Ken Lockwood was best known for "Out In The Open," a column that ran in the Newark Evening News, at the time one of New Jersey's largest daily newspapers. His beat was the outdoors: hunting, fishing, and the wild places that were disappearing under the pressure of suburban expansion. But Lockwood was not content to merely describe what he loved. He was a vocal advocate for land conservation, arguing that New Jersey needed to set aside land for hunting and fishing before development swallowed it entirely. His radio program extended his reach beyond the newspaper's readership, giving him a platform to press his case week after week. The Division of Fish, Game and Wildlife purchased the gorge property in 1948, the same year Lockwood died. The naming was not a coincidence. It was an acknowledgment that the place existed as a public resource in large part because people like Lockwood had made the case for its preservation.

The gorge follows a two-and-a-half-mile stretch of the South Branch Raritan River between Califon and High Bridge in Hunterdon County. Steep, wooded hillsides rise from both banks, creating a narrow corridor where the river narrows and quickens. The terrain is rugged enough to feel wild, though the Columbia Trail, a rail-trail conversion, passes through the gorge and crosses the river on the Ken Lockwood Gorge Bridge, providing accessible entry points. The surrounding 563 acres of Wildlife Management Area support a diverse population of birds and mammals, along with the varied flora that thrives on the steep, shaded slopes. In spring, the wildflowers emerge. In autumn, the hardwood canopy turns the gorge into a tunnel of color reflected in the river below.

Fly fishermen know Ken Lockwood Gorge the way surfers know specific breaks: by reputation, by the stories of what has been caught there, and by the particular rules that govern the place. The New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife has designated the gorge as a Trout Conservation Area, a classification that imposes stricter regulations than most other sections of the Raritan River. Bait fishing is prohibited. Catch limits differ from standard statewide rules. These restrictions exist because the gorge's cold, oxygenated water and boulder-strewn runs provide exceptional habitat for trout, and the state has chosen to manage it for quality rather than quantity. The result is a fishery that rewards skill and patience, drawing anglers who practice catch-and-release not because the rules demand it but because they want the fish to be there the next time they visit.

Ken Lockwood Gorge is administered by the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife, which continues to manage the property as a Wildlife Management Area. Conservation efforts have expanded the protected land around the gorge; in one notable acquisition, the New Jersey Conservation Foundation preserved 50 additional acres adjacent to the gorge. The Kenneth F. Lockwood monument stands within the gorge, a stone marker honoring the man whose words in print and on the airwaves helped make the case that wild places in New Jersey were worth fighting for. Lockwood's argument was simple: once developed, land cannot be un-developed, and once a river is degraded, the trout do not come back. The gorge that carries his name is the proof that he was right, and that acting on his conviction made a difference.