Eagle Rock Reservation, West Orange, NJ

ABOUT THE PARK:
Eagle Rock Reservation - Essex County Parks
Eagle Rock Reservation - Eagle Rock Reservation Conservancy


DIRECTIONS:
GPS Coordinates 40.804199, -74.238107

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Drive around the loop (one way) and pass the Highlawn Pavillion on the right.  Park on the left just beyond the Highlawn Pavillion and across from the brown restroom building.  The Lenape Trail starts on the other side of the restroom building at the intersection of the roads.

TRAIL MAP:
Eagle Rock Reservation Print Map - Essex County Parks (not a very good map)
Eagle Rock Reservation Map - Eagle Rock Reservation Conservancy (much better color map)

HIKE DISTANCE: 6.15 miles

PEAK BAGGING:
Stony Hill - Peakery.com

THE HIKE:

Start on the Lenape Trail off of Crest Drive just beyond the parking area.

A couple of curious adolescent deer on the Lenape Trail.

The yellow-blazed Lenape Trail.

Blue-blazed Trail

The green-blazed trail hugs a small creek.

Stone bridge creek crossing.

The white-blazed trail follows along the rim of a small but pretty ravine.

If you are peakbagging on Peakery.com, this is considered a peak: Stony Hill at 587 feet elevation.  The white trail goes up to and over the summit.

The other end of the Lenape Trail brings you back around to the 9/11 Memorial and incredible views of the New York City skyline.

The day of our hike, 9/10/11, they were setting up for the 9/11/11 memorial ceremony.

Stopped for a couple of sunrise pictures of the New York City skyline before the hike.

A 7,400-pound piece of steel from the World Trade Center foundation, dedicated during the 9/11/11 ceremony, frames the space where the Twin Towers once stood.

HIKE SUMMARY:
[  0.00]   Walk to the intersection with the one-way road coming in from the right, turn right and walk along the road briefly then right on the yellow-blazed Lenape Trail.
[  0.50]   Cross paved Cress Drive and continue on yellow trail (blue joins also) through parking lot and to the left of the kiosk.
[  0.60]  At fork keep right on yellow when blue goes left
[  1.05]  Turn left on red when yellow goes straight towards houses
[  1.25]  Turn right on red/blue at last house when green starts to the left
[  1.30]  Turn left on blue when red goes right
[  1.55]  Cross woods road (Underhill Trail on map)
[  1.70]  Cross woods road (Broad Woods Trail on map)
[  2.00]  Turn right on white at deer exclosure when blue goes straight
[  2.10]  Summit of Stony Hill
[  2.35]  White trail ends, turn right on blue (blue is to the left of woods road - Edgewood Trail on map)
[  2.45]  Left on blue trail when it comes out on woods road at cairn, cross stone bridge then immediately turn left on green
[  2.90]  Cross woods road (Glen Trail on map)
[  2.95]  Rock hop over creek
[  3.20]  Cross woods road (Stony Brook Trail on map)
[  3.40]  Green turns left on woods road for a few steps then leaves woods road to the right; keep straight on green when white crosses over
[  3.50]  Cross woods road (Glen Trail on map)
[  3.65]  Just before creek crossing at end of green trail, turn right on blue (if you get to the intersection with the red trail, you went too far)
[  3.85]  Cross woods road (Crest Trail on map)
[  4.00]  When blue turns right at old blowdown and the three blazes of the beginning of the white trail are straight ahead, turn around and make a hairpin turn to the right around the small boulder with the white blaze to continue on the white trail
[  4.10]  Cross woods road (Crest Trail on map)
[  4.20}  Cross over green trail staying on white
[  4.30]  Cross woods road (Afterglow Trail on map)
[  4.35]  Rock hop over creek
[  4.40]  Cross woods road (Stony Brook Trail on map)
[  4.50]  Cross woods road (Glen Trail on map) with stone bridge to left
[  4.80]  White turns left merging with woods rood (Stony Brook Trail on map) coming in from right
[  4.85]  Left on blue at deer exclosure when white goes straight
[  5.00]  Stay on blue when it turns left when the white trail comes in from the right and terminates
[  5.20]  At cairn blue turns left and joins woods road then crosses bridge; stay on blue when green goes left and unmarked goes right
[  5.50]  Cross woods road (Crosswood Trail on map)
[  5.60]  Left on yellow-blazed Lenape Trail when blue ends
[  5.80]  Continue beyond gate and when the yellow trail goes left, turn right and follow paved circle road around to 9/11 memorial and views of the New York City skyline; continue around towards the Highlawn Pavillion
[  6.15]  Back at car

Jenny Jump State Forest, NJ - Jenny Jump Trail and Ghost Lake

ABOUT THE PARK:

Jenny Jump State Forest - NJ Department of Environmental Protection

DIRECTIONS:

GPS Coordinates for Jenny Jump Trail Parking 40.912126, -74.925036

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Keep right at park sign then almost immediately turn right on the gravel drive with picnic tables to the right.

Large parking lot at end of gravel drive.

