Your next point of interest is the junction with the yellow-blazed Ernest Walters Trail (heretofore referred to as the Yellow Trail). Just keep following those ample blue-and-white blazes and don’t get lured onto any unmarked trails. You may have to skip on some rocks over a few wet places, but the trail here is otherwise pleasant and well-marked. 7 miles, during which you’ll ascend 511 feet. You’ll be on the State Line Trail for the next. However you choose to get started, pick up the scent of those blue-and-white markers and start heading uphill. You can also start your trek just behind the kiosk at the top of the parking lot – you can pick up the blazes here, too, though this doesn’t appear to be the official way to do it. This is the official start of the trail, with a small State Line Trail sign in the woods just beyond. From the parking lot at the Greenwood Lake Marina (see “Directions to the trailhead” below), you’ll find some blue-and-white-blazes on the left side of the driveway (assuming you’re heading away from the lake, uphill). Cha-ching! Thanks for being awesome! (And here’s a quick primer on Leave No Trace, too, to help us keep the trails nice and fresh for each other.)ġ.
#Hidden lake trail nj free#
If you find this free trail guide useful, please provide payment by picking up at least one piece of litter on your hike. It’s not critical to have them, and the trail was much wetter than usual during our visit, but man, they were nice to have that day.īefore we get to the trail guide, did we hit all the relevant information you need to plan your hike here? Batman. One more note: We visited this spot after several days of drenching rainfall, and we were VERY glad to have some hiking poles (one each) to help us balance across several stream crossings and other wet places.
I recommend you do the whole loop at least once, but the Greenwood Lake overlook is most definitely the primary money spot on this hike.
This hike starts with a steep climb up to the Greenwood Lake overlook (you could turn around at the overlook, if you wanted, making this hike a 1.7-mile out-and-back venture instead of a 4-mile loop, but you’d be missing out on some nice trails, sights and small rock scrambles beyond the overlook). (And we won’t bother with a third one, since we all know how that turned out.) Surprise Lake hikes are like the Tobey Maguire Spider-Man movies – the first one is perfectly acceptable, but the second one is where you’ll find most of the awesomeness. As I found out after I completed my first Surprise Lake hike, though, there are two loops that visit Surprise Lake (with a fair amount of overlap between the two), and, without realizing I’d made a choice, I’d chosen the less awesome one. A friendly reader commented that I should check out Surprise Lake, and her description sounded intriguing (thanks, Megan!). The hike documented below is the one I meant to take the first time I came here. If you’ve never been, it’s worth a visit just to see the lake and surrounding areas.) (Greenwood Lake is nine miles long and within easy striking distance from most points in the Hudson Valley. After coming off the trail, you can bum around the Village of Greenwood Lake (a very short drive away), or take a scenic drive around the lake’s edge. My wife and I burned a day of vacation to come here on an early spring Friday, and it really did feel like we escaped for a one-day, zero-night vacation. VERY TRUSTED VIEW!! WOULD VIEW FROM AGAIN!!!!! If this view had just completed an eBay transaction with me, here’s the feedback I would give it: A+++++.
#Hidden lake trail nj movie#
(Or at least scope it out for yourself the first time you come here, and bring her next time if you think she can handle it.)īackground you can feel free to skip: This trail guide is titled Surprise Lake II (via Greenwood Lake overlook) to keep it consistent with my previous Surprise Lake (via Bearfort Ridge) trail guide, but giving Surprise Lake main billing on this hike is kind of like making an awesome Batman movie and calling it “Commissioner Gordon Returns.” The main event here is not Surprise Lake at all, but the expansive overlook of Greenwood Lake from a wide-open, rocky perch. If your dog doesn’t have horns and hooves, and is not an actual, literal mountain goat, you might be well-advised to leave her at home for this one. As much as I love hiking with her, besides the very rocky trail that would have been rough on her lil’ tootsies, there are several very steep spots where she would have needed to be carried up or down. Pooch proclivity: Dogs are allowed here, but I didn’t bring mine, and that was definitely the right call for us.
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