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 Reporter |
Summary: I began at the main entrance and took the Halifax Trail around Scarlet Oak Pond. Here the park has an urban feel, paved roads and many dog walkers & joggers. The trail enters the woods, becomes more rugged & begins to climb towards Hawk Rock. Here you can clearly see all the way to NYC. The HF trail leads down to Havemeyer Rd, and old mine rd, and meets a pipe line road. I followed this up over Drag Hill to the Cannonball Trail. This area became park property in the 70's & many houses & foundations can be found intact around Bear Swamp Lake. The Cannonball Trail led me through the BSA's Camp Yaw Paw & to the Yellow trail. I climbed steeply, crossing the pipeline road again to wonderful views of the Ramapo Valley below. I encountered many deer and pheasant. I descended to meet the Bear Swamp Creek which was bursting with all the recent rains. The falls were incredible! After that I passed the ruins of the Darlington Estate and soon reached the parking area. Trailhead: Parked at the Ramapo Valley Reservation parking lot whihc is located on New Jersey Rt 202, 2 miles south of Nj 17 in Mahwah, justs outh of the NY/NJ Trail Confrence Office (Lat:74.18843 Lon:-41.0079) Trail Guides for Ramapo Reservation Loop: Iron Mine Trails Of NY & NJ by Edward Lenik (NY/NJ Trail Confrence) Best Seasons: Fall, Spring, Summer, User Groups: Hikers, Ranger Contact: Bergen County Parks Dept - 201-336-7275 Localhikes Reporter: This hike was submitted by Brian Walter, who has posted 10 other hikes on this site Trail Reviews Page 1 of 3 Submit your own review 
Reviewed by SGB on 5/4/2008 Very confusing.......I wanted to make the loop, followed the orange markers and wound up on Skyline Drive in Oakland, NJ. The pizza at Juniors was great. My partner and I had to take a taxi back to our car at the parking lot in front of the reservation in Mahwah. This is the second time I have become misled while hiking here following the orange markers.
Reviewed by Viewer on 4/19/2008 Great hike for kids too!
Reviewed by Paul Leidy on 4/13/2008 My grammar school buddy asked of me if I would like to go for a hike at the Ramapo Reservation just off of Skyline Drive. We ventured out today (4/13/08) A great day it turned out, and a fabulous hike indeed. I'm looking online to see how far we actually walked. We're gonna hit this again, but to venture other routes. Perfect cardio workout!
Reviewed by greg on 7/8/2007 This is a beautiful hike and I might do it again with a map AND a compass! The trail markings are difficult and things get confusing at Yaw Paw. I don't think you need to go "through" the camp, do you? The cannonball trail intersects the yellow trail in both directions, which is misleading. I ended up on Skyline drive in Oakland before I got some help and figured out home to get home. 
Reviewed by Ashley Beth on 10/27/2006 I love this place! I'm a native of Oakland, NJ, a few miles down the road from the Rez. All of my friends and myself call ourselves 'Rezheads' and we frequent the Rez at least once a week. During the summer I jog there 5x a week and it completely reaffirmed for me just how beautiful northern NJ really is. Great for picnics, hikes, exercising, photography, meditation, and swimming at the upper lake (just ignore the No Swimming signs like everyone else, haha). Only downsides are the trails aren't very-well marked, but as long as you stick close to the area surrounding the main entrance and upper lake it's almost impossible to get yourself completely lost. Also, watch out for dog poop everywhere! Great family place.
Reviewed by EP on 3/12/2006 this was such a great trail. I can not wait to do it again. There is so much to see, and such great scenery.
Reviewed by Danny on 9/4/2005 good work out if yoor looking to burn a few pounds off makes for a good day hike and close bye for Passaic Co. People
Reviewed by JAM on 8/29/2005 Great hike. Walking through the deserted Camp Yaw Paw was weird. The ruins were interesting and in amazingly good shape. It took us 6.5 hours to do this hike. Guess we are slow. No recent rain, so everything was dry. A few words of advice - the yellow trail markers through Yaw Paw are difficult to read. Most of the color is gone. According to the NY/NJ TC map, the yellow silver, yellow, and orange trails all meet in one place. However, coming up the yellow, you will see the orange going off to the right and need to continue on for about five minutes before the yellow/silver goes off to the left. Notice: Traveling in the backcountry can be hazardous. You are responsible for informing yourself about these hazards and taking necessary precautions. Information on this web site comes from volunteer reporters and may contain errors or omissions. A current guidebook and proper equipment are essential for safe enjoyment of the hikes posted on this site. Keys: New Jersey Hiking, New Jersey Trails, New Jersey Hikes, Bergen County Hiking, Bergen County Trails, Bergen County Hikes | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||