This is an amazing hike! It's almost all shaded and once you climb the rocks, straight up on blue,…read moreit's quite an easy hike. Guys we hiked blue to purple to blue to orange (which comes back to blue and the parking lot) and it took 2 hours and 3 miles. We met people who thought the whole thing took 45 minutes and had the water to go with that. This is an intermediate hike and you really need the water, as well as trail map or at least pic of trail map, to make it happily. We met so many lost people on the trail. It's not marked as well as you think. Also we took the pup who thought lake at first sight, meant jump. Pro tip; keep them out of the lake. It's full of stagnant water and stinking mud. Your nose will thank me. Instead enjoy the bubbly creek crossing before and after the hike.

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.

What a stunning beautiful park , so clean with plenty of parking , picnic table and a beautiful…read morewaterfall-river . It's an amazing place to spend the day on a romantic date or with the family .

I definitely recommend going early and having your own transportation to get there because signal…read morecan be spotty. The croton gorge and its bridge was beautiful. Beautiful views , the sound of the water and trees all around. I saw a deer and many people picnicking in the grass. A lot of lantern flies unfortunately. I wish there was a way to get rid of them in a eco friendly manner because the trees don't deserve this haha! They had portopotties , a playground, and some food trucks. On a beautiful day this is a hidden gem not too far from the city.

A small newly updated playground (Spring 2016) with plenty of shade. Consider this a go to…read morelocation on hot and sunny days. The smaller size and limited parking usually keeps the number of kids playing here at any time pretty small. The .9 mile hike starting in the parking lot has been traveled by our 3 year old, but be aware that there are lots of rocks that could be an issue for kids still working on their balance. At this age hand holding would be advised. A gazebo, basketball court, and sand volleyball court are also next to this playground. Would rank this a 5 star playground for kids if there were a fountain and a bathroom at this location. So bring plenty of drinks and take care of potty needs before you arrive.

Small playground with 1 tennis court and 1 basketball court. There is a nice walking trail in the…read morewoods there which it the best upside of the park .

A nice area for hiking/walking that has some wide paths and not so overgrown. There are plenty of…read moretrails to diverge from. Hemlock Falls seems to be a draw and is very nice to relax around but can get a little crowded. Because there are multiple parking lots with easy accessibility, there's a bit of trash and broken glass here and there which is unfortunate. There were quite a few hikers, trail runners and dogs but it never felt claustrophobic. The hikes aren't that difficult but there are quite a few rocks and protruding tree roots. Montclair is less than 10 minutes if you want a bite to eat afterwards.

Great walk. Nothing like a walk through nature. Taking in the sights and sounds, what a beautiful…read morething!!!

Our pup loves taking walks at the Tourne! They have multiple paths so the chances of running into…read morelots of people and other dogs are very slim, which is great for us as he's still in training and is reactive.

This location is an absolutely lovely spot to go for a hike. My SO and I got to explore the park on…read morea quiet Monday morning, there weren't many people around. The trails were clearly marked and very clean, making our trek enjoyable. We hiked to the top of Tourne, enjoying the fresh air and views. We also got to explore the Emily K. Hammond Wildflower Trail, which was a nice detour from the normal trails. We'll be returning once the flowers are expected to bloom so we can learn more about the species on the trail.

OMG ... I would give this park 10 stars if I could !!…read more It is beautiful , miles and miles of trails by waterfalls and creeks , there are 7 different color trails , we did 3 and will definitely go back k to explore the other side . They have benches and picnic tables all over the trails making it easy to rest and enjoy the breathtaking scenery. Birds and small wild animals make the place even more beautiful . Everything is so clean and well kept. If you want a memorable hike you should definitely try this one . It is BREATHTAKING :)

Long Valley, NJ - I love hiking in this park. It's a nice one to do with kids, and good for a…read morecasual and relaxing hike with some scenic features. You can do easy to moderate loops of various lengths. There are paved gravel roads as well as dirt trails with large rocks, and fun scrambly sections (not vertical) along the creek on the red trail, which takes you along the creek for half the loop. This is fun for our toddler who likes to figure out the way over and around obstacles. Great for exercise and physical coordination. Fishing is possible with a permit. A few picnic tables can be found here and there. There's even a small "secret" playground with a couple of picnic tables, located at the intersection of the white and yellow trails near the trailhead. The parking lot is spacious. There are bathrooms at the trailhead but they are only open during the warmer seasons. There's lots to do nearby as well: Hacklebarney Farms Cider Mill, Alstede Farms, Ort Farms, Cooper Gristmill, and Main Street Chester with some cute shops and eateries. You can really make a full day of it!

