Snake Hill (Laurel Hill)

Snake Hill, officially named Laurel Hill, is a diabase outcrop rising out of the Meadowlands in Secaucus, New Jersey, at a bend in the Hackensack River. It's an offshoot of the same 200-million-year-old intrusion that formed the Palisades cliffs across the Hudson. Quarrying from the late 1800s through 1982 cut the hill down dramatically — a quarter of its height and four-fifths of its base are gone — and what remains is now Laurel Hill County Park, run by Hudson County. The site is mineralogically notable: petersite-(Y), a rare-earth phosphate mineral, was first identified here in 1981 and became an officially recognized new species in 1982. The rock itself and the metamorphosed sediments it intruded carry vein minerals typical of trap-rock zeolite localities. This is a real, geologically significant site — but it's now an actively maintained county park, and whether hammering and collecting are permitted there is unconfirmed.

Laurel Hill County Park is in Secaucus, Hudson County, New Jersey, just off the New Jersey Turnpike — the hill (203 feet at its highest point) is a visible landmark from the highway. The park includes a Ridge Trail along the summit and the Hackensack Riverkeeper's Field Office and paddling center (open weekends, April–October).

UNVERIFIED. Commercial quarrying ended in 1982 and the site is now a maintained county park, which typically means hammering and specimen removal are not permitted — most county and state park systems in New Jersey prohibit collecting without a specific permit. General-area inference: if any collecting is allowed, it would likely be limited to loose float rather than hammering exposed rock faces, given the park setting.

This is a Hudson County park (Laurel Hill County Park), not an open rockhounding site — confirm collecting rules with Hudson County Parks before bringing tools. Park rules commonly restrict removal of natural materials even where public access to the land itself is unrestricted. The rock face also carries graffiti and is a popular visible landmark, so expect some foot traffic and no expectation of solitude.