Hike #558, 5/15/11; Ramapo Valley to Franklin Lakes
5/15/11 Ramapo Valley, Pompton Lakes, and Franklin Lakes with Joe Tag, Amanda Rosenblatt, Jaqui De Melo, Nilam Shah, Jason Itell, "Commando Tom" Petrucci, Laura Cunningham, Ryan "Peeps" Short, "DJ Ray" Cordts, and Eric Pace
The group on the Cannonball Trail pedestrian bridge over Rt 287
My next hike would bring my group and I to the Ramapo Mountains of NJ, a location which I had in the past neglected to visit much for some reason. The trail system is extensive, and I wanted to familiarize myself with it more than I already was. Through my job at NJ State Park service's northern regional office, I was writing reports on trails that would be effected by the reconstruction and widening of the Tennessee Gas Pipeline. It will effect High Point, Wawayanda, Long Pond Ironworks, Ringwood, and more. In the past I had already hiked the former New York, Susquehanna, and Western Railroad as far as Oakland, and trails coming down from the Ramapos terminated right about where I left off. I figured it would be convenient to put together a hike that would cover a minimal amount of the rail line I'd yet to hike, while also covering a great deal of trailway on the Ramapo ridge.
Taking a picture of myself at the mirror in the Ramapo Valley park visitor center.
The largest Gingko Tree I'd seen...in Ramapo Valley County Reservation.
I planned to meet at the Stop N Shop grocery store in Franklin Lakes, which was just on the opposite side of Interstate 287 from the railroad tracks. We would then shuttle as few cars possible to the beginning point at Ramapo Valley County Reservation. The forecast for the day was looking grim. It was raining on the way up there. I was glad to have my old buddy Ryan "Peeps" Short with me, back for a visit from his home and job in Florida in the Air Force. I was very glad that he made the time to get in another hike with me, it had been too long.
It was very surprising to hear that Jaquie was waiting for us as well at the store, as she called me when she arrived. Further, Amanda then called, followed by Joe. I was overjoyed to see a crew of eight hikers joining me. We shuttled two carloads of people on an easy drive to Ramapo Valley. I was still ecstatic to see so many people out for the hike. We made a stop by the restrooms, and nearby I saw the largest Gingko Tree I had ever seen.
Historic bridge over the Ramapo River, now Silver Trail
Once we were all together, we began our hike by walking an old road, now the route of the Silver Trail. It took us through some nice woods, and then across an historic truss bridge rehabilitated for pedestrians over the Ramapo River, flowing high on this day.
Scarlet Oak Pond
I was using an out of date map, but it did the job for the most part, and when anything was in question, Joe had a copy of the 2011 edition. After the bridge, it seemed one trail turned left. We continued ahead and were soon parallel with the edge of Scarlet Oak Pond. It was quite beautiful, with mist lingering over it. It had been raining all morning, and we were certain we'd get rained on, but amazingly we never had more than a slight misting of rain until the drive home after the hike.
Scarlet Oak Pond
Building ruins on Waterfall Trail
We made a left turn off of the old road/Silver Trail onto Waterfall Trail, or at least one leading to Waterfall Trail. There seemed to be some differences from my map to what was on the ground.
The trail led across a tributary, and then to the ruins of a building. It's stone framework remained but no roof was left.
Building ruins
Building ruins
Building ruins
Building ruins
Building ruins
We of course couldn't get past a building without trying to climb onto it. Peeps hadn't changed a bit, and was the first one on top. He, Jason, and I climbed onto the structure a bit before we decided to move onward. We continued on up hill along Waterfall Trail, which we could see had been rerouted from a previous course, where it had followed a woods road that had been washed out badly. Now, the trail paralleled the former woods road.
At the building ruins in Ramapo Valley County Reservation
Waterfall in Middle Valley off Waterfall Trail
A smaller cascade below the main falls
A waterfall at the base of Middle Valley in Ramapo Valley County Reservation
Everyone got pretty far ahead, but I could hear that the waterfall was below me to the right. I descended to it and was quite impressed with how beautiful it was. Of the entire group, only Peeps opted to follow me over to it. Amanda had told me earlier "no climbing up anny waterfalls", but I couldn't heed this advise. It looked far too inviting, so I climbed it with Peeps following close behind.
After climbing the falls, we continued back to Waterfall Trail and followed it north through what was known as Middle Valley, passing some more cascades along the way.
Another cascade in the Middle Valley
The trail terminated at the Silver Trail, the woods road we had left to follow the Waterfall Trail. We turned left on this near an old stone bridge from when the road was probably still open to vehicular traffic.
