ABOUT THE PARK:
DIRECTIONS:
GPS Coordinates 40.68646, -74.36147
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| Tower Parking Area |
TRAIL MAP:
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| I uploaded all of my Watchung Reservation hike tracks into Gaia and changed all them to blue so it would be easy to see in the app which trails I had already hiked. I could then clearly identify which trails to take. |
HIKE DISTANCE: 7.7 miles
THE HIKE:
Watchung Reservation is the closest to me but not a place I hike very often. Too crowded, too noisy, just not my thing. But on a holiday when I did not want to be on highways driving any distance, it would have to do. Surprisingly, by hiking these unmarked trails that I had not hiked before, I actually found lots of quiet and solitude.
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| Heading out of the parking lot to the left to pick up the white trail which crosses WR Tracy Drive. |
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| Crossing Summit Lane. |
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| Just before coming up on WR Tracy Drive again, left on a wide gravel unmarked path. |
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| Heading past The Loop ... |
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| ... and back into the woods. |
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| Coming out at an open area with picnic tables we headed right ... |
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| ... to a pretty much hidden trail ... |
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| ... which opens up once through the overgrowth. |
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| This is a nice unmarked trail high up with the more popular trails down below. |
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| It descends at the far end meeting up with heavily used trails. |
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| Taking a few marked trails to the next section of unmarked trail. |
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| This unmarked trail follows a dry creek bed ... |
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| ... then ascends very steeply uphill to the left. |
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| Cute little garter snake. It was so small I thought it was a large earthworm at first. |
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| At the top meeting up with the pink trail to the next unmarked trail. |
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| From this point a left on the white trail to a left on the unmarked trail towards the red dots. |
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| The unmarked trail comes out at Skytop Drive where we crossed then continued up Glenside Avenue a short distance to a right on another unmarked path... |
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| At this point, having come in on the brown solid like from Glenside Avenue, we turned left on a trail not on this map - it heads towards "You Are Here" then veers right and follows parallel to the white trail. |
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| It's a very nice peaceful trail with nobody else in sight. |
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| There has been maintenance on it even though it is not an official trail. |
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| It comes out on the white trail just before the overlook to the left. |
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| And here we are at the lovely overlook... of a quarry. Ugh. |
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| From here another unmarked trail that follows closely along the edge of a steep drop to the left. |
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| Coming out at a parking area on Skytop Drive near Seeley's Pond ... |
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| ... a right on Skytop Drive a short distance to a left on an unmarked path. |
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| Right on an unmarked path that was not even on the Gaia app (the rest of the ones we hiked were on the app). |
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| At times it was well-defined, other times not so much but I always managed to regain it. |
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| At the end it ascends steeply to ... |
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| ... an official gravel path. |
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| Crossing a bridge over Blue Brook ... |
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| ... to a right on an unmarked path that follows Blue Brook at a higher level. |
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| Over to the other side of Blue Brook ... |
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| ... then left towards Lake Surprise. |
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| With Lake Surprise straight ahead, veering right uphill. |
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| Right on unmarked. |
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| Passing by Trailside Nature and Science Center. |
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| Interesting turn blazes. |
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| Retracing the rest of the way on white. |
