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Mouse Cradle Balancing Rock

Mouse Cradle Balancing Rock

Among the many interesting features of the Tourne/Birchwood landscape is the Mouse Cradle Balancing Rock, a glacial erratic which rests on the southwestern summit of the Tourne and is balanced on two points of ledge rock and a hidden wedge stone. This imposing 54-ton boulder was named by Mr. Clarence Addington DeCamp in 1897, when he discovered a mouse nesting in a cleft of the rock.  He adjusted the boulder with jack screws so the rock could be tilted a few inches with a lever when a hidden wedge was removed.

How to get there

Mouse Cradle Balancing Rock is up near the summit of the Tourne. Take the trail that goes up around to the right.  Just before the summit, a side trail goes off to the left. Follow that a short distance to the rock. The mouse nest was way back under there.

 

Take only pictures.  Leave only footprints.

Sights

  • The upper three lakes,
  • Rattlesnake Valley,
  • Elephant Rock
  • Mouse cradle balancing rock,
  • Spring house,
  • Rifle range,
  • Tower Hill sled run,
  • Boiling spring.

Briarcliff EIC Projects

Trail Maps

  • Halsey Frederick Park,
  • Maple Way Woodlands,
  • Richard M. Wilcox & Tourne Parks,
  • Mountain Lakes Eastern Trails

Morris County

  • Boonton Falls,
  • Pyramid Mountain,
  • Farny Highlands Trails,
  • Mahlon Dickerson Reservation,
  • Patriots Path,
  • The Great Swamp,
  • Jockey Hollow.

Northern New Jersey

  • Delaware Water Gap National Recreational Area,
  • High Point State Park,
  • Stokes State Forest.

About

Mountain Lakes is located in north-central New Jersey where the rolling hills of the New Jersey's Piedmont region meet the rocky outcroppings of the Highlands.

Our History

In 1910, Mountain Lakes was a rural woodland owned by a few families with names such as Righter, Grimes, Ball and Van Duyne. In the space of ten years, however, the entire face of Mountain Lakes changed from a wilderness of Dutch and English properties to a planned suburban community. Learn More

Contact Us

Mountain Lakes Borough Hall
400 Boulevard
Mountain Lakes, NJ 07046
Phone: 973-334-3131
Hours: 8:30-4:30, M-F

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