Turkey Mountain
Complete hike details, photos, and video on our Turkey Mountain page.
Only had time for a short hike this weekend, so we headed to Turkey Mountain. This is located across the road from Pyramid Mountain in Boonton, NJ. Turkey Mountain has some nice hiking, but most people tend to head over to Pyramid for Tripod Rock and Bear Rock etc. Pyramid and Turkey offer easy access to decent hiking, and is also a great place for beginners.
5.4 miles, moderate, minimal elevation gain. 4 viewpoints: two obscured, one of a lake, and one of the NYC skyline (very faint in the day’s humid haze). Also pass the ruins of a house.
This is pretty much the longest loop you can put together on the Turkey Mountain side without duplicating trail sections. Easily make a longer day by combining this loop with one at Pyramid as well.
Parking: Rt 287 to exit 45. 472 A Boonton Avenue, Montville Township, NJ. Detailed directions here.
Restrooms: In the visitor center, which is open at 10a. There is also a porta-john in the lot near the exit driveway that is in decent shape.
This route starts from the Pyramid Mountain parking lot. Walk out the exit driveway, near the visitor center, cross the road, and start on the easy YELLOW trail. On the return, you come back via “100 steps” – a series of stones steps that follow the powerline cut down the hill to to the road. At the road, the trail turns left and then cross the road back to the entrance to the lot.
Overview: YELLOW – WHITE – RED – GREEN – BLUE.
Important! The map on the morrisparks.net site is slightly outdated and doesn’t have the WHITE trail on it. You can download the Pyramid Mountain trail map we scanned in. Or you can skip the white and stay on yellow (easier trail) and you end up in the same place. There also should be maps in the trail kiosk in the parking lot.
Note: Look for a overlook spur trail behind the stone ruins that leads to a powerline cut and an overlook of NYC… the spur trail is not obvious going this direction.
