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Four Birds Trail - Wildcat Ridge

Area Summary: Four Birds is a rugged 19.4 mile trail in the New Jersey Highlands region, in Wildcat Ridge WMA and Farny State Park in Morris County.

There are multiple trails and parking access points in this area, allowing for short loops or longer, more challenging hikes. The hike description below is for a 12 mile hike, but you can use the maps and book suggestions on this site to create shorter loops such as:

• A 2.3 mile loop from lower Hibernia Road parking, taking Flyaway spur trail to the Hawk Watch Overlook, then taking Four Birds to Beaver Pond trail and back to the lot.

• A truncated version of this hike is a 3.7 mile loop starting from Split Rock Reservoir boat launch parking, to Split Rock Loop south, and taking Four Birds back to Split Rock Rd.

Trail Summary: Located in the Highlands region in the Wildcat Ridge Wildlife Management Area, this hike is a challenging “lollipop” loop that starts at the southern terminus of the Four Birds trail, to the Hawk Watch viewing platform, then along the Split Rock Reservoir and picks up the southern end of the Split Rock Loop trail and retraces the Four Birds Trail back.

It’s a rugged trail through a very pretty area, with several stream hops and one larger crossing. There are views at the hawk watch area and returning on the Split Rock loop, as well as at the Reservoir itself. All along the trail, there are many hawks flying overhead.

Mileage: 12 miles roundtrip, moderate to strenuous with lots of minor elevation change. About 7 hours. (mileage/time approximate – we stopped at the hawk watch both ways and to take video along the way)

Parking: Rt 80 to exit 37 (Hibernia/Rockaway), turn left onto 513 North (Green Pond Rd) for about 2.5 miles. Turn right onto Roundhill Drive (Note: there was construction, and it’s hard to spot anyway. Google Map has it as Roundhill Dr, our GPS had it as Sunnyside). The small dirt parking lot is on your immediate left and has a wooden trail sign (not much on it).

*There is no porta-john in this lot. Best bet are the two gas stations immediately after turning left onto 513, both have restrooms. There is a porta-john at the boat launch parking area about halfway through the hike.

Four Birds Trail (South) Gallery

Hike Directions:The Four Birds Trail is blazed white and starts at the end of the lot near the trail sign. At about .10 mile the trail splits. WHITE continues left. A brown sign with binoculars leads to the right, which takes you to the bat-viewing platform at Hibernia Mine.

On the platform there is a placard explaining the mine and the bats. (The gate on the mine protects a bat population of about 28,000. They are best viewed at sunset, in September.) Check out the mine and then return to the WHITE. (The mine area meets up with the WHITE trail, you don’t need to backtrack)

The first little bit of this trail isn’t particularly scenic, the road is visible and there is road noise but after you climb up a steep hill it starts to feel like you are in a remote area.

At about .4 the trail levels off – watch for the WHITE blazes here, they are not completely obvious. (Be alert for blazes throughout the route as there are many unmarked trails and woods roads to cross)

The trail now follows a mining berm (mounded earth next to a ditch). Look on your right for the Hibernia Cemetery off slightly in the distance. Mine workers are buried here, with headstones dating back to mid 19c.

At about .75 WHITE goes left, with an unmarked trail coming in from the right. At 1.0 mile the trail leaves the berm and bears right. Shortly after, cross an unmarked woods road, continue straight on WHITE. At 1.3 miles – cross another woods road.

After heavy rains, pass a water runoff/cascade on the right. Cross a small stream at about 1.6 miles. At about 2.0 miles, continue left on the WHITE trail. The YELLOW trail to Graffiti Rocks overlook is to the right.

Arrive at trail junction with an unmarked woods road. There is a Four Birds trail arrow sign here, and a large rock cairn in front of you. Cross the road and continue straight on WHITE.

At the next junction with a woods road, the trail makes a sharp left. There is a WHITE marker on a tree - but it not obvious. (On the right looks like a trail, and there is a deer stand nearby.) Continue, going up a rocky hill.

At 2.6 miles is a junction with Tower Road, Four Birds Trail, and the spur to the Hawk Watch (ORANGE). There is a large signpost here. Follow the ORANGE trail to the hawk-viewing platform. This is a nice spot to have a snack and watch hawks glide around.

Retrace your steps back on ORANGE to rejoin WHITE. Cross the large gravel road (Tower Rd.) at about 2.8 miles and continue on WHITE. Trail descends through a rocky area. At about 3.4 miles rock-hop over a small stream.

At 3.6 miles is the junction with Beaver Pond Trail, which goes left. WHITE continues straight. At 3.8 is another small hop over a stream. There are several unmarked trails in this area, pay attention to the WHITE blazes. Trail goes steeply up a hill now.

At 4.2 miles, the Split Rock Loop Trail (BLUE) comes in from the right. Continue straight here on WHITE. Trail descends over a rocky area and crosses another small stream. At 4.5 crosses a power line cut. Drops down to Split Rock Road at about 4.7. There is a trail sign that is not real obvious from the road if you were coming the other way.

At this point, The Four Birds trail continues across the road on WHITE for about another 15 miles – save that route for another day.

For this hike, turn right and follow the gravel road, over a bridge and past the ruins of the Split Rock Furnace. After the bridge there is a parking lot on your left that has a composting toilet. There is a trail sign with a map of the trails in the area. There are no paper maps here, and even the box that usually was empty is gone. There are nice views of the reservoir all along here.

Continue past the parking lot on the gravel road for what seems like too long – and there are no trail markers. (Total gravel road walking is 1.0 mile)

Watch for BLUE markers on some rocks on the right at a power line clearing, just past a large tower. This is Split Rock Loop Trail. (The trail also continues left, going north along the reservoir – but save that for another day) Make a right at the rocks and the trail heads back, up a hill.

Trail goes around and then descends a rocky hill, with views over the valley. At about 6.1 miles you come to an overview, and across the valley you can see the tower that is near the hawk watch. There are several rocks to sit on and a good spot for a snack break.

At about 7.0 miles, cross a large woods road, and approach a wide water crossing in a very pretty area, lots of mossy rocks and sunlight steaming in. There are two main crossings to make. The water is moving quickly here and if it’s too high to hop across at the markers, you may need to look upstream a bit.

At 7.1 the trail comes to a Y, follow BLUE to the left (a trail on the right looks like it used to be blazed blue) Continue through a very rocky area with large glacial erratics called “The Maze”.

At the terminus of Split Rock loop trail, turn left and again follow the WHITE Four Birds trail, retracing your route back to the lot.