The switchback cache is located along the beautiful Allamuchy Mountain trail, (AMT) known as "Allamuchy North" for Mountain bikers where the hilly and rocky trails test advanced riders who roll over large rocks, ascend short, steep technical hills and navigate the naturally challenging features of trails such as Lumpy Bumpy and Rollie Pollie.
A switchback is a trail up a steep hill or mountain that is like a zig-zag pattern instead of a straight trail. The zig-zag pattern protects the hill and the trail from excessive erosion.
Allamuchy Mountain inherited its name from among the first inhabitants of the area - the Lenape Indians. The leader of this particular settlement was Chief Allamuchahokkingen, whose name means, "place within the hills." The same name was given to the first settlement in 1715. Allmuchahokkingen was later shortened to Mamuchahoken and then in 1737 to Allamucha.
The Allamuchy Natural Area is a patchwork of different natural habitats with some 15 miles of trails, offering excellent opportunity to view the beauty of mixed oak hardwood forests, hemlock-spruce forests, fields, swamp-hardwood forests, and northern marshlands.
The majority of the land, 8,398 acres, that composes Allamuchy Mountain State Park was part of the Rutherford and Stuyvesant estates. These families are distinguished as the direct descendant of Peter Stuyvesant, the last governor of New Amsterdam. In the early 1970's, the State of New Jersey purchased this property with green acres bond funds. Stephens State Park consists of 805 acres of land situated along the Musconetcong River. 228 of those acres were donated to the State of New Jersey for recreational purposes in 1937 by the late Marsena P. and Augustus W. Stephens.