Eagle Rock Reservation

Eagle Rock Reservation (1/3/2009)

This is the Hike of the Week for 7/20/2007 as described on the NY-NJ Trail Conference website. Laura is nursing a strained ankle, and while the doctor said that hiking was still fine, we have to limit it to relatively level paths for a few weeks, and nothing too long. Given that the temperature at the trail head was about 30 F, with a wind chill which made it feel like 18 F, we were both fine with that!

The current map displayed on the official parks website (cited above) is woefully inadequate and out of date. As Laura said, it has about as much detail as the map of Skull Island in the 1933 version of King Kong. I think she was being generous in her assessment. Click here to assess for yourself. In any event, there was a very nice map behind glass at one of the kiosks a bit into this hike. I took a photo of that and posted it here for those wanting to take this very nice little hike. It should be noted, however, that the park's blazing has been improved since the hike description was written. The unmarked path that you will travel between the yellow-blazed Lenape and the blue-blazed trail is now blazed in red.

One of the highlights of this hike is the visit to the September 11th Memorial which affords spectacular views of the Manhattan skyline. One can only wonder how harrowing the sites of 9/11 must have been from this beautiful vantage point. The names of everyone who perished on that day are listed in a stark black marble wall.

(Click on the thumbnail to bring up a bigger image in a pop-up window)