Complete hike details, photos, and video on our Washington Valley page.
We were looking to do less driving during the holiday weekend. I didn’t have a lot of info on the park, it’s not in any of our books, no trail mileages to really gauge the park by… but it was only 30 minutes away so we didn’t have much to lose. Boy was it HOT though …. 95-ish and sunny HHHHOT. The weather has been brutal for hiking lately.
The park was just OK for trail interest and scenery. Other than walking by the reservoir on the RED trail… not too much to see. The hawk watch looks over a quarry. While interesting… it’s not the best view. It’s certainly decent for a park in Central NJ, but it lacks ooomph.
This is a biking-allowed park and the trails are geared as such… some seemed to twist around more than needed. We find that a bit tedious to hike, but since there are less parks available for bikers than hikers in NJ… it’s not really a complaint… just an observation.
Slight road noise throughout the park… you are never far from a road.
9.5 miles roundtrip (8.8 if we hadn’t got off track a bit) – easy to moderate trail surface. Hard-packed and rocky, but with loose, smaller rocks… easy to slide on. Minimal elevation changes. Read more…
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)
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.
WHITE to Hawk Watch (ORANGE) to WHITE to BLUE to WHITE
Bugs/gnats were relentless today, constantly flying around our faces when we paused. Bring bug spray and spray your hat.
Location: Hibernia, NJ in Rockaway Township
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).
Restrooms: 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.
We were looking to do less driving during the holiday weekend. I didn’t have a lot of info on the park, it’s not in any of our books, no trail mileages to really gauge the park by… but it was only 30 minutes away so we didn’t have much to lose. Boy was it HOT though …. 95-ish and sunny HHHHOT. The weather has been brutal for hiking lately.