TRAIL MAPS:
Jenny Jump State Forest Trail Map - NY/NJ Trail Conference

HIKE DISTANCE:
Ghost Lake - 5.40 miles
Jenny Jump Trail to views - 3.2 miles

PEAK BAGGING:
Jenny Jump Mountain #1 - New Jersey 1K Club
Jenny Jump Mountain - Peakery.com

THE HIKE:
From the parking lot, walk back out to the road, turn left, then right at the intersection following the sign to the park office.  Keep right at the fork with the park office on the left.  Pass a couple of cabins and a stone restroom building on the left.  The trailhead for the red-blazed Swamp Trail and yellow blazed Summit Trail is straight ahead.  There is also a parking lot on the right to park at if you want to skip the Jenny Jump Trail portion.

Stay on the yellow Summit Trail and watch for side trails to multiple views along the ridge.

View east of farm fields flooded by Hurricane Irene a week earlier.

View west of the Delaware Water Gap.

At the end of the yellow-blazed Summit Trail, turn right on the turquoise-blazed Ghost Lake Trail.

A side trail on the right leads to a view at an old foundation.

Large blowdown .2 miles from Ghost Lake.  Park has it on their "to do" list (they have cleaned up A LOT of Irene damage over the past week) but you can get around/under the blowdown to the right.

Ghost Lake

From Ghost Lake backtrack on the turquoise-blazed Ghost Lake Trail staying on as the yellow-blazed Summit Trail merges in from the left, all the way to where it ends at a road.  Turn left on the road then right on the white-blazed Orchard Trail.

Orchard Trail

To the right of the Orchard Trail, a pretty field with a view of the Delaware Water Gap.

A blowdown on the Orchard Trail from Hurricane Irene, also on the park's "to do" list.  We were able to climb right through this one so it was not quite as dense as it looks in the picture.

At the end of the Orchard Trail, turn left on the paved road (the road you drove in on), follow to the intersection at the park sign and keep right back to the parking lot.

The blue-blazed Jenny Jump Trail starts at the opposite end of the parking lot.

There were multiple blowdowns on the Jenny Jump Trail from the storm but we were able to get over/under all of them.  I am listing them here as documentation for the Trail Conference as well as to show the damage the storm did in western New Jersey.

Blowdown at .15 mile.

Wet section (passable) at .3 mile

Dangling limb at .55 mile but appears to be hung up on another branch.

Blowdown with blaze at .7 mile.

Blowdown at .75 mile.

Blowdown at .8 mile

At a seasonal view at 1.25 miles a map shows where you are.

Blowdown at 1.3 miles.

At 1.55 miles take the right fork which is a short side trail to a view.

Large rotten log blowdown across side trail to view - a little tricky to climb over because it is mushy but it's doable.

End of side trail at view.

View of the Delaware Water Gap.

From the view side trail you can continue right on the Jenny Jump Trail but we turned left and headed back to the parking lot.

You might want to check if these people have produce for sale.  Make a right out of the parking lot and drive a short distance up the hill.  It will be on the right.  If there is produce available there should be a table out at the road with a sign.

HIKE SUMMARY:
Ghost Lake:
[  0.00] Walk out of parking lot, turn left on road, then turn right heading towards park office at the park sign; at park office keep right following sign for shelters 1-8 and camp sites 9-11
[  0.20]  Restrooms in stone building on left; trailhead for Summit/Swamp Trails straight ahead; turn left on yellow and red-blazed Summit/Swamp Trails
[  0.35]  At fork keep left (blazes do not indicate which fork to take); short distance ahead turn right on yellow Summit Trail when red Swamp Trail goes left
[  0.50]  At fork keep right on short side trail to view
[  0.65]  Short side trail on right to view and another shortly after
[  0.90]  View to left
[  0.95]  Keep straight on Summit Trail when Spring Trail crosses over
[  1.35]  Right on turquoise-blazed Ghost Lake Trail when Summit Trail ends
[  1.90]  Woods road to right goes to view at old foundation
[  2.60]  Ghost Lake
[  3.00]  Back track on Ghost Lake Trail after exploring Ghost Lake
[  3.60]  Woods road to left goes to view at old foundation
[  4.15]  Yellow-blazed Summit Trail joins in from left; keep straight on yellow/turquoise
[  4.40]  Turn left on paved road when yellow/turquoise trail ends
[  4.50]  Turn right on white-blazed Orchard Trail (trailhead sign is on left by a bench)
[  4.65]  Short side trail to right to meadow with view of Delaware Water Gap
[  5.00]  Orchard Trail joins gravel road
[  5.15]  Keep right at the fork
[  5.25]  Orchard Trail ends at paved State Park Road, turn left then keep right at fork at park sign
[  5.40]  Turn right on gravel road at picnic area back to parking lot

Jenny Jump Trail:
[  0.00]  Begin at trailhead at the far end of parking lot
[  0.10]  Cross creek
[  0.95]  Cross over woods road
[  1.25]  Seasonal view
[  1.55]  Right at fork on side trail to view; retrace
[  1.85]  Seasonal view
[  2.15]  Cross over woods road
[  3.00]  At fork keep left on blue when white goes right (white not on map)
[  3.10]  Cross creek
[  3.20]  Back at parking lot