As we walked up the Silver Trail, I recognized a face walking down hill with another guy; it was David Epstein, the head of the Land Conservancy of New Jersey whom I had recently met at the release party for the new Jersey Highlands map series. He seemed a bit standoffish talking to me, but it was nice to see someone else out enjoying the park.
The dam on MacMillan Reservoir
MacMillan Reservoir dam
We followed the trail up hill a bit more, and then reached the dam of the MacMillan Reservoir. We walked across the dam and back because it looked pretty, and I couldn't resist the temptation to jump in. I swam out a bit past where the spillway building was, and back. Jason, Commando Tom, and Peeps also jumped in. There was a guy that showed up walking his dog that seemed annoyed by us.
MacMillan Reservoir
We continued up hill gradually on a foot path, and the trail sort of skirted the side of Matty Price Hill, then descended slightly to stay along the eastern edge of the Ramapo Ridge. We made our way through some really nice woods, and we commented on how it felt like something out of "Lord of the Rings".
Nice view along the Yellow/Silver Trail near Matty Price Hill
Laura and Commando Tom on Yellow Silver Trail
I don't know if this was a toilet or what. Maybe Jason should kick it.
We continued for a while through the lovely woods, with the mist hanging over it and lots of lush ferns and new foliage. Everyone was happy to see the green of Spring after the long Winter.
We soon began to make a gradual descent into a sort of col where we came across a couple more ruins of buildings. This added more to the ambiance that made us feel like we were in "Lord of the Rings".
Ruins near Swamp Creek
Ruins
Ruins
These ruins were a bit more extensive than the previous ones. There were two or three building sites instead of just one, and they were taller, possibly two stories. A fireplace and chimney were still there. This one was much more difficult to get on top of, but that didn't stop Peeps and Jason.
Ruins
Ruins
Jason climbing ruins
Ruins
Ruins
Ruins
Ruins
Ruins
Ruins
Ruins
Ruins
The trail soon crossed Bear Swamp Brook and then reached a road of the same name. We were all ready to continue until I saw on the map that there was another waterfall a short distance up the stream. I decided to go and have a look at it. I ran through the woods over the wet rocks in my cheap Wal Mart sneakers I had gotten in 2001, and slipped on a rock, grinding my shins up against it as it dragged it's way down.
I pushed to keep going, and found the waterfall to be quite lovely, though not as nice as the previous one.
Falls on Bear Swamp Brook
When I made my way back out to Bear Swamp Road (apparently not a vehicle road), my leg was looking quite bad. The cuts didn't hurt nearly as bad as the bruising. Some of the group came up to view the waterfall. We then all descended back to the Yellow-Silver Trail and continued heading southbound.
My gashed up leg
We made our way over another height of the land, and then reached a woods road section where a trail blazed with a yellow diamond came in from the right (yellow silver was rectangle, two by three inches, yellow with silver in the middle). We followed both blazes together for a bit, and then turned off on just yellow.
Put Your Head on My Shoulder
Some sort of ruin along Yellow Trail
Ruins
I seem to recall a body of water nearby, but I'm not sure. There were some ruins in the area of the trail junctions.
A short distance along the Yellow Trail we came to an outhouse. We looked inside to find the surprising sight of three places to sit. The thought of sitting next to someone else is disturbing enough, but the third hole was centered directly between the other two and set back a bit. Quite a strange thing.
Outhouse along Yellow Trail
Toilet seats...what's with the third one in the middle???
Outhouse
plants along the trail
Foot bridge
We continued gradually up and down over the topography of the Ramapo Mountains, dipping down to cross Fox Brook, then up and down to cross another. As we continued, we came to more exposed rock sections that were quite nice, and reminded me of the Bearfort Ridge to the west. Between the two brooks we crossed Millstone Hill where there was an old mill stone set on a large exposed piece of rock. I wonder how and why a millstone would end up so high up like that...
Millstone along the yellow trail
The trail began to descend somewhat steeply, and then we skirted the edge of Toda Lake. It was very pretty, and for a second I thought about jumping in, but the lily pads kept me from doing so. We left the edge of the lake and descended a bit more to where the yellow trail ended at the white blazed Todd Trail.
Along the shore of Toda Lake
We turned left on the Todd Trail, which followed at first an old woods road. It turned right away from the woods road and went over a nice rocky area. There would most certainly have been a view if it weren't for all of the clouds, but we of course missed it. A couple times we got onto or crossed sections of old roadways that were either paved, or at one time paved and deteriorating badly. Peeps, Jason, and I hurried ahead of the group and reached Skyline Drive before any of the others. I was feeling really good, exerting myself much more than on previous hikes. Skyline Drive was very busy, quite a change since this was the first real road we crossed all day.
