Jonathan's Woods, NJ from Wildcat Ridge WMA

ABOUT THE PARK: 

Jonathan's Woods - Morris County Parks Commission

Jonathan's Woods - POWWW

DIRECTIONS: 

GPS Coordinates 40.93636, -74.47263

Huge parking lot in Wildcat Ridge WMA off of Meriden Road.

TRAIL MAP: 

Jonathan's Woods Trail Map 2023 - Morris County Parks Commission

Morris County Highlands Trail Map 125 - New York New Jersey Trail Conference

HIKE DISTANCE:  9.2 miles

THE HIKE: 

Back in 2020 while on Meridan Road to hike a loop in Wildcat Ridge WMA, I saw a bridge heading towards Jonathan's Woods and wondered if there was a connection.  At the time I could not find this trail on maps.  The 2023 updates of the Morris County Highlands Trail Map 125 and the Morris County map now have an orange trail that was not there before that does indeed connect over to Jonathan's Woods.  I wanted to hike that trail and attempt an unmarked, unmaintained trail shown on the map through Oak Meadows Field.

From the parking lot heading into Wildcat Ridge WMA on the red Meriden Trail.

Right on blue.

Blue comes out on Meriden Road and on the opposite side ...

... the beginning of that newer orange trail.

It's a bit overgrown early on but can be followed easily enough.

Crossing Beaver Brook on that bridge I had seen in 2020 minus the handrails.

More puncheons and bridges.

Once out of the Beaver Brook swampy area, the trail opens up and is completely clear once it enters the woods.

At a bend where the orange trail turns left (we would be returning that way) I found the unmarked trail and turned right.

I was able to stay with the trail most of the way.  It was faint but doable.

This trail was not on the Gaia app so I had to guess when I planned the route (pink).  I was surprised that I had guessed so accurately.

Once at this creek we lost the trail.  Straight ahead is not a trail rather a creek bed that has water in it up ahead.  I knew the pond I was heading for was to the left so I just had to find my way over there and ...

... there it is!

We looped around to the left on a wide mowed area.

Following the wide mowed path heading away from the pond we came to... 

... the entrance drive to Oak Meadow Field where we turned right.

Leaving Oak Meadow Field right on Pillar Drive through a pretty and peaceful residential area.

Right on Old Beach Glen Road with a crazy amount of speeding traffic.

I had intended to go to the entrance of Jonathan's Woods farther up ahead but saw three large boulders blocking an old woods road on the left and decided to head that way to get off of the road.

In a short distance that came out on the black-dot-on-yellow trail where we turned right.

At the Jonathan's Woods parking lot, straight across to the purple trail.

I had hiked Jonathan's Woods back in August 2013, almost two years after Hurricane Sandy.  That hike has comparison pictures of what it looked like post and pre Hurricane Sandy.  That hike is no longer accurate as the trails have changed a lot since then.

Starting on the purple trail into what was once known as Cathedral Pines.

There are still some huge pines left, just not as many as there once were.

Some remnants of the downed pines.

We did a lap around the new pollinator garden on the left.

Didn't see any pollinators.

Continuing on black-dot-on-purple to...

... the overlook.  The sign is on the tree on the left but it is becoming hard to see.

Gorgeous view of Beaver Brook with Wildcat Ridge WMA in the distance.

We sat here for a long time taking a break and capturing the sounds many birds: Song Sparrow, Red-winged Blackbird, Black-capped Chickadee, Common Yellowthroat, Northern Flicker, Yellow Warbler, Northern Rough-winged Swallow, Chestnut-sided Warbler, Swamp Sparrow, Common Grackle.  Those swallows were doing a great job of keeping the bug population down so we sat in the nice breeze with no annoying bugs.

Continuing on.

The trail crosses a white-blazed woods road but the blazes on the other side are hard to see.

Purple ends at red where we turned left.

From red, right on white to just before the parking lot where we turned right on black-dot-on-yellow, also a newer trail that was not on older maps.

At the end of black-dot-on-yellow, left on red.

Right on yellow.

The left turn on blue is before this turn but it can't be seen heading in this direction.

By turning around and retracing a few steps, now right on blue.

At the end of blue, left on red.

Watch for the beginning of orange on the right.

Now it's orange all the way back to Meriden Road.

Crossing over Old Beach Glen Road.

Back where we had left orange on the unmarked trail earlier, now retracing on orange.

Left on Meriden Road ...

... for a bit over half a mile of road walking back to the parking lot on the right.