Remember that long list of explorers you had to learn in school and likely forgot all of now, besides Christopher Columbus (which is tragic honestly, since not only did he not really do much of anything, he tortured, enslaved, and murdered the local people)? Remember da Gama? Vespucci? Cabot? You know, a bunch of European guys sailing around for various countries? Well, hopefully you remember Henry Hudson from that list. From his namesake we get, among other things, Hudson County, the Hudson River, and Hudson Bay.
Historians know Henry Hudson stopped and got water from these springs during his 1609 voyage. You might be asking, so what? Well, I dunno really. If you’re a history geek, this is simply a little known historical site of very, very minute significance. I bet your text books never mentioned he stopped off in the Highlands of NJ, though.
The spring is also somewhat difficult to find; I have driven by it multiple times on the way to Hartshorne Woods without realizing it. The roads in the area wind and curve all over the place. There is virtually no parking when you get near the spring, and any that is close by is all private. It was a real pain getting to this site.
Again, just an interesting historical tidbit. If you’re into history, go check it out. If you’re not all that into history… why are you on this site?
Part of the Henry Hudson Trail runs behind the spring site.
Can you drink water from it? The town says no, but other people say otherwise…
