Sunday, November 20, 2022

Rockleigh - Alpine Loop, NJ

ABOUT THE PARK: 
Rockleigh Woods Sanctuary - NYNJ Trail Conference

DIRECTIONS: 
GPS Coordinates 41.003960, -73.925370
Trailhead parking behind Rockleigh Borough Hall

TRAIL MAPS: 
I had downloaded the track for Alpine/Rockleigh Grand Tour to use as a guide to navigate the many unmarked mountain bike trails but I believe Trailforks subscription is needed in order to do that.


HIKE DISTANCE:  10.6 miles

THE HIKE:
Access to the trail at the kiosk from the Rockland Borough Hall parking lot.
At the first intersection we turned right on yellow to start a counterclockwise loop combining Rockleigh Woods, Alpine mountain bike trails and Lamont Reserve.
Looking back, we had come from yellow and made a sharp right turn on white.
Lamont Rock
A short distance from Lamont Rock are some very partial and seasonal views of the Hudson River.
Heading back to Lamont Rock and keeping left on pink paint/red discs, known as the Red Dot Trail.
There will be lots of camp ruins along the way.
The campmaster seems to have the swankiest ruin.
Leaving red and taking some unmarked trails.
We encountered a few mountain bikers along the way.
At this boardwalk we should have continued left on the boardwalk but ...
... I could see where that Red Dot Trail was to the right so I went that way to make the hike more of a loop instead of heading back to where I had been before.
It wasn't long before the Red Dot Trail fizzled out.  The  markers where still in place but the trail was completely gone so we I bushwhacked over to the road ...
... and road walked a bit to get back to the trails.  This turned out to be an active part of the camp where I probably should not have been but I ran into some people manning a finish line for a race that I never got caught up in and asked permission to hike through to get back to the trails and they said that was fine so I continued on ...
... and found the Red Dot Trail now on a road.
The Red Dot Trail continued on the road but in the wrong direction to I bushwhacked a short distance to where I needed to be ...
... which also turned out to the the Red Dot Trail.  Most confusing!  Had I turned left on that boardwalk I would have eventually ended up here bypassing the active scout camp area.
The red trail runs into the white-dot-on-purple trail which heads north back to Rockleigh.
Close to the Palisades Interstate Parkway.
The purple trail ends at yellow but I was only at 9 miles so to add on another mile I turned left uphill ...
... then right on red downhill along scenic Roaring Brook.
Now retracing on yellow from the beginning of the hike ...
... back to the parking lot.

Balloons #20 - #24 of the year packed out plus 3 in trees that could not be reached.

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