY VALLEY STATE PARK (KVSP) - Goodale Road Main Entrance
Strategically located to serve as central office headquarters for the administration, maintenance, and interpretation of the region’s natural and cultural resources, Kittatinny Valley State Park was created on September 9, 1994 with Green Acres bond funds. As of December 2013, the total acreage of all lands assigned to Kittatinny Valley State Park, including the rights-of-way for the Sussex Branch, Paulinskill Valley, and Great Valley Rail Trails, as well as the Mt. Paul property in Sparta, is 5,656 acres. Waterloo Village is now part of KVSP, as well.
Kittatinny Valley State Park provides public recreational opportunities while ensuring the stewardship of the portions of the Andover Junction and Andover Ridge Natural Heritage Priority Sites located within park boundaries. In addition, the New Jersey Forest Fire Service maintains the operation of the Aeroflex-Andover Airport for general aviation and as a base for aerial forest fire observation and suppression.
Protecting the land above the southern portion of the Germany Flats aquifer and the Pequest River headwaters from further development and degradation, Kittatinny Valley State Park helps to ensure that the quantity and quality of local water resources is not jeopardized. Featuring the deepest natural lake in New Jersey, the park protects some of the most important limestone wetland communities in the State, including sinkhole ponds found nowhere else in the world, that provide habitat for many threatened and endangered plant and animal species.
Attracted by these natural resources, humans have long exploited the valley for its riches, from fertile meadows and fur-bearing animals to iron ore and limestone, creating transportation routes in their wake and changing the region’s ecology. High-impact industrial pursuits faded as resources were exhausted and further extraction became uneconomical. The favored modes of transportation also changed. A new generation began to focus on the scenic value of the land, ushering in an era of resorts and passive recreational activities still prevalent today.
Modern visitors enjoy Kittatinny Valley State Park for the same reason as visitors of the last century: scenic, serene nature within an hour or so of the New York metropolitan area.