ABOUT THE PARK: The article above states "To protect its pending investment from premature degradation, the county is proposing strategies to eliminate the illegal operation of off-road vehicles." Sadly these strategies do not seem to be working as illegal ORV usage is alive and well on these trails.
DIRECTIONS:
GPS Coordinates 41.155262, -74.358433
TRAIL MAP:
There are many trails not on the map created by illegal ORV usage which often makes it confusing where to go when markers are missing.
HIKE DISTANCE: 6.1 miles (with part of Abram Hewitt State Forest included)
THE HIKE:
I saw 8 bears on this hike. That is about as many as I have seen total over the past 10 years.
 |
| The main entrance is set up very well to prevent ORVs from entering with boulders and fencing and gates. There are other ways for them to get in :(. Hikers enter through the gate on the right. |
 |
| Taking the green trail to the left. |
 |
| Four different birds in one place. |
 |
| Balloon #6 of the year. |
 |
| The yellow jackets must have been sleeping because we did not see them. |
 |
| Such a mess. |
 |
| A few partial views of Greenwood Lake from the red trail. |
 |
| Orange suddenly ends just a few steps from the yellow but continues as a path parallel to yellow so we stayed on the path. |
 |
| Just as yellow does, the path runs into green where we turned left. |
 |
| Left on white ... |
 |
| ... which follows along Cooley Brook. |
 |
| Back on green passing a swamp. |
 |
| Off to the left we saw our first bear of the day. He paid no attention to us and continued slowly in his direction heading to the swamp we had just passed. Good bear. |
 |
| Shortly after passing blue on the left where we had crossed the yellow jacket bridge earlier, we turned right on unmarked to connect over to Abram Hewitt State Forest. |
 |
| The woods road comes out into a clearing but continues to the left of the clearing. |
 |
| Balloon #7 of the year. |
 |
| This unmarked trail ascends steeply before reaching ... |
 |
| ... the green Bearfort Ridge Loop Trail where we turned left. |
 |
| This was my attempt at a quick shot of momma bear and her four cubs. I can't believe I didn't get any of them. But I did not want to linger and try for a good picture because momma was nervous, as any mother would be. I spoke to her and told her we were just passing through, not to be worried. She gathered her cubs together and sat staring at me to be sure I was leaving the area and I did, continuing on at my normal pace while talking to her. Good momma bear. (The babies were adorable!) |
 |
| At this point I would have retraced on green to head back to the Highlands Preserve but I did not want to upset momma bear again so I decided it would be best to road walk back and avoid encountering her a second time. We turned left on blue/green. |
 |
| A few rhododendron blooms hanging on. |
 |
| Left on Warwick Turnpike which is not a very pleasant road walk with constant traffic but the upside was a nice breeze on a hot, humid morning and no mosquitoes. |
 |
| Shortly after crossing this bridge ... |
 |
| ... we turned left on the green/black connector which would meet back up with green beyond where momma bear was. |
 |
| Now retracing on green. |
 |
| The last two bears were to top of these rocks. They looked young, maybe teenagers, stared at us until I got to the point where I would have gotten a clear picture of them but before I could even raise the camera they both bolted away. Good bears. |
 |
| Balloon #8 of the year. |
 |
| Back on the unmarked woods road connecting to Highlands Preserve. |
 |
| Continuing on green. |
 |
| Back to the parking lot. |
