Mills Reservation

County park in Essex County, New Jersey

Mills Reservation is a county park, consisting of a protected wooded area located in Cedar Grove and Montclair, New Jersey, United States. The reservation is maintained by the Essex County Park Commission. The reservation has several walking and jogging trails, including the Lenape Trail, four major trails, and two smaller trails. One of the four main trails leads to a cliff that overlooks the New York City skyline. Mills Reservation is located on the First Watchung Mountain, one of three Watchung Mountains which are long, low ridges of volcanic origin in northern New Jersey.

Mills Reservation is located atop First Watchung Mountain in Montclair, New Jersey and Cedar Grove, New Jersey. It is a 157.15 acre tract of forest, grassland, and cliffs. Views from Montclair to Newark, the Hudson River, and Manhattan can be seen from Quarry Point, a 500 foot basalt ledge on a ridge on the south end of the park.

Activities in Mills Reservation include walking, jogging, hiking, and sightseeing of different plants and animal species, as in all forest parks. However, bike riding is prohibited by the county. The New Jersey Audubon Hawk Watch began in 1959 in Mills Reservation. Montclair Hawk Watch meets at the park during each spring for two months, as many raptors' migratory patterns are directly above the reservation.

From 1890 to 1918, proprietors Osborne & Marsellis operated a quarry below what is now Quarry Point on the south end of the reservation, using steam power to blast rock from the side of the cliff. In 1952, David and Ella Mills of the Davella Mills Foundation purchased 118 acres of the land in order to preserve it, and donated it to Essex County. The park was designed by the Olmsted Brothers. During World War II, the 13th of many military searchlights across the metropolitan area was installed in Mills Reservation at Quarry Point, overlooking New York City. The searchlight was eventually removed from the spot, leaving a large concrete circle in its place. Earlier the platform may have been the base of a water tower for the steam machinery and fire fighting system of the quarry there of Osborne & Marselis etc. There are also some reports that that cliff edge location was used as a fire beacon station in George Washington's communication, and earlier as a smoke signal point by the Indians.