The Palisades

The Palisades, basalt bluffs 200–540 feet (60–165 meters) high along the west side of the Hudson River, southeastern New York and northeastern New Jersey, U.S. Rising vertically from near the water’s edge, they are characterized by uplifts, faults, and columnar structure developed by slow cooling of molten material near the end of the Triassic Period (252 to 201 million years ago). The Palisades Interstate Park Commission, established in 1900 and headquartered in Bear Mountain, New York, oversees 24 park units, occupying a total area of 150 square miles (388 square km), in New York and New Jersey. Linking the various units is the 42-mile (68-km) Palisades Interstate Parkway, extending northward from George Washington Bridge, Fort Lee, New Jersey, to Bear Mountain Bridge, New York. The largest unit is Harriman State Park (73 square miles [189 square km]). Facilities for hiking, swimming, fishing, boating, camping, picnicking, golfing, rock climbing, and skating are available. An inn is open all year long at Bear Mountain.

The term Palisades, now quasi-generic for a line of cliffs, was apparently first used in reference to these columnar formations along the Hudson.