Ramapo Butterfly



Ramapo State Forest Butterfly (5/17/2021)

It was another beautiful day for a hike, so my friend Matt and I decided to explore some new trails, and some re-blazed old trails in this large, rugged state park.

Using this map, we parked in the upper lot on the western side of Skyline Drive. This is where the White trail begins. We crossed Skyline Drive and took Purple heading east, then Green in a counterclockwise direction, visiting the vista looking east. We completed Green and then continued on Purple, also in a counterclockwise direction, vistiing the banks of Todd Lake and Lake Tamarack, before once again crossing Skyline Drive, walking through the lot where we were parked, and continuing on White in a clockwise direction. We passed some nice vistas and the picturesque ruins of Van Slyke Castle (where a film shoot happened just three days ago), before having lunch at a viewpoint looking towards the Wanaque Reservoir. After a short, but steep descent, we continued north on the Red Cannonball trail, taking that all the way back to White, on which we backtracked back to the car. The hike formed a nice "butterfly" pattern on the map.

Total distance was 4.7 miles, with a bit of climbing, in 2 hours and 45 minutes.

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