I grew up in Cedar Grove and have fond memories of Mills Reservation from the 1950s and 60s.  It…read morewas a great place to explore the natural wooded environment atop First Mountain ... and it still is.  The trails are great for hiking, biking, and jogging. Leashed dogs are welcome.  I highly recommend hiking to Quarry Point at the reservation's southern end.  The views east from here are spectacular -- all the way to the Hudson River and Manhattan skyline, and sometimes the Verrazzano Narrows Bridge.  Oh, did I mention that the reservation is a great place for bird watching?! Parking is limited. There are no buildings or restrooms in the reservation.

How does one rate the woods? I wanted to blame them for a lack of reservoir scenery on the…read morereservoir view trail but there was human error and I was on a different trail. You can see Manhattan and even the Verrazzano Bridge from a few overlooks. If you're into Instagramming lots of trees and occasional rocks this is a fine spot. Geography note: without a car, kind of far from anywhere. Walkable from the weekday-only Mountain Ave. station (for NJ Transit wrath please check out my Substack).

The fam was looking to take advantage of this beautiful fall weather that we have been having. I…read morerecalled doing this hike a number of years ago and enjoyed it, so decided to give it another try. The parking lot was not the biggest, but there seemed to be many spots on the street. Fortunately we were able to find a spot in the lot though. It is dog friendly, so we brought our little guy too. Since the my younger son is only 7 we decided to do the hike (blue trail) to Tripod rock and back, which is about 3 miles. It does have some incline, but didn't receive any complaints about this from the fam. Also there are a bunch of stones on the hiking path, so be careful not to trip. The trail is marked well (apart from one point towards the tripod rock where it splits) so we were able to get to our destination fairly easily. It wasn't too crowded, which was nice.

Pyramid Mountain (Boonton) - Tripod Rock Blue trail - Difficulty: 4/10, Length: 3.4 Miles (2…read morehours), Payoff 7/10 (Cool rock & light view spots), Would Recommend

Troy Meadows Natural Area is a 2,600 acre fresh water marsh and Eastern woodland ecological…read moreenvironment twenty five miles west of New York City. It is designated as a priority wetland by the US EPA. Tory Meadows Natural Area began to form 10,000 years ago when the glaciers which covered this area began to melt forming the ancient lake called Lake Passaic. the Lake extended from Great Notch to just below the The Great Swamp in Millville. The lake eventually drained and produced pockets of marsh land. As an Eastern woodland it is populated by pin oaks, maple, elm, and beech trees. The fresh water marsh has numerous endangered plants but is largely made up of Yellow Foxtail grass and cattails. Water snakes, turtles frogs, racoons, white tail deer, birds (Bald Eagles), owls and blue herons to name a few. I like to come to this area alone, not that I am anti-social but because being alone allows me to focus more intently on the creatures that exist here. There multiple entrances to Troy Meadows Natural Area but I like to start my hike at the Parsippany entrance south of route 280 off of New Road. From this area you have to hike about a mile through an Eastern woodland environment. The entrance is well marked, as is the trail which leads you to the marsh and steel catwalk. You need to climb a ladder to get to the top of a six foot high catwalk. The catwalk is about 36 inches wide. I think my photos tell the story well.

Very large and seemingly little known nature preserve, mostly marshland. Several access points…read morewhich are explained on website. If you access from the service road on south side of I-280 there is a path through the woods which leads across some wooden planks in a marshy area to a ladder, which brings you to a very sturdily construced catwalk that parallels some high voltage power lines through the marsh. the catwalk makes for a nice hike with some pretty views. lots of birds here. a surprisingly tranquil place in the midst of major highways and suburbia..

I gotta tell you... I love this little park…read more First visit - okay, I dug it. Second visit - more time to explore and continually found new and interesting reasons to enjoy Essex County's seventh-largest park (I totally stole that tidbit from Wikipedia). Third visit - okay, okay - I'm officially smitten! A (small-ish) pond complete with locals fishing? Tennis and pickleball courts? Horseshoe pits? Bocce court? Paved trails (both in the main/open portion of the park as well as tucked-away under dense forest)? Baseball field (as a bonus - a group of kids always practicing cricket off to the side)? A tiny little spot consisting of parallel bars and (uneven) pull-up bars - for aspiring gymnasts or American Ninja contestants? An aqueduct (complete with a handful of little bridges to cross over) running throughout the entire park? A damn fine playground (with interesting and in-good-shape equipment) for kids (from 2 to 12 years old)? Plenty of tables (old-school picnic style as well as more modern/sleek)? Those clunky-but-sturdy BBQ grills that are drilled into the ground for you to use but can't take home with you? Rock cairns to find and admire while walking through along the tree-covered trail? A few strategically-placed water fountains to rehydrate and cool down? Plenty of Porta-Potties and trash receptacles (including freebie baggies so you can scoop up your pet's droppings)? A random deer (or doe) sighting in or near the park every single time I've visited? Yes! A resounding "yes!" to all of it.

Tiny county park in a residential area, so no trails. You can walk around the park in about 15…read moreminutes. Small stocked pond with ice skating when safe and allowed, children's swings and slide and a small tennis court. Benches all around. Well kept by the county. Parking on the street and a small lot with a few handicapped spaces. Bicycling not allowed due the size of the park and amount of people. Playing field up and behind the park area. Events held occasionally.

Located by W. William St. in the town of Lincoln Park, this park is a little gem. Coming here on a…read moreweekday early morning is one of the best times to visit, no trash, not too much noise and you pretty much have the park all to yourself. Just like today! It's right by the residential area so it may get somewhat crowded during summer as expected with parks of course. It has a playground (obviously), a basketball area, an ample fenced yard for the doggies and a ground for a few sport im guessing for baseball and soccer? Im not entirely sure. But anyway i like it here, a good place for some peace and quiet sometimes when you have the place solo. Lots of trees for shade too. And the best part is the swinging bench!

Located in Woodland Park, Garret Mountain Reservation is a wonderful urban park. While they are…read moreneither as intense nor as remote as the Appalachian Trail, they do provide good terrain for a short walk, which my partner and I did today. Barbour Pond is a 1-mile (2,500-step) route with an elevation gain of about 0 ft and is rated as easy. The path has lots of ledges to sit on and watch nature. Today the landscape was dominated by people enjoying a beautiful low humidity, clear blue sky with a picnic, photo enthusiasts taking pictures of birds, or fishermen casting for some trout. It's a great place to unwind and enjoy nature.

Short beginner level 1 to 1-1/2 mile well marked trails. 4 trails in all: 2 lead to Glenwild…read moreAvenue and 2 lead to Reeve Avenue. We enjoy going on this hike with ourselves or our dog. For those who have dogs, there is a dog park at the Glenwild Avenue entrance, before heading into the trail.

Very nice hiking trails in the forest. But watch out for bears! Very quiet tranquil placeread more

A gorgeous walk, about .8 miles of pavement and then a grassy path that continues towards route 3…read more The path follows the old Morris Canal. Bikes are permitted for the .8 paved section, there were some offshoots from the main trail where it looked like you could take a mountain bike. Dogs are permitted as well. I saw many birds, squirrels and even a young buck scratching the velvet off his horns in someone's back yard. I did the full length and back for a nice 1.6 mile walk.