Once on the other side, we continued somewhat parallel with the road along a brook to it's end, at the MacEvoy Trail. It was here we were going to be joined by DJ Ray and Eric, but they overshot and went too far ahead. We talked to him on the phone a bit to figure out what they had done, and when we figured it out we followed the blue blazed MacEvoy Trail up hill. This took us to Ramapo Lake next to the main dam.
Ramapo Lake
It was quite pretty up there with more mist over the lake, but no rain. We turned left on the yellow blazed Hoeferlin Trail onto the main dam and waited for DJ Ray and Eric to get back to where we were. Once they arrived, we continued across the dam.
At Ramapo Lake
At first, we followed a dirt road along the shore of the lake. We were surprised to see a truck drive by us while up there. Our next move was to turn left to follow the Hoeferlin Trail south. After a short while, Eric couldn't handle the up hill so he waited behind. DJ Ray continued with us for a while.
Main dam of Ramapo Lake
Hoeferlin Trail along Ramapo Lake
DJ Ray hiked with us for a while, but he also had some dinner plans later on, so he had to cut out. He joined us at one of the viewpoints obscured by weather for a bit before doubling back to rejoin Eric and head back to the cars. He got a good hike in anyway, having gone the wrong way and reached Castle Point above Ramapo Lake.
Along Hoeferlin Trail
The trail ascended gradually and then crossed rock outcroppings along it's course. Lookout Trail broke off to the left, and I was originally planning on using this, but there wasn't going to be enough time. We continued on Hoeferlin, which had some views to the west, but we couldn't see them due to the clouds.
Along Hoeferlin Trail
View from along Hoeferlin Trail
As we got closer to Rt 287 we got a few more views of places that were only very close by.
View along Hoeferlin Trail
We passed a viewpoint and then ascended for a bit more. Jason had gone off to the side because there was a hole in a chain linke fence or something, and it led to a fantastic view over Rt 287 as well as some of the close topography. This view would be extraordinary if only the weather were better.
View point above Rt 287 on Hoeferlin Trail
Rt 287 from a rock outcrop off of Hoeferlin Trail
Rt 287 view just off of Hoeferlin Trail in Ramapo Mountain State Forest.
I remembered so many times driving north on Rt 287 and seeing the rock outcroppings along the west side, thinking one day I'd get up there and check out those views. It was great to finally be at that site, even if the only views were got were of Rt 287 and not very far beyond. There was a steep dropoff toward the highway in front of us, and Jason climbed onto a rock ledge.
Jason on the rock outcrop
Jason on the rock outcropping above Rt 287
Rock outcrop just off of Hoeferlin Trail, Ramapo Mountain
We continued back along the unmarked path to the Hoeferlin Trail and followed it to the south, somewhat parallel with Rt 287. It descended a bit until it came to an old woods road. This was now the route of Cannonball Trail. The original "Cannonball Road" was supposed to be a secret route behind the mountain used by Patriot's during the American Revolution to haul cannonballs for Continental Army. It's arduous route was hidden and inaccessible to the British army. It was so secret that it's existence escaped most history books. This may be because of fear that if it were documented it wouldn't be usable for future wars...but this is all speculation. The current Cannonball Trail does not follow exactly the route of the historic road. I think it is more likely it crossed present day Rt 287 a bit further to the east, but I can't be sure. The trail now stretches north to Ramapo Valley County Reservation, but probably once was a road all the way to Ringwood.
Cannonball Trail pedestrian bridge over Rt 287
We turned left on Cannonball, which was co aligned with Hoeferlin Trail here, and reached the large pedestrian bridge over Rt 287. This was another one I had long wanted to get to because I had seen the bridge so many times driving. The bridge even reads "Cannonball Trail" on it's side. We stopped for a bit to wave at traffic.
Joe on the Cannonball Trail pedestrian bridge
On the other side, Hoeferlin Trail broke off to the left, leaving Cannonball Trail. I was originally planning on taking some of this, but I opted instead to take the shorter route due to time constraints. Hoeferlin Trail descended slightly and soon came to another old road, the northern end of Pool Hollow Road in Pompton Lakes which was long abandoned.
Hoeferlin Trail on long abandoned section of Pool Hollow Road
We descended via the abandoned road. The south ridge trail broke off in this area as well, but we weren't going to follow that this time. We descended on the old road along some nice wetlands and past some houses.
Wetlands off of Hoeferlin Trail in Pompton Lakes
Hoeferlin Trail, abandoned section of Pool Hollow Road
There was a pony in a cage right along the trail, with signs warning that he bites. We continued past the last homes, one of which looked abandoned, and got on the vehicular traffic section of Pool Hollow Road. We then reached the NYS&W railroad tracks.
Hoeferlin Trail on abandoned portion of Pool Hollow Road, note the end of trail blaze.
