Great park to do outdoor activities! You can do a number of things here, from barbecues and hiking,…read moreto sports and more. They also have the Lambert Castle that you can visit, though that costs money. (The tower is open for free admission though!) My favorite part of this place besides the tower is probably the overlook they have of the buildings in Patterson. Very cool!

Come here for a quick workout . You can do 2 miles and see horses and other wildlife. This place is…read moresecure there's camera surveillance. Such a great place to come and relax. They also have fitness bars to do pull-ups however I'm not at that level yet.

It's a great place for me to run. It's flatter than most areas around here. It's also very…read moretranquil, and beautiful to watch as you run along the path.The path around the large pond is wide, which is great for the amount of people that are coming through there and many of the areas around the paths have shade, which makes it great for running as well. There's a large parking area with lots of parking space which is a convenient. When you come into the reserve it's off of the highway. The an entrance which is one way in and then the exit on the opposite end of the lot which is one way out. The only drawback from me was that there were a number of people in the park with their dogs unleashed and the dog should be leashed . Which makes it difficult and unnerving for a runner to see a dog come out and not see the owner close by.

Nice park for the beginner or more experienced hiker or just someone who wants to have some peace…read moreand quiet outdoors for a couple of hours. The parking lot is big and there is a bathroom, which is appreciated. I took a look at the trail map before I left to find one of a decent length, so check out options, but the trails are well-marked. Once you get past the main train next to the lake, you can find yourself pretty alone except for another occasional hiker, but you can vibe with nature, see a waterfall, and just breathe in the fresh air. Some of the trails are long, but I paced one that was only a couple of miles and still got some nice scenery and a lot of steps in. It's great this park isn't too far from the urban areas of Northern NJ and there are many trail options so you can visit again and experience something new. There's also a sign for trout fishing if that's your thing. Check it out if you want to get away for the day.

I visited this trail for the first time and was actually quite surprised at how good of a hike it…read morewas. I haven't heard much about it so I didn't expect much. Upon arrival there is a small parking lot, with a kiosk and the usual map of the trails. I used primarily the red and yellow trails to reach the top of the mountain. The view is nice, with a little bit of obstruction due to the trees. On a clear day you can easily see New York City. At the top of the mountain there is also a star with lights on it that I believe was donated. In addition to this, there is a large rock with the American flag painted on it. These are two little interesting things to see in addition to the view. The hike itself was fairly easy, with one steep section before reaching the top. I would say it is definitely a good hike if you live nearby and want to go for a hike without taking a longer drive. The one negative, is that in some areas the trails are not properly marked and can be a little confusing. This doesn't seem to be too big of an issue because it seems they all end meeting back together at some point.

In high school we used to have keg parties on top of the mountain. In college fraternities and…read moresororities would have events in these woods too. You can follow the trails or there's other ways up the mountain. You can ride your mountain to the top of the mountain or through to the Franklin lakes preserve but there's a lot of area where trees are down or there is too much water. There's a great view and plenty of space once you get to the top of the mountain. You can find "buttermilk falls" by the North Haledon entrance to the college.

**We just did the boardwalk then into the woods. We did not continue on to the Stairway**…read more I've lived in NJ over 30 years and I'm still pleasantly surprised when I find new places. My NY plus size hiking group stuck to the Jersey side last weekend and hit the boardwalk. It rained 2 days before so some of the older sections were mighty slick. All Trails reviews warned of dog poop and bugs everywhere but I was doused in OFF and people were cleaning up after their pets. Highlights: The vegetation was gorgeous. NJ has so many landscapes. Loved it. The suspension bridge - very cute but once you get to the middle prepare to sway baby! The woods - the trees were singing but unfortunately one half of the loop was submerged so we called it a day early and then went for beer lmao The Boardwalk is accessible to a point. Strollers, wheelchairs, etc will be good until the suspension bridge. Lots of bench seating along the way. Loved! Things to Know: Parking rules. This is in a neighborhood so park on the main road and main road only. Get there early for a spot. There's a farm right up the street - I was counting on apple cider donuts but we opted to go to a brewery on the NY side so we skipped that. Boo. I'll be back for the stairway one day. And the donuts.

