<<<Hikes in NJ - Trails Less Taken
Hike Info:
Wawayanda State Park – Old Coal Trail, Lookout Lake, Laurel Pond Trail
Summary: Pleasant, easy hiking in a really beautiful setting. This route follows woods roads, passes Lookout Lake, skirts Wawayanda Lake, goes to Wawayanda Furnace and returns via Laurel Pond Trail and Old Coal Trail.
Mileage: 11 miles, mostly easy surface. Wawayanda’s trails are mostly level, woods roads so the hiking here isn’t as rocky or rugged as is usual in the Highlands, or in the Kittatinny range in NW Jersey.
Expect to find some wet areas on the trail. (“Wawayanda” is Lenape for “winding, winding water” or “water on the mountain”.) Some of Old Coal is muddy and rutted from ATV use. The area is next to Pequannock Watershed but not where a permit is required.
Shorter options in Wawayanda:
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Take Old Coal Trail to it’s terminus at Cherry Ridge(dirt road) out-and-back for a 5.2 mile roundtrip.
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Head into the main park (fee is charged Memorial to Labor Day) and park at the boat launch. From there you can make short loops out of Wingdam, Sitting Bear and Laurel Pond, or take Double Pond to Red Dot or to Cedar Swamp Trail
Map: We have a scan of the park
map here. (it is quite old).
One should be available at the park office, but this trail does not start there.
The trails in Wawayanda are exceptionally well marked with plastic disks (with
the name of the trail on them - terrific!), but it’s not a bad idea to
purchase the North
Jersey Trails Map Set
Bears: Make noise as you hike… talk, occasionally clap hands, etc. We saw a bear… on “Sitting Bear” trail, no less.
Parking:West Milford, Passaic County. Rt 287 to exit 52, then Rt 23 towards Butler. Pass the sign for Wawayanda that says to turn right onto Union Valley Road – that’s for the main entrance. Instead go a little further down 23 and turn right onto Clinton Road.
The parking lot is 7.5 miles north of Rt 23, you pass the Reservoir and some other small parking areas. The lot is just past the sign/gate for the Wildcat Mountain Wilderness Center - and is just a large dirt area on the left with no signage for the trail.
Restrooms: None in the lot. Best bet is a gas station in Butler on Rt 23. Halfway thru this route, there are bathrooms at the Wawayanda Lake boat launch area, and also near the start of the Laurel Pond Trail.
Hike Directions:The actual trailhead is just south of the lot, at the sign/gate for the Wildcat Mountain Wilderness Center there is a faint red blaze for the Old Coal Trail.
Follow the woods road for the Center, it is marked RED but not a lot. Pass Bearfort Waters on your right, then pass some buildings for the center on your right a bit further down.
At about .5 mile, the trail splits in a Y. Continue on RED to the right. YELLOW (Clinton Trail) starts, to the left.
Shortly after, pass an unmarked woods road on your right. Continue straight on RED. The trail is now marked with a red diamond on a white diamond background.
*There are some unmarked trails off the main course, plus some other marked ones not on our 2007 NYNJTC map… the 2009 map was just published and will update this with any changes.
Pass another unmarked trail on your left (marked with a cairn), then some stone walls/fences, then right after that, another unmarked trail on your right, again marked with a cairn (cairn is fancy hiker term for pile-o-rocks).
At about 1.4 mile, there is a trail on the left with a sign “Thirsty Dog”. Again, not on our map – assuming this is a Wilderness Center trail but not sure.
Shortly after, pass another trail with a sign “Split Rock”. Then a bit further, “Split Rock” again on your right, and “Buddha” on your left.
At about 1.7 miles, continue straight past the start of the GREEN Turkey Ridge Trail on your left – marked with green diamond on white diamond. On the 2007 map, this is a unmarked trail and not blazed green, but is called Turkey Ridge.
2.25 miles, the trail goes through a very very wet/muddy area. We’ve had a LOT of rain but I think this area would be wet regardless.
2.4 miles, pass another unmarked woods road on the left.
2.5 miles, the trail splits. Turn left and start following WHITE (Lookout Trail)
2.8 miles, is pretty and secluded Lookout Lake. It just sort of appears suddenly. Continue on the trail, hugging the lake and there are some rocks to sit on. Lots of poison ivy around the lake.
Continue on WHITE after the lake. On your left, pass a unmarked trail with a sign, “Pickle”. Assuming it goes around the lake, not sure however – not on our map.
WHITE heads up a short steep section then curves to the right. There is an unmarked trail that heads straight, look for the 2 WHITE blazes indicating a right turn.
The next brief section of the WHITE trail is exceptionally lovely… nice forested area with lots of ferns, boulders and glacial erratics.
At 3.4 miles, the WHITE trail ends at CHERRY RIDGE ROAD (dirt woods road).
Turn RIGHT onto the road, follow it a short ways until you see the start of YELLOW (Laurel Pond) on your left. Turn LEFT and begin to follow YELLOW.
At 3.7, an unmarked trail is on your LEFT. Turn left and start to follow this trail. You will come upon ORANGE blazes a little bit down the trail, but there doesn’t seem to be anything at the junction with Laurel Pond. The tags are marked “Sitting Bear” trail. This is an unmarked trail on our 2007 map.
The trail heads west towards Wawayanda lake. Lots of rhodendendron and a really nice area in general. The trail curves right and the lake will come into view. There are some spots to take a snack break by the water.
At about 4.8 miles, pass another unmarked trail on your right. This was not on our 2007 map and Wingdam was not here, but on the GPS map software it is showing as Wingdam.
At 5.2 miles, the ORANGE trail ends. Turn LEFT onto BLUE (Wingdam). Follow this over the dam.
At 5.5 miles there is an unmarked trail on the LEFT, turn here. It goes closer to the lake than Wingdam does.
The trail will curve back to the right and end up on BLUE again. Turn LEFT onto BLUE. Go around the end of Wawayanda Lake. Turn LEFT and head toward the boat launch if you want to check out that area.
**There are bathrooms there as well. In off season, there is a composting toilet in the parking lot. You will also pass toilets by the Furnace if you aren't going to the boat area.
Walk back from the boat launch the way you came, and keep going straight on the trail now, past the end of the lake.
The Wawayanda Furnace will be on your left, and there are some interpretive signs detailing it’s history. There is also a nice rushing stream near the road.
Now pick up the Laurel Pond Trail. Walk south, toward the composting toilets and the Furnace towards your back. The road goes straight and to the left – both are YELLOW.Keep going straight on YELLOW, don’t turn left (that’s Double Pond YELLOW).
At 6.3 miles, go over a small bridge and be on Laurel Pond Trail. The trail is a woods road as well, plenty of rhodendendron and Laurel Pond is visible through the trees a bit, on your right.
At 7.1 miles, BLUE (Wingdam) starts on your right. Keep going straight on YELLOW. You will pass the unmarked Sitting Bear Trail (ORANGE) you were at earlier, on the right.
At 7.8 miles, Laurel Pond ends at Cherry Ridge road. Turn LEFT onto Cherry Ridge. This is a wide woods road that is intermittently marked with BLACK on WHITE diamonds. It descends slightly on a rocky road, and goes over a small bridge. Pass another unmarked trail on the left.
At about 8.4 miles, the road bears right while the RED (Old Coal) trail starts on the RIGHT. Turn RIGHT onto RED.
At about 8.7, RED meets up with the WHITE trail you took earlier. From this point on, you are retracing your steps on RED back to the lot.
