Black River County Park – Cooper Mill - 10/31/10

[njHiking.com]

On Halloween we ended up hiking along the Black River, starting at the Cooper Mill lot in Chester. The foliage was still decent, but not as brilliant as we'd passed the week before on our way up to The Gap. We also wanted to hit this park on a Sunday, as they do allow hunting here.

We've hiked this beautiful area many times, but added in a spur we hadn't done before. I'd noticed in "Hiking New Jersey" that a side trail lead to "Kay's Summer Cottage Ruins, Grotto and Dam" - which sounded intriguing.

This unmarked trail proved to be worthwhile... it as very scenic, and the ruins and "grotto" were interesting.

7.8 miles - easy to moderate. Pretty level along the Black River Trail, some minor elevation changes on Conifer Pass. Cross Pottersville Road twice, the 2nd time you need to walk along the shoulder for about 5-10 minutes, until you turn left into the Kay Center drive.

Our full blog post is here.