Ramapo Mountain State Forest, NJ - Back Beach Park to Tamarack and Todd Hill Loops

ABOUT THE PARKS: 

Ramapo Mountain State Forest - New Jersey State Park Service

Trail Improvements in Ramapo Mountain State Forest - NYNJ Trail Conference

DIRECTIONS: 

GPS Coordinates 41.03470, -74.28555

Parking at Back Beach Park

TRAIL MAP: 

Ramapo Mountain State Forest - New Jersey State Park Service

Northern New Jersey Highlands Trail Map 150 - NYNJ Trail Conference

HIKE DISTANCE:  9.7 miles

THE HIKE: 

Was not expecting this sign right where I needed to start the hike.  So dogs are allowed on the athletic fields in the park but not in the woods?  It is an old sign being swallowed up by the tree, it's not an official sign and since we had less than a mile to get to Ramapo State Forest, I decided to ignore the sign.  As a rule I obey signs even if I disagree with them but I made an exception.

Starting on the red triangle on white Indian Rock Trail.

The NYNJ Trail Conference map says this crossing over the Wanaque River might be difficult when the water is high but during this drought that was not an issue. 

No dogs allowed, huh?  Looks like the same person has been depositing their dog's poop bags in this spot for quite some time.  That is uncalled for and is why dogs are often banned.  Brodie carries an empty peanut butter jar in his backpack and that is where his poop bag goes so it doesn't stink or get squished.  We would NEVER do this.

Going through a gas pipeline cut which also has an unmarked trail mostly used by mountain bikers.  We would be on that later.

The Indian Rock Trail turns right where the orange trail starts on the left.

We left the Indian Rock Trail on an unmarked trail to the right.

This was a very pretty area and the trail was easy to follow until we suddenly lost it.

I backtracked and found this orange ribbon on a tree and that led to the continuation of the unmarked trail.  Seems we weren't the only ones who lost it in this spot.

Back on a defined unmarked trail ...

... to a right on the Cannonball Trail.

As soon as yellow joins the Cannonball Trail from the left, left on yellow.

At the end of yellow, right on red/blue.

An unmarked side trail on the right leads to ...

... an overlook ...

... high above I-287.

Back on the trail ...

... to another overlook.

When blue/red ends, left on red.

It's so dry there is no vernal pool.  In fact, the trees looked like it should be the end of September not mid-August.  There was a ton of leaf drop and several trees changing color.

Ramapo Lake

Right on the Ramapo Lake Loop ...

... then left over the dam.

Little did I know that when I turned around after taking this picture, we would be gaining an new hiking buddy.

And here he comes.

He was a comfortable distance away to I snapped the picture and we continued on make a right on the white Castle Loop Trail.  However, every time I looked over my shoulder, that bear was following us.  He had crossed the road and come up behind us on the trail.  It was a bit unnerving.  We went the opposite way from where he was, why did he not do the same like any self-respecting bear would?  He wasn't pursuing us aggressively, just at about the same pace we were going.

A man with an off leash dog that was darting through the underbrush off trail came towards us.  I told him a bear was following us and that he might want to leash his dog.  He just laughed and continued on without leashing the dog.  Well, at least the bear was no longer my concern.  A distraction was coming his way.

The trail leads to the kiosk at the upper parking lot.

They need to make signs for bears that say "ATTENTION! Humans are active in this area.  DO NOT approach them!"

We veered left through the upper parking lot then crossed over Skyline Drive to...

...the purple Tamarack Loop Trail.

The Merlin Bird Sound ID app picked up a downy woodpecker then I saw him.

Coming up on ...

Tamarack Lake

A view of Tamarack Lake from the other side.

A large flock of turkeys took off when they heard us coming.  (Bears: This is how it is done!)

Todd Lake

Purple turns left on a woods road; we turned left on the Todd Hill Loop.

Overlook on Todd Hill

Coming out on the woods road, the green Todd Hill Loop turns right. A left turn is the purple Tamarack Loop.  The sign is up ahead but it is hard to see coming off the Todd Hill Loop.

Coming out at Skyline Drive and crossing over, keeping right through the parking lot to ...

... second kiosk where we went right on the white Castle Loop Trail.

The white trail follows that gas pipeline trail for a bit ...

... before heading back into the woods.

When the white trail turned left, we took an unmarked trail to the right ...

... back over to the gas pipeline trail and took that downhill to...

... the very bottom where we turned right on orange.

Some hikers coming our way had told us they encountered a bear in this area but we never saw it.

When orange turns right uphill, we kept straight on an unmarked trail.  I did this for a couple of reasons.  The orange trail goes uphill to the ridge and I did not have another uphill in me, especially since it had just rained and when the sun back came out the humidity was hideous.  Plus I had already hiked the orange trail but not the unmarked trail which was relatively flat so unmarked trail it was.

I started a harmless black rat snake who took off like a flash.

I amazes me just how fast they can move.

This unmarked trail ended at the yellow/red Pete's Path where we turned right.

I saw what looked like a trail to the left, which is where we needed to go and found it on the Trailforks app so we turned left.

That lead to a path that was marked with orange ribbons.

Retracing on the Indian Rock Trail where THREE off leash dogs came charging towards us and this was almost at the parking lot where the no dogs sign is.  So I guess nobody pays attention to it.  I wasn't feeling guilty at all any more.

Crossing back over the Wanaque River.

The parking lot was much busier now with sports taking place on the fields.