ABOUT THE PARK:
Ramapo Valley County Reservation - Bergen County, NJ
DIRECTIONS:
GPS Coordinates 41.07776, -74.18709
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| Huge parking lot that fills up on weekends. |
TRAIL MAP:
At this time the best map is the temporary
free map from the NY/NJ Trail Conference that shows all of the recently constructed trails which are part of this hike.
HIKE DISTANCE: 10.65 miles
THE HIKE:
This was not a hike Shawnee could do in her wheelchair so I had to sneak out without her again. It's not that I don't want to take her, I miss her terribly. It's just that I have yet to find any week day no hunting options that are appropriate for her. She'll get her turn over the weekend. And I'll just have to burn extra calories.
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| All paths from the parking lot lead to the yellow trail... |
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| ... across the Ramapo River. |
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| Just before Scarlet Oak Pond, a right on silver. |
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| Buffleheads in Scarlet Oak Pond. |
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| At the end of silver, right on yellow over the bridge. |
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| I had started at 7 AM so the sunrise colors were gorgeous. |
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| Looking back at Scarlet Oak Pond. |
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| The deer are much more curious here since it is a huge no hunting park. |
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| As long as they stay on this side and don't wander over to Ramapo State Forest. |
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| Reaching a higher elevation. |
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| Views from Hawk Rock. |
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| Up a little higher to ... |
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| ... New York City skyline views from Cactus Ledge. |
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| This would be why it is called Cactus Ledge. |
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| Continuing on yellow. |
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| Right on white. |
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| Pink joins in for a short distance. |
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| Looks like an old foundation along the trail. |
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| Taking pink to the right when it leaves white. |
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| Pink descends to green where a left on green is a creek crossing. |
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| After two days of pouring rain, the water was raging and crossing was a little challenging. |
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| Haven't had to use these in a long time but fortunately I always have a pair of waterproof boot covers tucked away in my backpack for just such occasions. |
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| Vintage car ruins with crank windows that I have always missed. Have never been a fan of power car windows. |
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| The green trail was a creek from all of the rain. |
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| Halifax ruins on the right. |
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| The trail finally dries out at a higher elevation. |
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| Leaving the woods road on a foot path to the left. |
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| Crossing that same creek higher up where it is much more manageable. |
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| Leaving green and turning left on white. |
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| The trail passes by this building on the pipeline from which a loud humming noise can be heard and where I smelled gas. |
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| Doesn't take very long to leave all of that behind and have peace and quiet again. |
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| Back on that same stretch of white/pink I was on earlier. |
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| Turning right to stay on pink. |
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| At the end of pink right on blue. |
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| From blue I had intended to turn right on red but realized within about a quarter of a mile that I was on the wrong red. This is actually red/silver. |
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| Back on blue, it is right after this bend over a creek... |
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| ... that I turned right on red without silver which is the trail I wanted to take. |
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| Man-made swamp outlet. |
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| After passing yellow I had to start watching to the right for a way to bushwhack up Matty Price Hill where there were supposed to be nice views. |
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| I found a spot to head up but obviously I was not the first to go this way. |
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| Almost at the summit there is a faint footpath where others have gone before. |
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| Indeed, very nice views to the west, |
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| Heading back down... |
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| ... where I came out back on red to continue on. |
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| Red ends at McMillan Reservoir. |
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| Taking the pink trail around the reservoir. |
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| There were tons of birds at the far side of the reservoir. This would be a male American Goldfinch in his much more subdued winter colors. |
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| Black-capped Chickadee |
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| This cheeky little titmouse was playing hide-and-seek with me alternating from one side of the tree to the other. |
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| On this rock slab at the far side of the reservoir ... |
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| ... pink ends at yellow where I turned left on yellow. |
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| A blurry White-breasted Nuthatch |
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| New York City skyline views from the Ridge Overlook off of the yellow trail. |
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| When yellow joins blue to the left, right on blue. |
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| Blue becomes paved and heads towards ... |
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| ... Scarlet Oak Pond where you will run into tons of people. |
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| Blue ends at yellow ... |
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| Scarlet Oak Pond |
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| ... and a left on yellow leads back to the parking lot. |
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| When I don't have to carry two large bottles of water for Shawnee, I have room to pack out more litter. |