I did the Stairway to Heaven hike and let me tell you. It was a tough one. I parked in one of the…read morelots that was across the street from Heaven hill farm. If you search up this particular trail and look up its difficultly. It is listed as moderate but to me it was more hard. What made it difficult was the extremely rocky sections which there were a lot of them. The whole hike is pretty much rocky. Not only that there were steep sections during this hike. This hike definitely made me realize that I actually need to invest in proper hiking shoes and not just sneakers as well as hiking sticks. I'm not the only one who thought this hike was difficult. I went with a hiking group and we all thought it was challenging. Once we made it to the top the view was definitely beautiful. We decided to relax for a bit and enjoy the view before heading back down. I came prepared and I enjoyed my peanut butter and jelly sandwich and my iced lemon water. Both were hitting the spot after the hike up. I will admit going down was just as hard because you had to deal with steep terrain. If you aren't careful you can definitely roll an ankle. Overall a challenging hike but the view and then getting my goodies from heaven hill farm was a plus.

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

On our random visit, entrances to the Lambert Castle and Tower were closed, but the road was open…read more We were able to admire this lovely structure from outside. Our intention anyway was to go hiking. That was accomplished. From the area of the tower, which sits higher than the castle, some panoramic views can be seen ofthe surrounding cityscape. You can also find other hiking trails that lead you further along the hilltop. A perfectly beautiful day also makes this spot... - lovely for a picnic - picturesque for a photoshoot - ideal for a background in your vlog - an escape from the noise of a busy week - nice for a nap or daydream - sweet for something romantic - zen for meditation

I took a tour of Lambert Castle a couple days prior and felt the need to explore the tower up the…read morehill. It was beautiful! Elegant stone work. A trellis covered in vines. Views of nature all the way to NYC that would've been glorious many decades ago. The valley is a bit over developed now, but still impressive. This tower would've been an extension of the extravagant home below. Just walking around it gives you a sense of power and incorporation into nature on this unique mountain in the middle of a densely populated city. Garret mountain, holds this gem, and many others. Well worth a visit!

No celery is being grown, it's actually a nature preserve. There's no dogs or bikes allowed…read more Sections are fenced off to keep you on the trail. The trail is about a mile and goes around the lake. Some of it is boarded and much of it is in the shade. If it rained recently, than it may be muddy, otherwise sneakers or shoes are fine. It stays level and is good for elderly or kids. There's a lot of benches and a few lookouts as you go around. The preserve is exceptionally clean. I saw one plastic bottle, so I picked it up.

Today it is called the Celery Farm mainly a result of the fact that in 1888 Swiss emigrant Henry J…read more Appert and his wife Ella bought the 107 acre-property and converted the land which was an excavated peat bog into a farm which grew mainly celery and onions. The land has a rich history has seen this parcel of land transition from a glacial land to a peat bog, to a farm and now a nature preserve. The Wolf Clan of the Lenni Lenape gather here to hunt the abundant game in the area. Later in colonial times Founding Father John Fell took possession of the. In the 1080's the borough of Allendale bought the track of land and converted it into a nature preserve. The Celery Farm is an important site for migratory birds and thus bird watchers. There are several areas where birds can be observed including a raised platform overlooking the small lake. There are trails which run about a mile through the preserve. The trails are very wet in spots after any kind of precipitation. Roots and rocks jut up along the path making hiking uncomfortable. When I visited there were numerous hikers who wore masks and observed social distancing. Dogs are not permitted on the trails.

I love the outdoors , but this hike was not my favorite :( it has an absurd amount of insects…read moreand YES I know it's a forest , but it not even well kept when it comes to markers on the trees for hikers . You can easily get lost because there's barely any markers or directions . The view from the summit is ok but even that doesn't have a sign either . They have bathroom signs to bathrooms that don't exist . Parking to a lot that says private lot .. nature is beautiful . But I wouldn't recommend this place , the pictures posted here are the ONLY thing to see . DO NOT RECOMMEND !!! There are other beautiful hiking places ..

