Banker-Cedar Swamp Loop

Banker-Cedar Swamp Loop, Wawayanda State Park (7/21/2013)

Last week we hiked a bunch of unofficial trails in the southern park of this beautiful park. Today we returned to hike a few more of those unofficial trails, as well as the Banker trail (official) and a redux of the Cedar Swamp trail, one of my favorite trails in the park. If you are a fan of rhododendrons, this is your dream hike! The trails north of Cherry Ridge Road are packed with these plants, sometimes so thick you have to duck to walk through the tunnels they form.

Once again, we parked on Cherry Ridge Road avoiding the $10 park entrance fee, and used this JORBA map. We first headed north on the Banker trail. Along the way we followed a spur east and then south (on the NYNJTC map, but not the JORBA map) and then further north on Banker a short spur east to Sawmill Pond Brook which had a relatively elaborate bridge over the brook. Instead of continuing north on Banker to its end on a residential street, we headed west on the unofficial Plymouth trail, passing the abandoned Plymouth car along the way (hence the name). Reaching the Double Pond trail we headed west and then south along the Cedar Swamp trail. Every trail up to this point was packed with rhododendrons, but if you are a fan of rhododendrons the hiking doesn't get better than on the Cedar Swamp trail. This we took south to the unofficial Rockadendron (yup!). Crossing Cherry Ridge road the rhododendrons were replaced by Mountain Laurel. We continued along the unofficial Wall trail (named for the elaborate stone walls it skirts) all the way back to the car.

Total distance hiked today was over 6 miles in about 3.5 hours.

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