Allamuchy Mountain State Park, NJ - Waterloo Village to Deer Park Pond

ABOUT THE PARK:
Allamuchy Mountain State Park - NJ Division of Environmental Protection
Allamuchy Mountain State Park Trails - Bikekinetics - nice trail descriptions
Waterloo Village - NJ Division of Environmental Protection
Highlands Trail - scroll down to section 4 - description for this hike starts about half way down section at "Cross Waterloo Road..."

DIRECTIONS:
GPS Coordinates  40.916192, -74.760987

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Although the NJDEP site states "Waterloo Village grounds are open to the public for walking. Parking is permitted outside the gates." I did not feel comfortable parking there since I knew an event was being held the day I hiked.  The coordinates above are far a large field just outside of Waterloo Village where the Highlands Trail crosses over Waterloo Road.  This is also designated as a parking area on the map.  A small gravel area leads to the field.

TRAIL MAP:
Jersey Highlands Trail Map 126 - New York New Jersey Trail Conference
Waterloo Village - The Star Ledger
Note that there has been a reroute of the Highlands Trail since the publication of the Jersey Highlands maps.  Instead of following Waterloo Road around and under I-80, the trail now crosses Waterloo Road, goes through the parking field, follows a woods road through the trees, crosses another field, reenters woods briefly, then joins up with the Morris Canal Greenway and follows along the Musconetcong River and under I-80.

HIKE DISTANCE:  8.95 miles (based on about 1 mile in Waterloo Village)

THE HIKE:

The greeter right at the beginning of the hike.

Leave the Highlands Trail to the left to enter Waterloo Village.

Rutan Cabin in Waterloo Village

Wood ducks and some big turtles (at top of picture) in a pond beyond Rutan Cabin.

Peter D. Smith House ~ 1874

Morris Canal

United Methodist Church at Waterloo Village

Morris Canal Greenway on the tow path between the Morris Canal and the Musconetcong River leaving Waterloo Village just before the Highland Trail joins in.

Combined Morris Canal Greenway/Highlands Trail

Most of the Morris Canal Greenway/Highlands Trail is a footpath between the Mustonetcong River and the Morris Canal with a minimal amount of road walking.

Stone ruins are visible off the trail.

Crayfish in the Musconetcong River

Orange-Blazed Waterloo North Trail

The red-blazed Barberry Trail skirts Deer Park Pond with outstanding views.

Watch your step!  I was so busy looking at the pond that I almost stepped on this guy.  Fortunately my foot only grazed his shell but I am sure it scared him half to death! 

Beautiful Deer Park Pond

Interesting tree formation.

The blue-blazed trail is a woods road that skirts along the other side of Deer Park Pond.

A shady, breezy, surprisingly bug-free break spot.

Musconetcong River

Different types of geese do interbreed - could the one front and center be a result of that - offspring of the white goose and a Canada goose?

HIKE SUMMARY:
[  0.00]  From the parking field, take the teal-blazed Highlands Trail into the woods on a woods road
[  0.10]  Come out of woods, cross paved road that ends to the left, cross field about half way then turn left towards kiosk and enter Waterloo Village; explore Waterloo Village ending up at the canal by the broken bridge
[  1.35]  Follow tow path between the canal and the Musctonetcong River towards the Morris Canal Greenway trail maker; keep straight at fork
[  1.45]  Teal-blazed Highlands Trail joins in from the right; now on combined Morris Canal Greenway/Highlands Trail; after a short distance go under I-80
[  1.75]  Starport historical sign and building ruins on the left
[  1.90]  Turn left on Waterloo Road
[  2.15]  Turn left into woods leaving Waterloo Road after second guardrail section
[  2.20]  Cross footbridge at historical sign for Morris Canal Waste Weir
[  2.25]  Turn right on paved Kinney Road (no street sign) then right on Waterloo Road
[  2.30]  Just after guardrail turn left on orange-blazed Waterloo North Trail
[  3.20]  Orange trail ends at white, turn right on white
[  3.70]  Turn left on blue when white goes straight
[  4.05]  Turn right on red-blazed Barberry Trail when blue goes left
[  4.85]  Turn left on white (looks like this is sometimes blazed red/white although map indicates red ends at intersection)
[  5.15]  At fork when white goes right, turn left on short trail to post showing end of red trail and white trail turning right (map does not show this trail as white rather blue) - turn left here and blue blazes will be up ahead
[  6.15]  Shortly after crossing bridge keep right on white when blue goes left
[  6.60]  Cross section of boardwalk then turn right on green-blazed Waterloo South Trail
[  7.10]  Green ends at Waterloo Road; although the Morris Canal Greenway/Highland Trail is reached by road walking to the right, cross over Waterloo Road instead, turn right at the parking area and follow the gravel parking access road to a well-defined unmarked foot path into the woods that leads directly to the Morris Canal Greenway/Highland Trail and avoids the road walk
[  7.20]  At the T-intersection turn left on the Morris Canal Greenway/Highland Trail
[  7.35]  Turn right on Waterloo Road a short distance, keep to the right of the guardrail then turn right on a grassy woods road just before the mailbox with 1054 on it
[  7.95]  Cross straight over paved Kinney Road and continue on footpath (now retracing from first part of hike)
[  8.10]  Turn right on Waterloo Road passing two sections of guardrail
[  8.30]  Trail leaves Waterloo Road to the right after second guardrail
[  8.40]  Starport historical sign and building ruins on right
[  8.75]  Cross under I-80 then watch for the teal-blazed Highlands Trail to turn left leaving the Morris Canal Greenway, go uphill briefly through woods then through field
[  8.85]  Cross paved road that dead ends to the left and enter woods on woods road
[  8.95]  Back at field parking

