<<<Hikes in NJ - Trails Less Taken

Terrace Pond North

Park Summary: Moderate, rugged trail along a ridge with many nice views of Greenwood Lake and toward the east, including NYC. Goes thru a fun scramble through a rock crack. Arrives at lovely Terrace Pond.

 

Map: This trail is park of Wawayanda State Park and is marked #20 on the park map (note: this is a scanned map dated 5/01)

 

Consider getting the North Jersey Trails Map Set, it's better than the park map here. It's a two-map set, this trail is on #116.

 

Mileage: 5.4 miles round trip. Your mileage may differ slightly as we took the pipeline back on the return trip, instead of the trail reroute.

 

Note: this is not the popular trail head for Terrace Pond, this is an alternate route that appears to be little used. It was overgrown in spots and hadn’t been blazed in quite some time; the blue blaze was quite faded and hard to see in spots so it was a bit of a challenge. (potentially frustrating for beginners; fun for experienced hikers)

 

There is also a proposed trail reroute marked on the 2007 version of NYNJTC Map#116 – follow the fabric tied to trees or you will have a dull slog uphill on a gas pipeline cut.

 

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 and Greenwood Lake. After the intersection of 513, look for two pullouts on the right side.

 

The parking areas on 511 are simply pullouts with room for a few cars. The trail starts across the road from the 2nd pullout. Blue markers have a hard to see arrow pointing left; the trail is rather obvious though.

 

Restrooms: Gas station or there is a composting toilet at the Monksville reservoir on Rt 511 that is in decent shape (the porta at the first boat launch, not so much). Look for the “Long Pond Ironworks” park sign on the left and follow the driveway down. It’s also marked in our map coordinate files.

 

Bonus: There is a Dairy Queen nearby for after-hike treats. It’s marked on our map coordinates.

 

Hike Directions:The BLUE blazed Terrace Pond North trail immediately heads uphill a bit. Moderately rugged trail climbs to multiple outcrops with very nice views of Greenwood Lake and toward the east. Watch for hawks gliding in the valley below. Pay close attention to the BLUE markers.

 

At about 1.0 mile in, watch for orange and pink fabric tied to trees. They start at a wet area and head to the right. This is the start of the trail relocation and there is no real indication that’s what it is other than we had it on our map and assumed we were supposed to follow them and they weren’t some marks left by hunters. (if you were to go straight you would end up on a gas powerline cut and have a steep trudge up a hill to pick up the trail again)

Follow these flag markers (much easier to follow than the faded BLUE blazes) thru a pretty area with some streams, lovely mossy rocks etc.

 

At 1.7 miles you come to a fun rock scramble where you need to wedge yourself down a crack in the rock and shimmy through. You may stand there wondering for a minute, “they really put the relocation through here, intentionally?” It’s a lot of fun – if you like that sort of hiking.

 

At 1.9 miles, the relocated trail meets up with the gas pipeline cut. Make a right onto the wide woods road. The markers are not real obvious here, continue on the road.

 

At about 2.1 miles look for the trail to reenter the woods on your left. There is a large rock cairn and BLUE markers .

Follow faded BLUE through some overgrown areas and keep an eye out for markers.

 

At 2.7 miles arrive at the Terrace Pond area and the junction of WHTE. BLUE ends here.

 

The WHITE trail is Terrace Pond Circular which goes around the pond. Follow that to the left and choose a place to take a break.

 

When ready, retrace your route back to your car.

 

On the way back, we opted to see where the trail went before the reroute was marked out. To do so, stay on the pipeline and continue past where you came out of the woods on the pipeline. The woods road drops sharply with a lot of loose gravel, down several hills. There are BLUE blazes marked so keep an eye out.

 

There is a tall stick propped up that indicates the left turn is coming and a blue arrow is marked on the ground ahead of that. Head into the woods on wood road for a little bit. The road will bear right – stay straight onto the trail

 

Soon you will meet up with the stream/wet area and need to cross on some rocks. This is where you picked up the trail relocation earlier. Follow the BLUE markers back to your car.