Appalachian Trail: Warwick Turnpike, NJ to Prospect Rock, NY with Cascade Lake Park, NY

ABOUT THE PARK:
Cascade Lake Park - Town of Warwick, NY
Appalachian Trail - NY/NJ Trail Conference

DIRECTIONS:
GPS coordinates for parking on Warwick Turnpike:  41.201500, -74.391610

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Roadside parking on both sides of Warwick Turnpike where the Appalachian Trail crosses over. (room for 8-10 cars)

GPS coordinates for parking on Long House Drive (parking not shown on NY/NJ Trail Conference map):  41.195653, -74.371032

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Roadside parking for about 3-4 cars on east side of Long House Drive where AT follows road before crossing over.

TRAIL MAPS:
North Jersey Trail Map #116 - NY/NJ Trail Conference
Warwick Trail Map (Cascade Lake Park) - Town of Warwick, NY
Some notes about the Cascade Lake Park trail map: This park makes a very nice loop in conjunction with the AT but the map appears to be outdated and not very accurate.  The red trail on the map is a woods road with old red blazes.  A newer red-blazed trail is a much more attractive footpath that runs along the banks of Long House Creek on both sides.  At the southern end of the park red blazes are confusing as they lead to a footbridge as well as through a washed out section of woods road at a creek crossing. Stay with the footbridge in that area and ignore the red blazes to the creek as it is not necessary to climb down into the creek and rock hop over.  The orange trail also has yellow blazes initially.  When starting on the loop of the orange trail, make note of where you are as multiple intersections along the loop make it confusing remember which one to take back to the red trail. Never did see the yellow, green or aqua trails. The pink trail appears earlier than it should, then meets back up with the blue trail for a while, disappears, then shows up again farther along the blue trail as a woods road crossing over so it appears to run differently than what is shown on the map.

HIKE DISTANCES:
8.5 miles - park on Warwick Turnpike
6.0 miles - park on Long House Drive
Note:  My hike was 11.8 miles with exploring other trails in Cascade Park Lake so additional mileage can easily be added.

APPALACHIAN TRAIL SECTION HIKING:
TrailHeadFinder.com - AT section miles 1345.2 to 1349.3 (for Warwick Turnpike start)

THE HIKE:

From Warwick Turnpike to Long House Drive, the Appalachian Trail crosses many swamp sections with boards and rock hops.

A creek between Warwick Pike and Long House Drive.

A white blaze of the Appalachian Trail.

A detour of the Appalachian Trail due to the bridge over Long House Creek destroyed by Hurricane Irene.

From the the detour point it would be about 1.2 miles to where the bridge is gone at the creek crossing if you were to stay on the original AT.  However, it is only .05 mile from where the detour meets back up with the AT on the other side.  So I suggest doing what I did - at this point, follow the detour and on the return trip, go on down to where the AT crosses Long House Creek and determine then if you can get across to follow the original AT back at the end of the hike.  If not, you have only gone .05 mile out of your way and can take the detour route back.

Detour along Long House Drive

Detour along paved part of Riverside Drive - residential on right with Long House Creek on left.

Ducks in Long House Creek off of Riverside Drive

Lots of Downy Woodpeckers along Riverside Drive

Riverside Drive becomes a gravel road and continues into Cascade Park beyond where it meets back up with the AT.

Red-blazed trail in Cascade Lake Park following the banks of Long House Creek.

The dam which forms Cascade Lake on Long House Creek.

Cascades spill over the dam at Cascade Lake.

Blue/pink-blazed woods road in Cascade Lake Park.

The blue-blazed trail splits off as a foot path called the Zig Zag Trail and ascends to the Appalachian Trail.

Turn right on the Appalachian Trail to Prospect Rock straight ahead.

From Prospect Rock views of Greenwood Lake, Sterling Forest, NY to the left and NJ to the right.

The AT brings you from New York into New Jersey or you can be in both states at the same time.

A short but steep rock scramble on the AT which some dogs might not find amusing. (She made it down with lots of coaxing and assistance.)

When you reach the detour point keep straight on the AT if you want to take a peak at the creek crossing just over the rise.  This is where the bridge was supposed to be.

A short distance to the right are a couple of stable logs across the creek.  I did not feel comfortable walking over them (I would have ended up in the creek for sure) so I straddled the logs and scooted over inch by inch. 

From the other side, the broken bridge along the bank of the creek.