Promised Land State Park, PA - Little Falls

ABOUT THE PARK:
Promised Land State Park - Pennsylvania Dept. of Conservation and Natural Resources

DIRECTIONS:
GPS Coordinates:   41.314442, -75.234646

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Parking on right along road after crossing bridge.

TRAIL MAP:
Promised Land State Park Trail Map - Pennsylvania DCNR

HIKE DISTANCE:
1.4 miles (This hike was done in conjunction with the Bruce Lake Natural Area hike about 3 miles away.)

THE HIKE:

Walk to the end of the parking lot closest to the bridge, cross the street and follow the short path to the Little Falls Trail sign.

Blue-blazed trail along Wallenpaupack Creek.

Wallenpaupack Creek

Little Falls

Damselfly along Wallenpaupack Creek.

HIKE SUMMARY:
[  0.00]  Walk to end of parking closest to bridge, cross road and take trail to intersection; turn left at "Little Falls Trail" sign
[  0.10]  Turn right on blue-blazed trail before bridge
[  0.50]  Little Falls; keep straight at bridge (trail is supposed to continue on another half mile before crossing over the creek)
[  0.70]  Trail appears to fizzle out in a swamp; retrace
[  0.95]  Turn right and cross over bridge; turn left other side of bridge
[  1.30]  Turn left and cross bridge; keep straight after bridge
[  1.40]  Turn right at "Little Falls Trail" sign and cross road back to parking lot

Promised Land State Park, PA - Conservation Island

ABOUT THE PARK:
Promised Land State Park - Pennsylvania Dept. of Conservation and Natural Resources

DIRECTIONS:
GPS Coordinates:  41.306599, -75.204756

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Sign to parking lot.

Parking lot just before bridge to island.

TRAIL MAP:
Promised Land State Park Trail Map - Pennsylvania DCNR

HIKE DISTANCE:
1.4 miles (This hike was done in conjunction with the Bruce Lake Natural Area hike about 3 miles away.)

THE HIKE:

Promised Land Lake from bridge.

Turning right at the kiosk for a counter clockwise loop, the trail starts off as a wide woods road.

Kayaks in Promised Land Lake

The map is not clear on this but a blue-blazed trail crosses over the woods road.  I turned right and followed the blue-blazed trail the rest of the way because it runs closer to the lake, yet it is terribly overgrown in places.

Flying Squirrel Red Squirrel, per Nick, below.

Lake views all along the trail.

HIKE SUMMARY:
[  0.00]  From parking cross bridge
[  0.10]  Turn right at kiosk; keep right at trail intersection a few steps ahead
[  0.30]  Wide woods road becomes more narrow footpath
[  0.55]  Turn right on blue-blazed trail when it crosses over
[  0.85]  Trail makes sharp left turn (unmarked) where straight dead ends in rhododendron thicket; in a few steps turn right as blue trail joins woods road coming in from left
[  1.05]  Keep right on blue when woods road leaves to the left
[  1.30]  Turn right when blue joins woods road
[  1.35]  Keep right when trail forks to left at intersection post 111; turn right at kiosk to bridge
[  1.40]  Back at parking lot

Delaware State Forest, PA - Bruce Lake Natural Area

ABOUT THE PARK:
Delaware State Forest - Pennsylvania Dept. of Conservation and Natural Resources
Bruce Lake Natural Area - Discover Pike

DIRECTIONS:
GPS Coordinates 41.341060, -75.207615

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Large sign at parking area about 1 1/2 miles from I-84.

Individual shaded parking "bays" - nice!

TRAIL MAP:
Delaware State Forest Public Use Map - Pennsylvania DCNR
This is a huge file that takes a long time to open.  Zoom in and follow I-84 west from the upper right corner until you find Bruce Lake just south of I-84.  Keep zooming in to see the individual trails.  This map does not show intersection numbers.
Promised Land State Park Trail Map - Pennsylvania DCNR

This map shows some of the trails for this hike in the upper right corner with intersection numbers.
Click here for my version of the state forest map with intersection numbers and trail names written in.

