Schooley's Mountain Park 7/21/10

[William and Marieann Bannan]

My wife and I decided to stop at Schooley's Mountain Park on our way to the Delaware Water Gap since we were travelling up 206 anyway. We have hiked Hacklebarney, and according to the map this wasn't too far passed that in Long Valley.. You can't miss the trailhead as there is a good size sign that says Patriots Path off of Fairview Ave. You immediately start heading uphill for the first 0.9 miles, which doesn't sound like much, except when it is 94 degrees outside. Finally, after we made it to the top, it was a pretty easy hike along the Highland Cut Trail and then descending into the park itself. The park is very nice and has picnic tables and pavilions; this is where we stopped for lunch. The second half of the hike is much better than the first half as far as views go. After crossing the 470ft floating bridge over Lake George, you cross over the dam and descend on the blue trail which follows the river to some really nice waterfalls ( the guide we used said there would be some rock scrambling, but nothing like the Red Dot trail at Mt. Tammany). This area was also very shaded and much cooler. We passed several waterfalls before turning away from the water and heading uphill to merge with the Patriots Path (white blazes). If you turn right, you will come to an overlook where you can see a good view of Long Valley, then retrace steps back and continue following Patriots Path back down mountain to parking area. The entire trip took us about 2.5 hours (including about 30 minutes in stopping for lunch and to get a little wet!!) The hike is described in The Falcons Guide Hiking New Jersey hike #16. If not, I'll give you the hike here.. it is a good hike if you combine with Hacklebarney to fill several hours.

SCHOOLEYS MOUNTAIN PARK (W OF HACKLEBARNEY)

TRAVEL N ON SCHOOLEY MTN RD, 0.1 TO FAIRVIEW AVE (R) 0.8 TO PARKING AREA ON RIGHT

0.0 CROSS FAIRVIEW AVE TO TRAILS SIGNPOST… GO STRAIGHT ON BEE-LINE PATH (NO BLAZES)

0.1 AT “T” INTERSECTION, TURN RIGHT ONTO WOODS ROAD, AND CONTINUE UPHILL

0.3 LEAVING WOODS ROAD, TRAIL TURNS LEFT AT SPOT WHERE WHITE ARROWS PAINTED ON TREE TRUNKS

0.5TRAIL TURNS RIGHT BACK ONTO WOODS ROAD AND CONTINUES TO CLIMB

0.6BEE LINE ENDS AT INTERSECTION WITH GRAND LOOP TRAIL (YELLOW BLAZES) CONTINUE STRAIGHT UPHILL

0.9TURN LEFT ON HIGHLAND CUT TRAIL (RED BLAZES) WHICH RUNS ALONG EDGE OF SLOPE (THE GRAND LOOP TRAIL CONTINUES TO PICNIC AREA)

1.4HIGHLAND CUT TRAIL ENDS AT “T” INTERSECTION. TURN RIGHT ONTO GRAND LOOP TRAIL (YELLOW) A WOODS ROAD

1.6CONTINUE STRAIGHT PASSING THE PATRIOTS PATH ON LEFT, WHICH IS NOW CO-ALIGNED WITH GRAND LOOP TRAIL.

1.7AT SIGNPOST,RESTROOMS AND MACADAM ROAD, TURN LEFT ONTO GRAVEL ROADWHICH HEADS TOWARDS LAKE GEORGE PASSING AMPITHEATER ON LEFT

1.9AT “T” INTERSECTION , TURN RIGHT ONTO GRAVEL PATH AND CIRCUMNAVIGATE LAKE GEORGE

2.OAFTER PASSING BOATHOUSE, TURN LEFT DESCENDING STEPS AND ONTO BOARDWALK WHICH LEADS TO THE 470 FT FLOATING BRIDGE, CROSS IT .

2.1AFTER DISEMBARKING,PROCEED STRAIGHT UP THROUGH ROW OF TREES, TURN LEFT ON GRASSY PATH, STAYING ALONG EDGE OF LAKE GEORGE.

2.2AFTER PASSING TRAIL ON RIGHT,TRAIL DESCENDS TO LAKE GEORGE DAM, CROSS BRIDGE OVER THE OUTLET TO ELECTRIC BROOK.

2.3TURN RIGHT ONTO FALLING WATERS TRAIL (BLUE) WHERE TRAIL BEGINS TO DESCEND ALONG ELECTRIC BROOK

2.6AFTER SCRAMBLING DOWN OUTCROP, TRAIL ARRIVES AT THE FALLS

2.7TRAIL SWINGS LEFT, LEAVING THE QUARRY ROAD TO DESCEND ON THE SIDE OF A FENCE WITH PRIVATE PROPERTY SIGNS. TRAIL THEN CLIMBS TO TOP OF QUARRY

2.8FALLING WATERS TRAIL ENDS AT “T” INTERSECTION, TURN RIGHT ON PATRIOTS PATH (WHITE) WITHIN 50 FT YOU ARE AT OVERLOOK (SIDE TRIP: TURN RIGHT ONTO HERD PATH WHICH LEADS TO POINT OVERLOOKING LONG VALLEY AND FOX HILL RANGE)

2.9PATRIOTS PATH SWINGS EAST AND THEN SOUTHWEST ALONG EDGE OF QUARRY, BE SURE TO LOOK BACK AT CLIFFS

3.1AS TRAIL DESCENDS, PASS BOULDER GORGE TRAIL ON RIGHT

3.5AT JUNCTION WITH BEELINE TRAIL, TURN RIGHT AND CROSS FAIRVIEW AVE

[njHiking.com]

We'll have to give this park a try; we've never gotten around to checking it out because it's too far a drive to do a short hike. Combining with Hacklebarney or Black River seems to be the way to go.

And we agree it has certainly been a tough summer for hiking... 95 degrees takes a lot of the fun out of it!

[Donna]

I was told by a hiker that lives near-by that the ticks are bad at Schooleys. Did you encounter any? I certainly will give your hike there a try, sounds like a good place to take people that want to go hiking with me, but never hike!

[William and Marieann Bannan]

We didn't have any problems with ticks, but we also covered ourselves in spray and bug wipes... It is a good hike for beginners, the only tough part was the first 0.9 miles, but it was probably tougher when we did it because it was so hot and humid, but the waterfall and overlook was really worth it.