The AT will come out at the parking spots on Long House Drive.  If continuing on to Warwick Turnpike, turn left and walk along Long House Drive for .1 mile watching carefully for the AT going into the woods to the right as blazes will keep going straight along the road for the detour portion.  The right turn into the woods will be before the 30 mph curve sign.

HIKE SUMMARY:
8.5 Mile Hike From Warwick Turnpike:
0.00    Head north (east) on AT from Warwick Turnpike roadside parking
0.50    Rock hop over swampy area, boards, bridge over creek
0.65    Cross woods road (not on map)
0.75    Swamp on right, rock hop through wet area, boardwalks
1.15    Boardwalks, rock hop over creek, boardwalks, keep right at fork
1.25    Right on Long House Road
1.80    Turn left on Riverside Drive
2.30    Continue straight when Riverside Drive turns to gravel
2.70    Cross feeder creek with small waterfalls
2.75    Keep straight when AT crosses over
3.05    Turn right on red-blazed trail in Cascade Lake Park; keep straight at footbridge following red-blazed trail along creek bank
3.55    Cascade Lake and waterfalls at dam; left on blue trail beyond waterfalls
3.60    Left on pink, also old green blazes at intersection, blue goes straight, red now gone
3.70    Keep left at intersection
3.75    Cross woods road
3.85    Keep straight when blue joins in from right, not blazed blue/pink
4.10    At fork keep left on blue/pink then keep right when woods road goes left
4.20    At intersection with two woods road, follow blue to left on footpath (well marked)
4.25    Cross woods road blazed pink to the right
4.50    Turn right on white-blazed Appalachian Trail to views at Prospect Rock
4.90    NY/NJ state line and trail register
4.95    Keep straight on AT when blue trail goes left
5.15    Surprise Lake to left as AT turns sharply right
5.20    Keep right on AT when yellow goes left
5.60    Rock hop over creek
5.70    Cross unmarked woods road (not on map)
5.80    Cross unmarked woods road (not on map)
5.85    Back at Riverside Drive gravel road detour, cross over and continue on AT
5.90    If bridge out turn right along bank of Long House Creek to logs that can be used to cross creek then left on other side back to AT
6.45    Cross bridge over creek
6.65    Cross unmarked woods road (not on map)
6.85    AT right right on woods road that comes in from left
6.90    AT leaves woods road to the left
7.05    Turn left on Long House Road at roadside parking
7.15    Cross Long House Road to the right and continue on AT into the woods
7.25    Boardwalks, rock hop over creek, boardwalks
7.35    Keep right on AT at fork
7.85    Cross woods road
8.00    Cross creek on footbridge, cross swamp on boards then rock hop
8.50    Back at car

6.0 Mile Hike from Long House Drive:
0.00    Right on Long House Road
0.10    AT comes in from woods on right
0.75    Turn left on Riverside Drive
1.25    Continue straight when Riverside Drive turns to gravel
1.65    Cross feeder creek with small waterfalls
1.70    Keep straight when AT crosses over
2.00    Turn right on red-blazed trail in Cascade Lake Park; keep straight at footbridge following red-blazed trail along creek bank
2.50    Cascade Lake and waterfalls at dam; turn right on blue-blazed trail (woods road) beyond waterfalls
2.55    Left on pink, also old green blazes at intersection, blue goes straight, red now gone
2.65    Keep left at intersection
2.70    Cross woods road
2.80    Keep straight when blue joins in from right, not blazed blue/pink
3.05    At fork keep left on blue/pink then keep right when woods road goes left
3.15    At intersection with two woods road, follow blue to left on footpath (well marked)
3.20    Cross woods road blazed pink to the right
3.45    Turn right on white-blazed Appalachian Trail to views at Prospect Rock
3.85    NY/NJ state line and trail register
3.90    Keep straight on AT when blue trail goes left
4.10    Surprise Lake to left as AT turns sharply right
4.15    Keep right on AT when yellow goes left
4.55    Rock hop over creek
1.65    Cross unmarked woods road (not on map)
4.75    Cross unmarked woods road (not on map)
4.80    Back at Riverside Drive gravel road detour, cross over and continue on AT
4.85    If bridge out turn right along bank of Long House Creek to logs that can be used to cross creek then left on other side back to AT
5.40    Cross bridge over creek
5.60    Cross unmarked woods road (not on map)
5.80    AT right right on woods road that comes in from left
5.85    AT leaves woods road to the left
6.00    Back at car on Long House Road

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