Three weeks after Hurricane Sandy made landfall in New Jersey, a huge multitude of parks in NJ and NY are still closed. Ringwood State Park is one of the very few state parks
actually open, so we headed there today to "bag" a few trails that we never hiked before.
We parked at Ringwood Manor, a spot we haven't hiked from here since 2004, frist roaming the grounds of this enchanting manor. We took the yellow Hasenclever Iron trail west along the northern tip of Sally's Pond and then the blue Manor Trail south along the western bank of the pond. We visited the family cemetery before heading into the woods along blue. Many huge blow-downs from Hurricane Sandy have already been cleared from the trail. We got a partial view south after popping into the powerline cut when blue continue north, and then hiked nearly all of the yellow Hasenclever Iron trail east in search of the mine denoted on the NYNJTC Trail Map 115 (10th edition, 2012). We never found the mine, so we backtracked west to the Manor trail and continued in the clockwise direction. Instead of continuing all the way back to the car, we made a left on the White trail and hiked its entire extent. This brought us to picnic areas north of Ringwood Manor. We walked through open fields past picnic benches back to the car. Total distance hiked today was 5.3 miles in under 3.5 hours.
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Heading to Ringwood Manor |
Autumn color remains! |
Mill Pond |
Millstone |
View to Sally's Pond |
Steps to Mill Pond |
Ringwood Manor |
Lion on porch |
Canon on front lawn |
Ringwood Manor |
Smaller canon |
Time capsule plaque |
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Sphinxes |
Statues inside manor |
Flowers on side |
Statues in back area |
Ringwood Manor from rear |
Blue trail on left |
Stairs in back of manor |
Columns |
Huge tree in back yard |
Fountain |
Gate to Sally's Pond |
Sally's Pond |
Manor from pond bank |
[Photo by Laura] |
Heading south on Manor trail |
Tributary to Sally's Pond |
Cemetery gate |
Cemetery |
Sally's Pond |
Cormorant in pond |
Chipped gravestone |
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Manor in distance |
Waterfall at Sally's Pond |
Pines on Manor trail |
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Cleared blow-downs |
View from powerline cut |
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Huge blow-down |
Close-up on snap |
Colorful moss |
Some autumn color |
White-breasted nuthatch |
[Photo by Laura] |
Stream crossing ... |
... Manor trail |
Rock hopping |
Turning on Hasenclever Iron trail |
Heading east on HI |
Lots of color on HI |
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Tiny dog collar |
More rock hopping |
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On White trail |
Partial views ... |
... off White trail |
[Photo by Laura] |
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Rock formations on White |
Barbecue pit |
Restrooms |
Neither of us won! |
Lots of picnic benches |
Bench with a view |
Statue of ... |
... a shepherdess |
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Decorative posts in manor yard |
Back to Ringwood Manor |
Photographs and content copyright © Dan Balogh Web design by Dan Balogh |