Norvin Green is one of my absolute favorite places in NJ to hike. It has a tremendous variety of…read moretrails with different terrain, difficulty level and unique environments; if the mood strikes you, it's possible to hike up and down a few mountains with gorgeous 360-degree views, or something much easier that involves exploring some of the mines on the eastern side of the forest, closer to the reservoir. There's something for virtually any type of hiker, and because so much of the area is rugged, you're not likely to find too many ignorant young hiking pups wandering aimlessly without water or a map. I usually get out here at least a few times every year, and most recently stopped by with one of my chums two Saturdays ago for an 8.1-mile hike. If you're approaching Norvin Green from 287, I would strongly recommend stopping by the Quick Chek on 511 - the bathroom options are pretty much non-existent in the forest (apart from strategically placed foliage), the employees there are always very pleasant and you have a lot of hiking snack options if you haven't had time to preplan that aspect of the adventure. We did a circuitous route beginning at the Weis parking lot up the green trail, past the natural pool to the kiosk, then up blue to Wyanokie High Point, back down and continuing on the blue trail to Carris Hill, then taking the yellow trail from there down into the wetlands, turning west onto the blue trail, past Chik Falls and over to Otter Hole. At that point, you can either take the green Otter Hole trail back to the kiosk (I think that's about 6 miles), or turn west again in .2 miles onto yellow and up Buck Mountain, meandering along the ridge until you hit the woods road (subjective term) and can follow it back to the green trail/kiosk. Deciding to incorporate Buck Mountain adds about two miles to the trip, so if your haunches aren't up to it, just keep going north on green. You'll still get a workout in, regardless. The climb up to Wyanokie is fairly strenuous. I'm in very good hiking shape and can do it without any breaks if needed, but you're definitely earning the views once you ascend past the main tree line. The view on top has to be one of the top two or three in the state; on a clear day, you can see the NYC skyline (that's true as well for the top of Buck Mountain and several points along the yellow trail before it descends), as well as the mountainous regions to the north and west. It's gorgeous, and the only damper on this particular day was the obvious effects of the seasonal drought - tons of brown foliage and several of the water features were dried up or close to it. Especially down in the wetlands, you're usually hopping over a small stream or two. Not on this day, and Chik Falls was a barely discernable trickle. The Buck Mountain climb is one of the toughest in the area - if you can do it without taking a breather, god bless. It's something like an 800-foot ascent in .1 miles; it doesn't require actual rock scrambling or climbing, but it's probably in the tier right below that. But as with Wyanokie, you're getting amazing views for the sweat expended on the incline, and because it's a nastier section of the forest, there isn't nearly as much foot traffic. It's not unusual to get some solid wildlife sightings up on the ridge. This particular hike certainly had its share of wildlife. We saw either a garter or ribbon snake with Pittsburgh Steelers coloring, a skink, AKA the corgi of lizards, oodles of small frogs (presumably panicking over the lack of water), and met two canine chums, Nala and Argo. A very solid crop, and not out of the ordinary for this area. I couldn't recommend this place more highly. Nearby Wanaque doesn't have a lot of great eating options, so given that you've more than earned your calories from tromping around in the woods, I'd venture a little further south to sup on scrumptiousness.

PROS: This place was very clean and had nice landscape. Lake is big and you can kayak on it. The…read morepaths are very clear and easy to hike through CONS: There's no parking available as they closed the car bridge that leads to the parking lot for no reason. There's also no out house OVERALL: It's an easy hike and the lake is a nice area to kayak on, just plan where you're going to hike cause the lot is closed

Absolutely love this spot! Such a great place to come for a small hike when you wanna enjoy a nice…read moreday. I got here nice and early on a Thursday morning and it was pretty empty. Parking is plenty. I can imagine weekends it gets crowded but there's overflow parking on your way in. Gorgeous selection of two trails, I usually do both to get some extra steps in. Altogether doing both trails is about 2.5 miles. Tons of beautiful views all around. Very very dog friendly as well. I always see a few dogs on the trail. They also do kayak rentals during the summer which seems super fun. Great spot!

