Hunterdon County
Hunterdon County is a county located in the western section of the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the county's population was 128,947, making it the state's 18th-most populous county,New Jersey, United States, was formed in 1960 when the New Jersey Water Authority constructed two large dams and flooded a large valley. The reservoir is named after the naturally formed circular valley surrounded by
Cushetunk Mountain
Cushetunk Mountain (formerly Mount Ployden and Pickel's Mountain occasionally Mount Cushetunk or Coshanton) is a ring shaped mountain in the U.S. state of New Jersey, located in Readington and Clinton Township in Hunterdon County. The Lenape ...
. The deep valley was caused by erosion of the soft sedimentary rock. The surrounding ridges of Cushetunk Mountain endure because they were underlaid with dense and durable volcanic rock
diabase
Diabase (), also called dolerite () or microgabbro,
is a mafic, holocrystalline, subvolcanic rock equivalent to volcanic basalt or plutonic gabbro. Diabase dikes and sills are typically shallow intrusive bodies and often exhibit fine-graine ...
that cooled slowly under the surface of the earth. The reservoir covers what used to be a farming community, with remains of a school and a church on the lake floor among other buildings.
Reaching depths of , this reservoir is best known for its pristine clear blue waters. The reservoir contains of water for use in
central New Jersey
Central Jersey is the central region of the U.S. state of New Jersey. The designation of Central New Jersey is a distinct administrative toponym.
Geographic area and descriptions
While the State of New Jersey is often divided into North and ...
, making it the largest in the state. Its water is distributed during times of drought via the nearby south branch of the Raritan River. The New Jersey Division of Wildlife (a department of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection) claims the reservoir is the southernmost body of water that contains naturally reproducing lake trout. This is one of only two lakes in New Jersey with lake trout, the other being
Merrill Creek Reservoir
Merrill Creek Reservoir, located in Harmony Township, New Jersey in central Warren County, New Jersey, is a artificial lake designed to hold 15 billion gallons of water that is surrounded by of protected woodland and fields. These lands are the ...
in Warren County. Some of the other species of fish in the lake include
bass
Bass or Basses may refer to:
Fish
* Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species
Music
* Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range:
** Bass (instrument), including:
** Acoustic bass gui ...
american eel
The American eel (''Anguilla rostrata'') is a facultative catadromous fish found on the eastern coast of North America. Freshwater eels are fish belonging to the elopomorph superorder, a group of phylogenetically ancient teleosts. The America ...
brown trout
The brown trout (''Salmo trutta'') is a European species of salmonid fish that has been widely introduced into suitable environments globally. It includes purely freshwater populations, referred to as the riverine ecotype, ''Salmo trutta'' morph ...
, and
rainbow trout
The rainbow trout (''Oncorhynchus mykiss'') is a species of trout native to cold-water tributaries of the Pacific Ocean in Asia and North America. The steelhead (sometimes called "steelhead trout") is an anadromous (sea-run) form of the coasta ...
. The park also has a wilderness area for camping, swimming and SCUBA diving facilities, a boat ramp and nature hiking and biking trails. The reservoir has been called the Bermuda Triangle of New Jersey, and over 26 people have drowned there since 1971. Six of them have never been found.N.J.'s 'Bermuda Triangle': Mystery surrounds Clinton fishing hole's deep, dark past /ref>
Gallery
Image:RoundValleySign3.JPG, Picture of the Round Valley lake
Image:RoundValleyTree.JPG, Tree hanging over the edge
Image:RoundValleyBL.JPG, Boat Launch
Image:RoundValleyShoreline.JPG, Shoreline
Image:RoundValley-SpruceRun-aerial.jpg, Round Valley and Spruce Run
File:Round Valley Reservoir.jpg, Shoreline