We didn't get on the tracks yet, but instead followed Pool Hollow Road and turned left onto an unmarked series of trails in a small portion of Ramapo Mountain State Forest that led back and forth out to West Oakland Ave. Once we reached the road we turned left.
Small section of state forest land in Pompton Lakes
We soon turned right and left onto a small development road parallel with West Oakland Ave. We ended up having to come back out to the main road and walk on. Soon, we came to the parking area in the western end of Oakland along Potash Lake, where Action Adam and I had started a hike the previous Fall. I hadn't explored around it much yet, so we stopped for a bit.
Potash Lake
The Ramapo River seemed to circumvent Potash Lake by flowing around it to the north somewhat, and a small dam was at the north end of the lake. Everyone went onto a fishing and viewing platform ahead.
Potash Lake
I wandered off from the group to the left along an access road which skirted the lake. This led me out to a dead end right next to the main dam. I looked, but there was no way to get out to the roads from here without getting wet, so I went back.
Potash Lake
The group from the eastern end of Potash Lake
Dam at east side of Potash Lake
I returned to the group, and saw that there was a group of people staring at us over at the boat launch area. I think they were part of the Ramapo tribe, who were labelled for a long time the "Jackson Whites". Supposedly, during the American Revolution a commander by the name of Jackson brought women found out late at night from the streets of England to America for the pleasure of British soldiers, and when the war was lost they were freed. With nowhere to go, they joined a group of freed slaves, and together they joined an enclave of Ramapo Native Americans who had somehow escaped being pushed out like so many other tribes. They lived for years in the northern Ramapo Mountains and were the victim of great prejudice and scorn from those who lived in the valley. They now host annual traditional events and are given much more respect than in years past.
Bridge access to Potash Lake in Oakland NJ
We continued away from Potash Lake and ascended to the NYS&W tracks across the street. We followed them to where they crossed Oakland Ave at grade, but a police man passed by while we were walking. He turned back and went down a side road, I guess to see where we were headed to. There was a railroad bridge over the Ramapo River ahead that we were planning to use, but he was watching it closely.
Near the grade crossing of West Oakland Ave
We got off of the tracks and followed the road to the north side, acting like that was the way we were planning on going. Just before an underpass at Rt 287, we turned right to continue on Oakland Ave. We descended for a bit and soon crossed over the Ramapo River on a bridge. We could see the railroad bridge we were intending to cross from this vantage point.
Ramapo River from West Oakland Ave
I was looking down for four leaf clovers as I walked. I usually see them quite easily, but this time Jason found one before me! I went to where he was and then found a couple more. I had told Laura I would give her another one when I saw her because she'd lost the one I'd given her or something.
The road swung to the south a little bit, and had good side walks. We were now in an area with a lot of stores and such. To my left was a pizza place, I think Tony Brothers. I just had to go in and get a slice. They had some Penne Vodka pizza which was amazing. I was glad I went in. Everyone was good enough to wait for me.
We soon crossed Rt 202 and entered a path back onto the railroad tracks.
NYS&W railroad in Oakland NJ
We turned left to continue on the tracks heading east, having only missed a short section where we had to parallel. It was still a bit built up, and we were visible, but not for long. The tracks entered the woods and we soon had a feeling of remoteness. To the left, there was a second grade, so this was probably double tracked at one time. I walked along here and found several more four leaf clovers. I gave them to Laura, Commando Tom, Jaqui, Nilam, Joe (although he said when he got home it was a two and a half leafed clover). I gave Amanda a five leaf clover I'd found.
Five leaf clover I found just east of Oakland NJ
We continued along the tracks as they left the cut and came closer to Rt 287. A wetland called Caille Lake was to the left of us.
Along the NYS&W tracks east of Oakland
NYS&W tracks east of Oakland
We were a bit visible to the highway, but it not for all that long. We soon came to the underpasses for Rt 208 and it's exits to Rt 287. At the same spot was a small bridge over a creek. I ran up the concrete slope under the bridge, which was far more slippery than these things usually are.
Rt 208 underpass
Rt 208 underpass
The bridge had some really interesting graffiti under it.
Interesting graffiti under the bridge
Creek bridge below the Rt 208 exit underpass
Creek bridge below the Rt 298 exit underpass
We continued along the tracks east from here, which remained parallel with Rt 287, but at a lower elevation. It didn't take long before we reached Franklin Avenue. From here, we simply turned left to pass beneath Rt 287, and we were back at the Stop N Shop parking lot. We had somehow managed to escape rain, which was nearly 100% probable, and had a very diverse and interesting hike.
Joe finished the day with a familiar quote "Well, this hike didn't suck too bad.".
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