A nice area for hiking with castle ruins and a lake and changing elevations. There are some paved…read moreroads but also trails off that path. You can hear the sound of cars on the highway both at the end and beginning of the hikes. Lots of dogs off leash even though there are signs that say to leash all dogs. The parking lot can get crowded later in the afternoon especially in the spring and summer, but there were plenty of spots on a Sunday morning at 9:30.

My 350th Yelp review is a banger…read more I try to stop by Ramapo at least once a year, usually at the beginning of hiking season; there's a nice 5- or 6-mile route I do in there that helps me build up for the more hardcore hikes later in the year, and it's unusual for me to do this one so late into the actual summer. Boy, is this a different hike in June. Ask the gazillion bears I saw. Yesterday I did about 6 miles, starting at the Ramapo Lake Trailhead parking lot, going on the blue trail to the aforementioned lake and then turning left onto N Shore Drive. I then veered off toward the castle ruins but made a pretty quick right before the path up to said ruins onto Cannonball to Skyline Drive, joining up with the Castle Point Trail back to and through the castle ruins, before heading down back to the lakefront and continuing all the way around the lake until getting back to the blue trail and the parking lot. The official hike in my book says it's 6.6 miles when you include an additional loop to the south of the lake that gets you very close to 287, but i bypassed that today. One of the big issues with this section of Ramapo is the parking situation. I can't tell you how many times I've had to pivot and do a different hike because this Ramapo Lake parking lot was completely full by mid-morning, and the powers that be insist on plastering no parking signs in every other conceivable area going literally miles down Skyline Drive. I get that Skyline is a busy road but there ARE sections where you can theoretically park safely on the shoulder without bothering anyone else - I think there's a compromise here somewhere, but because they don't have one, this lot is usually full by 8:30am on a nice day, and then you have vulture cars just lurking in the middle of the lot for ages waiting for hikers to come back so they can immediately grab the new spot. You can't tell me that's much safer than the alternative. Anyway. The other mild annoyance for me is that you can often hear car traffic, especially in the southern section by 287, but it is what it is. The lake and the castle are the real selling points here, especially the castle. Ruins are one of my all-time favorite hiking kinks, and this adventure has them in droves. The one drawback (again, because of the time of year) is that it gets overgrown with foliage very quickly, so this is a rare instance where I would recommend exploring it in the early spring before you're bushwhacking to get through. Very cool optics though, and a definite must at some point if you're in the area. The wildlife situation? Man. This was one for the books. I usually see one or two bears a year, but I saw that many today, and numerous hikers told me they'd encountered others as well. It was insane and I've never seen anything like it. I got a picture of the biggest one I saw (attached) as I was slowly backing away, and I'd guess this was a 700 pounder? Big boy, and wasn't particularly fazed by my bear horn (though he did ultimately wander off after a few toots on it). Absolutely would not do this hike without a bear horn. I don't even want to ponder what would have happened otherwise. Neither of the bears seemed aggressive but you just never know, and if cubs had been around? Ugh. I encountered a park ranger toward the end of the hike who said it had been insane bear-wise the entire summer and they're just getting more comfortable with humans so again, be careful, use common sense, etc. The trail conditions were pretty decent. Some of the blazes/markers were not the best, and a few sections of Cannonball were one way (meaning you had to keep turning around to confirm the markers because they were only on one side of the trees/poles). As mentioned, the trail section by the castle is overgrown right now but I'm not crazy about advocating for maintenance in an area that by definition should probably be preserved and as authentic as possible. To me there aren't too many significant inclines on the trail (there's one small section very close to the parking lot where you have to take a minute for footing on the rocks, as well as the climb up to the castle if you're going on that trail) but it's definitely rocky and not particularly flat except by the lake. This is one of the better hikes in the area but it's not my absolute favorite - it's crowded and a little too close to civilization. But arguably the bears cancel some of that out. Memorable day.