It's been nearly two years since we visited this beautiful state park, and being that about half of the trails were cleared by the awesome volunteers of the NYNJTC since
Hurricane Sandy (the others are still considered closed), I managed to cobble together a loop that used not only open trails but also mostly trails that we never hiked
before.
We parked at the park office, just off Warwick Turnpike and began by heading south on the blue Hoeferlin trail. We next headed west on the green Black Eagle trail, near the end crossing Wawayanda Road and continuing to a woods road which we then took south to Wawayanda Road. At this point we walked along the beautifully-paved bike trail that parallels the park road. Strangely only one car passed on the park road during the 10 or 15 minutes we walked there (maybe everyone is still at the malls shopping). We then headed south on another park road that bordered a picturesque swamp to the east. Not a single car passed us on this stretch, which contained interesting ruins along the way to the famous Wawayanda furnace which we passed before picking up the yellow Double Pond trail, taking that east. The first part of this trail was the only part we had done in the past. At the end of the Double Pond trail we took the Hoeferlin trail from it's southern end all the way back to the car. Total distance hiked today was just under 6 miles in about 2 hours and 45 minutes. (Click on the thumbnail to bring up a bigger image in a pop-up window)
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At the park office |
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South on the Hoeferlin trail |
[Photo by Laura] |
Some late autumn color |
Partially frozen swamp below |
West on Black Eagle trail |
Big Sandy blow-down |
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Slight climb |
Evergreens |
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Lovely leaf carpet |
About to cross ... |
... Wawayanda Road |
Woods road for a short stretch |
Stream on Wawayanda Road |
Heading south on bike path |
Swamp |
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Road to furnace |
Tick warning sign |
Road skirts a swamp |
In the swamp |
Young bamboo shoots along road |
Fossils near ruins |
Ruins |
Foundation |
Checking samples |
Stream from Laurel Pond |
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[Photo by Laura] |
Macro of shiny mineral |
Stream looking ... |
... upstream |
Retired greyhound |
Tiny damn |
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Water level gauge |
Continuing to ... |
... Wawayanda furnace |
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It says "1846" |
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Laura is dwarfed by furnace |
Rules of the road |
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East on Double Pond trail |
Boardwalk through ... |
... gorgeous swamp |
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Various ... |
... views ... |
... of swamp ... |
... looking north |
On boardwalk |
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Rhododendrons |
Tunnel of vegetation |
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Beautiful stretch of ... |
... Double Pond trail |
Sandy blow-down cleared |
At southern end of Hoeferlin |
Hoeferlin blaze |
Blow-down |
Color on Hoeferlin |
Photographs and content copyright © Dan Balogh Web design by Dan Balogh |