<<<Hikes in NJ - Trails Less Taken

Long Pond Ironworks State Park

Sterling Ridge and Jennings Hollow Trail

Summary: Explore the remains of a Revolutionary-era Ironworks plantation at the start of this loop, then check out old open mine pits, scramble to a viewpoint, walk over the NJ/NY border, and pass by a swamp on the return trail. This route mixes easy woods road with rugged Highlands terrain.

7.9 miles. Moderate; there is some uphill scrambling approaching the viewpoint. Couple wet area crossings on rocks, some overgrown sections with tall grass - consider long pants or zipoffs for this hike. (Note: your mileage may vary slightly if you don’t go to the mine, or walk more or less in that area.)

• Shorter option: Do Jennings Hollow as a loop instead: Follow the route below, but bear left onto YELLOW instead of keeping on BLUE. Follow it around in a lollipop loop past the swampy area, you’ll return to the same spot, following BLUE back. The trail surface will be mostly easy woods road, then a little more moderate thru the loop, through some pleasant forest. Should be about 5.8 miles, though we haven’t done this exact loop.

Map: We don’t have a free park map scan of this yet. The visitor center has maps of the plantation area and of the Hasencleaver Trail. The best option is Map #115 of the North Jersey Trails Map Set. This trail is also covered in Sterling Forest Trails.

Books: "Hiking the Jersey Highlands" has 2 hikes in Long Pond. One is a shorter out-and-back that is contained within this route, the other is south of the trailhead. Trail descriptions can also be found in the New Jersey Walk Book.

Long Pond Ironworks

Parking: Rt 287 to exit 55, follow 511 North. Follow 511 through Wanaque. Bear left at the Y-intersection of Skyline Drive by the reservoir and travel past Monksville Reservoir. Just after crossing the water, look for the Long Pond Ironworks Visitor Center on your right. You can park here and take a connector trail to meet up with the description below.

The actual trailhead parking is a large dirt area a little further down the road on your left. There is a bench and some landscaping. The trail starts across the street, to the right of the road facing you (East Shore Rd). It’s hard to see but there are trail markers and a guardrail to hop over in an overgrown area.

Restrooms: There are nice clean ones at the visitor center, but that is only open weekends 1pm-4pm during the season (not sure what their season is). Gas station options near the trailhead are limited. There are porta-johns at both Monksville boat launches, but the north one was locked 9/19/09 – not sure if it’s a seasonal or just happened to be locked. The south lot one was not lockable and brand new… which is good as it was barely usable before.

Hike Directions: This route starts out following BLUE DOT (Sterling Ridge). It is co-aligned with TEAL (Highlands Trail).

Walk a bit and there will be a woods road that joins in from the right. This leads to the Visitor Center, so don’t go that way unless you want to hit the center first – make a LEFT.

Come to the Company Store building. There is a interpretive sign here. Continue following BLUE DOT/HIGHLANDS.

.5 miles - arrive at the main buildings. Go off the trail briefly and walk along the unmarked path to look at the furnace remains, and 2 waterwheels housed in protective coverings. Up behind the last waterwheel is a small bridge that overlooks an old foundation.

Retrace your steps and turn to follow the blazes again, crossing a footbridge over a stream.

.8 miles – Pass the trailhead of the YELLOW (Hasenclever) Trail on your right. This trail leads to Ringwood Manor, and you can get a trail pamphlet on it at the visitor center. Continue on BLUE DOT/HIGHLANDS.

1.4 miles – Bear right as the trail splits in a Y, Continue on BLUE DOT/HIGHLANDS. On the left, pass the start of the Jennings Hollow Loop (YELLOW).

1.7 miles. BLUE DOT/HIGHLANDS splits from the woods road here. We continued straight on the woods road for awhile and located some open mine pits of the Paterson Mine on the right. They are unmarked but a trail leads to them. Then backtrack to this junction and take the BLUE DOT/HIGHLANDS.

If you don’t want to make the detour to the mine, keep an eye out for the BLUE DOT/HIGHLANDS markers that are allll the way on your left. The trail simply appears to continue straight here and it’s easy to miss the turn.

Cross over a little stream. The trail becomes more rugged, overgrown and wet in spots from this point.

The trail heads uphill and has some rock scrambles to negotiate.

2.8 miles – Overlook of several mountains and the reservoir. A good spot for a snack.

Go up a steep overgrown section. Trail twists and turns a bit, watch the blazes.

3.0 miles – 2nd overlook, with limited views.

3.5 miles – walk across the NJ/NY border. There is a little sign showing the border. An optional “I just walked from NJ into NY” dance/jig is up to you.

3.7 miles – Turn LEFT onto the Lake to Lake Trail, which is blazed as RED BAR on WHITE. (Note: both our trail maps have it blazed as just WHITE). There is a large trail sign here, denoting distances.

Follow RED BAR on WHITE now, along a woods road. Not very far along, the trail bears RIGHT. There is a large blowdown to walk around. The trail is rutted and muddy in spots.

There are also unmarked woods roads here and there, some marked on the trail maps and others not… just pay attention to the blazes.

The trail will dip back into NJ and then back into NY. It also crosses a nice little bridge over a small stream at one point (forgot to mark it; pretty sure it is after dipping back over the border)

Watch the markers as the trail will bear left off the main woods road.

4.8 miles – Come to a T-intersection, and turn LEFT onto the unmarked woods road. To tell you are in the right spot: this was the only T-intersection we passed, also – there appears to be 2 woods roads coming in from the right.

5.1 miles – Meet up with the YELLOW markers for Jennings Hollow Trail. You are at the tip of the lollipop loop here and can go either way – sharply left or right. We chose RIGHT. Follow the YELLOW blazes now.

Pleasant forest, but some muddy and wet trail sections to cross. An interesting swampy area will come into view on the left. Watch for wildlife here – we saw a large bird (possibly a blue heron) and a black rat snake.

The trail will bear right, away from the woods road, watch for the blaze as the woods road goes straight.

You’ll need to cross a bunch of rocks over a wet area.

6.2 miles – Arrive at the start of the Jennings Hollow loop. Go straight here, continuing on YELLOW. There is a small marker indicating you are at the loop, and a “To HIGHLANDS” marker. If you go left, you will go back around whence you came… which you don’t want to do.

From this point on, you are retracing your steps.