[1][2] The part of the township east of the Kittatinny Ridge (the part excluding the now defunct Pahaquarry Township) is located in the Kittatinny Valley which is a section of the Great Appalachian Valley that stretches for 700 miles (1,100 km) from Canada to Alabama.

Unincorporated communities, localities and place names located partially or completely within the township include Bass Lake, Franklin Grove, Hardwick, Hardwick Center, Millbrook, Newbakers Corner, Sand Pond, Squares Corner and White Pond.

[24] Sunfish Pond is a 44-acre (18 ha) glacial lake surrounded by a 258-acre (104 ha) hardwood forest located on the Kittatinny Ridge within Worthington State Forest, adjacent to the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area.

The Appalachian Trail runs alongside the western and northern edges of the lake, which was created by the Wisconsin Glacier during the last ice age.

[25] Camp Ralph S. Mason is a YMCA, established in 1900, that covers 460 acres (190 ha) adjacent to the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area that serves approximately 800 campers in its summer camp programs and 7,000 participants at its outdoor center.

Active mining was attempted for brief periods during the mid-eighteenth, mid-nineteenth, and early twentieth centuries but was never successful.

[28][29] The township's economic data, like all of Warren County, is included by the U.S. Census Bureau as part of the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ Metropolitan Statistical Area.

[41] The 2010 United States census counted 1,696 people, 573 households, and 453 families in the township.

[42] As of the 2000 United States census[13] there were 1,464 people, 502 households, and 410 families residing in the township.

[51] For the 119th United States Congress, New Jersey's 7th congressional district is represented by Thomas Kean Jr. (R, Westfield).

[53] For the 2024-2025 session, the 23rd legislative district of the New Jersey Legislature is represented in the State Senate by Doug Steinhardt (R, Lopatcong Township) and in the General Assembly by John DiMaio (R, Hackettstown) and Erik Peterson (R, Franklin Township).

[58][59] Constitutional officers of Warren County are: Clerk Holly Mackey (R, Alpha; 2027),[60][61] Sheriff James McDonald Sr. (R, Phillipsburg; 2025)[62][63] and Surrogate Michael J. Doherty (R, Washington; 2025).

[67] Among the township's 2010 Census population, 64.7% (vs. 62.3% in Warren County) were registered to vote, including 86.0% of those ages 18 and over (vs. 81.5% countywide).

[77][78] The Hardwick Township Board of Education was dissolved and merged into the Blairstown district as of July 1, 2009.

[85] Students from the township and from all of Warren County are eligible to attend Ridge and Valley Charter School in Frelinghuysen Township (for grades K–8, with Hardwick residents granted admissions priority)[86] or Warren County Technical School in Washington borough (for 9–12),[87] with special education services provided by local districts supplemented throughout the county by the Warren County Special Services School District in Oxford Township (for Pre-K–12).

[88] The only major roads that pass through are County Route 521 in the eastern part and Interstate 80 in the very west.

The portion of I-80 also includes part of the Delaware Water Gap Toll Bridge which connects to Pennsylvania.

[89] The original Friday the 13th movie was filmed at Hardwick's local Boy Scout Camp, No-Be-Bo-Sco.