Most intersections have posts indicating the intersection number and in which direction to proceed for other intersection numbers.  All trails are blazed blue - sometimes.

HIKE DISTANCE:
Full Loop - 10 miles
Shortened Loop - 8.5 miles
Egypt Meadow Lake and Bruce Lake Lollipop - 7 miles

SIDE TRIPS:
Promised Land State Park - Conservation Island - 1.4 miles
Promised Land State Park - Little Falls - 1.4 miles

THE HIKE:

The hike starts on Bruce Lake Road which is a smooth, mostly grassy woods road.  Be sure to sign the trail register - a lot of the footpaths are overgrown so it is important to show how many people make use of the trail in hopes of future trail maintenance.

Bruce Lake Road

Egypt Meadow Trail

Egypt Meadow Trail

While I was taking pictures of a black-capped chickadee, others started landing in the tree right by me but this is the only picture that turned out.

Egypt Meadow Lake looking south from the northern end.

Looking back after crossing the spillway.

Trail crosses dam to the left.

When the Egypt Meadow Trail ends at Bruce Lake Road, turn right for a short distance to the bridge for more views of Egypt Meadow Lake before heading the other way to continue the hike.

Bruce Lake from our shady break spot.

Damselfly at Bruce Lake.

Bruce Lake is a glacial lake at about 1800 feet elevation on the Pocono Plateau - you would never know you were up that high throughout this hike, especially since you do not have to do any climbing at all - trails are relatively flat although rocky at times.

Some parts of the trails are very overgrown.

Blueberries starting to ripen along the Bruce Lake Trail.

A huge beaver lodge in the swamp to the right of Bruce Lake Trail.

Along the Brown Trail, "PRIVATE PROPERTY" is emphasized by a wire strung from tree to tree.

HIKE SUMMARY:
[  0.00]  Walk beyond gate between the two pillars to the right of the kiosk
[  0.60]  Cross small wooden bridge; keep straight at intersection 57 when Panther Swamp Trail goes left
[  0.95]  Turn left on Egypt Meadow Trail at intersection 59
[  1.25]  Trail looks like it goes into the lake but it makes a sharp left turn
[  1.35]  Keep left at fork; grassy trail joins in from left (Panther Swamp Trail probably)
[  1.40]  Turn right on gravel road at intersection 56
[  1.50]  Trail comes in from right at intersection 60 (this might be the right side of the fork from earlier - not shown on map); subsequent trails to the right lead to views of Egypt Meadow Lake
[  1.75]  Cross stone spillway then at clearing turn left across dam
[  1.80]  Keep right at end of dam
[  2.35]  At fork keep left over fallen log even though overgrowth is obstructing trail - it does continue beyond overgrowth
[  2.40]  When trail ends at gravel Bruce Lake Road (no intersection post with number), turn right briefly to bridge for more views of lake, then retrace and continue on Bruce Lake Road which becomes grassy
[  3.45]  Keep straight on grassy woods road when trail goes right at intersection 62
[  3.55]  Keep straight on grassy woods road when unmarked trail goes right
[  3.60]  Short woods road to right goes to clearing with view of Bruce Lake
[  3.70]  Short woods road to right goes to clearing with view of Bruce Lake; Bruce Lake Trail becomes foot path instead of woods road
[  3.95]  Keep left at clearing (to the right is an old pump beyond which is a short overgrown trail that leads to views of the lake from a rock outcrop)
[  4.95]  Cross foot bridge then turn left on Bruce Lake Trail at intersection 63 when the West Branch Trail goes right (for 7 mile hike turn right on West Branch Trail then left on Bruce Lake Trail at intersection 62 back to parking)
[  5.35]  Go through dark pine grove, cross creek on rocks in clearing then through another dark pine grove
[  6.00]  At trail intersection with double blue blazes (only double blue blazes I saw, no intersection post) turn left.  (I could not tell at the time since there was no intersection number but it appears turning right here would shorten the hike to about 8.5 miles eliminating some overgrown and hard-to-follow rocky sections on the Telephone Trail)
[  6.75]  Turn right at intersection 76 on Telephone Trail when Bruce Lake Trail continues straight
[  7.45]  Turn right at intersection 75 on Telephone Trail when Whitaker Trail goes left
[  7.70]  Turn right at intersection 66 on Rock Oak Ridge Trail
[  8.15]  Keep left at intersection 65 on Brown Trail when Oak Ridge Trail goes right (this is where you would turn right on Brown Trail coming off the Oak Ridge Trail for the shorter version)
[  9.60]  Turn left on Bruce Lake Trail at intersection 58
[10.00]  Back at parking lot