Ramapo Mountain S.F - Wanaque Ridge - 10/10/10

[njHiking.com]

We did the Wanaque Ridge trail back in March on a brisk, overcast day, and wanted to come back on a nicer day to get better photos. We did a similar route this time but added in a loop to Van Slyke Castle, and instead of the YELLOW trail we walked back along the unmarked woods road along Ramapo Lake.

8.6 miles - moderate terrain.

Wanaque Ridge Trail

Note: We added a side trip on the Castle Point trail to Van Slyke Castle to get some photos, and decided to continue on and make a loop of it with Cannonball. Wouldn't recommend this, however, as Cannonball in this section wasn't fantastic. Better to go the the house and water tower ruins, then backtrack.

A group of four off road quad vehicles passed us as we were getting onto the Wanaque Ridge trail, and then on the actual ridge trail, two dirt bikes passed us. So we got to enjoy noise and the scent of exhaust on our hike, not to mention that the trail is torn up quite a bit due to all the illegal riding.

The trail is very nice despite this, with excellent views of Wanaque Reservoir and the surrounding mountains.

Our full blog post is here, and hike info/photo/video is on our Wanaque Ridge page.

View from the Wanaque Ridge trail:

 

[Bob Workman]

As an FYI, next time you see illegal motorized users in the Park call the NJDEP Hotline at 877-927-6337. The only way we can get the NJDEP to do something about thisis by letting them know! Save the number in your cell phone!