Jockey Hollow at Morristown National Historical Park

Jockey Hollow is part of Morristown National Historical Park, the first National Historical Park established in the United States (1933). Roughly 12,000 Continental Army soldiers wintered here in 1779 to 1780, the coldest winter of the eighteenth century. The encampment claimed more lives to starvation and exposure than the better-remembered winter at Valley Forge.

The site covers about 1,200 acres of woods and meadows on the Morristown/Harding/Mendham Township line. Start at the visitor center for the orientation film and the museum exhibits, then walk to the reconstructed soldier huts on the hillside (a quick loop) or the 1750s Wick House, which served as a quarters for General Arthur St. Clair during the encampment.

There’s a three-mile tour road for driving the full circuit. Hikers get about 25 miles of trails connecting Jockey Hollow with the adjoining Lewis Morris County Park and the broader Patriots’ Path system. No entrance fee, no pass required.

The visitor center is closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays; the grounds are open daily sunrise to sunset.