ABOUT THE PARK:
DIRECTIONS:
GPS Coordinates 41.15693, -74.41457
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| Cherry Ridge Road Parking (Note: Cherry Ridge Road starts out paved, then becomes gravel, then very rocky and rutted. A low clearance car might not make it.) |
TRAIL MAP: (formerly North Jersey Trails Map 116)
(shows unmarked trails not on the trail conference map)
HIKE DISTANCE: 13.7 miles
THE HIKE:
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| Crossing the parking area to the other side of Cherry Valley Road ... |
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| ... to start on the green Banker Trail. |
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| Keeping right on green when the blue Cedar Swamp Trail goes left. That would lead to the same place we will be ending up but I had hiked that trail before so trying to capture some I had not hiked yet. |
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| Left on red Plymouth Lane, which isn't a lane at all. |
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| Or maybe it was a lane back in the day. And now I know why it is called Plymouth Lane. |
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| At the end of Plymouth Lane left on yellow Double Pond. |
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| It starts out as a swamp that needs to be navigated through. |
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| It dries out eventually. |
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| This must be a bear super highway. I had never seen so much bear scat before. This path was literally lined on both sides, I would say a good 2 dozen piles along the way. |
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| Turning left on the Red Dot Trail. |
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| A rock hop over the outlet of a pond at ... |
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| ... Wawayanda Swamp |
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| At the end of the Red Dot Trail, right on Cherry Ridge Road. |
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| I'd be seeing this bridge from one of the scenic unmarked mountain bike trails at the end of the hike. |
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| Right on the yellow Laurel Pond Trail. |
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| A view of Laurel Pond from a side trail to the left. On the opposite side of the pond ... |
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| ... the falls at the dam where we would be crossing over later. |
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| At the end of yellow coming up on the main part of the park, it was busy with dog walkers coming from every which way. |
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| We made the first left coming out at Wawayanda Lake, then left ... |
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| ... on the orange Wawayanda Lake Loop. |
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| Wawayanda Lake |
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| I had noticed something in a tree across the lake and zoomed in to find ... |
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| ... a nesting bald eagle! Maybe I would get a clearer shot when when I got a little closer. |
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| Crossing the dam that we had seen from the other side of Laurel Pond. |
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| Got a little better of a shot when we were somewhat closer to the nest but it was obstructed by other branches. This is really zoomed in. We were not close to it at all. |
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| Red-bellied Woodpecker |
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| Left on the green Timber Trail. |
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| At the end of green, left on Cherry Ridge Road for a short distance. |
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| We turned right at the first unmarked trail which started out swampy. |
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| It dried out ... |
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| ... and eventually put us on the white Lookout Trail. |
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| Coming up on Lake Lookout, I could see some activity in the water and zoomed in to get some shots. Couldn't tell what the two critters were that kept surfacing and diving. I thought it might be otters ... |
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| ... and when I got home and uploaded the pictures and zoomed in, indeed there had been two otters playing in the pond. |
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| Lake Lookout |
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| Keeping left on white and crossing the dam. |
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| After crossing the dam we turned right on the first unmarked path ... |
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| ... which heads back to Lake Lookout ... |
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| ... and follows along the edge of the lake. |
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| Hooded merganser couple. |
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| It started snowing. I thought it would just be a few flurries. I was wrong. |
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| The unmarked mountain bike trail leaves Lookout Pond and loops to the west. |
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| The trail follows along a swamp heading towards Cherry Lake. |
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| Snow started coming in fairly heavy squalls. That white in the background is a squall that had just blown over us. |
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| By the time we got around to Cherry Lake the squall had cleared out but another was on the way. |
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| Crossing this inlet, to the left ... |
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| ... that bridge we had crossed earlier on Cherry Ridge Road. This unmarked trail is much more scenic. |
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| Continuing on the unmarked trail along Cherry Lake in another snow squall. |
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| The trail comes out on Cherry Ridge Road where we turned right. |
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| This snow was becoming quite annoying. It was windy and cold and the snow blows right into your eyes. |
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| At an intersection veer right through this gate ... |
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| ... and back to the parking area. |
Hi Daniela -- some great pix there of Wawayanda Lake, and of course, that nesting bald eagle! The snow squalls are sort of a pain; South Jersey wasn't immune to them either; although, I don't think they were nearly as bad as what you encountered! (I was hiking a little at Bass River State Forest, and a little squall hit as I was sitting on a bench near Lake Absegami having a snack.) I sort of had a dual purpose there: To revisit some of the shorter trails, and also to map out a potential route for Penny (my now 15-month-old Papillon). She seems to enjoy trails in general; I had her at two different parks in Burlington County last Sunday (Historic Smithville and Long Bridge Parks)...we did a total of 5.3 miles! Not sure if you were ever at those parks, but maybe Penny feels Shawnee's spirit within her! :)
ReplyDeleteLook forward to your next adventure,,,happy hiking!
Jim
Might this have been that bench? https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2B1JpTnfBjk/Uws6IFUto3I/AAAAAAAAVGc/SUqiNIb57aU/s1600/IMG_6417+(1280x960).jpg Can't believe you had snow squalls clear down the other side of the state from where I was. Was that forecast? Took me by surprise! Haven't been to Historic Smithville and Long Bridge Park yet. Someday.
DeleteAhh...excellent shot there! Looks like it was along Joe's Trail...but alas, that was not "the" bench...LOL! I was actually over in the "beach" area across Lake Absegami from your picture (assuming I'm correct on the JT reference). You know, where people swim when it's NOT a cold, blustery, snow squall-filled day in March.
ReplyDeleteThe squalls, as minor as they were, were not forecast. It was supposed to be sunny but cold...we got the "cold" part! (These may have been left over from Saturday's off-and-on rain systems.) Guess that's March for you...a little sunny/70s here; a little cold/blustery/snowy there. :-O