Jockey Hollow

Jockey Hollow is the winter encampment area for Washington's troops. Located in the Morristown area, the natural terrain, availability of water, and distance from the British made this an ideal place to camp during the winter of 1779 and 1780. Located within the boundaries of the park are the Cross Mansion and gardens (built some time after the war), the Wick House and farm (where many soldiers camped for the winter), a small visitors center with a large indoor display of a cut-away soldiers hut, and many acres of hiking trails and outdoor displays.

New Jersey can get cold during the winter, and it does snow here quite often, but what impressed me the most was the primitive shelters that these soldiers (and often their families) had to weather the coldest winter ever recorded. It was as if the elements were going to test these folks mettle with a ferocity unequaled by the battles they had just gone through.