***3 1/2 stars*** I…read morewas a little surprised when I saw how low the average rating was for this place; typically parks and hiking trails tend to have inflated/positive reviews, mostly because the only people willing to write them love being outdoors. However, it's really hard to argue. This was probably by fifth time here yesterday, and I'm never blown away by the experience. The hike I do here is featured in njhiking.com (which is a massively strong recommend - great, detailed and varied hikes featured all over the site) as one of the most challenging hikes in the state. It's an 11.1-miler that starts out at the boat launch parking lot on Splitrock Road (and there is ALWAYS a port-a-potty there - strong selling point; very clean this time too), goes east for about half a mile to the white trail, cuts south mostly through the woods and occasionally alongside the reservoir, switches to the blue trail by the southern end, goes up Buck Mountain and then continues mostly north back up to the road and the boat launch. It's a nasty hike (rugged with constant up and down), but it's one I like to do as training prep when I'm about to do a crazy adventure somewhere in the country - if you can do this one pretty easily, you can literally do almost any hike that doesn't involve massive rock climbing or something. In my opinion at least (and I AM in excellent hiking shape right now, full disclosure) the most difficult or challenging part of this is just the mileage. The up and down isn't as extreme as, say, a hike up in Norvin Green where you're literally going up an incline for a solid 15 or 20 minutes multiple times. There's one quick scramble up the mountain that took less than five minutes, and maybe one or two other sharper inclines that were shorter in length than that. But cumulatively, you're going to feel it toward the end of the hike, even though that part is largely on a woods road. I tend to meander and not bulldoze ahead (journey not the destination), so this whole hike took me six hours and 38 minutes. Start early. The primary reason I'm always tepid about this one is that SO much of it is just in the woods with no viewpoints. I'm of the opinion that if you have sweat pouring off of you and sore hindpaws, you'd better have a few majestic vistas or something for the payoff. Aside from the obvious reservoir optics from time to time, there also aren't a lot of exciting natural features to get hot and bothered about. You really just have one view up on Buck Mountain, and for whatever reason, I always seem to be over here on a meh, mostly overcast day. And this is sort of a pro and a con, but this is not a popular hike. Yes, you're not contending with hoards of people and the ones you do are CLEARLY legit hikers - there's no one wearing Uggs asking if you have extra water - but it means the canine situation is pretty barebones. Obviously a personal issue that may not apply to other prospective adventurers. That said, the wildlife game is always pretty abundant and yesterday was no exception. There were tons of frogs/toads, and I saw at least two skinks yesterday (the corgis of reptiles). There were also quite a few representatives of the waterfowl family hanging out on the edges of the reservoir, including one or two swans. The snake game was nuts, and both took place toward the end on the blue trail with maybe a mile or two to go. First I encountered a garter snake who was very on edge and tried to lunge at me (which I just rolled my eyes at), but then a few minutes later I came within a foot of a long black racer snake that mimicked a rattlesnake with the intentional rattling of its tail, which I've NEVER seen before, and that was a bit jarring. But I continued on, no worse for wear. I always enjoy being able to eat an entire pizza guilt-free and chuckling at the temporary loss of water weight from this hike, but this isn't one that I enjoy all that much. It gets you in shape and doesn't have much in the way of other selling points unless you're really into snakes with low self-esteem.

Farney State Park is a 589 acre mature mixed hardwood forest in Northern New Jersey. Tall red,…read morewhite and black oak trees dominate the canopy, The park is a habitat for the red-shouldered hawk and barred owl both of which are endangered. Be aware that there are ticks, bears and copperhead and eastern rattle snakes in the area. The terrain is rocky and features streams, stone walls, dams, a bridge and Split Rock Reservoir. The reservoir is part of the Wildcat Ridge Wildlife Management Area. The reservoir is open to kayaking which I do a great deal of since it is so close to where I live. You can also canoe or bring your boat, only electric motors though. There are two car=top launches on the the reservoir. No swimming is allowed and if a ranger sees your feet in the water, you will be reprimanded. Both use of alcohol, smoking or vaping is not permitted. There is a 13 mile loop around the reservoir with other shorter trails of varying difficulty. People come to Farney State to bird watch, fish (16+ need NJ license ), hunt in selected areas, ice fish, and hike. The Split Rock site was used as a production area during the Revolutionary War for producing iron. A furnace can still be seen if you take the trail down the road toward the bridge. It is down the slope by the overflow of the reservoir. There are trail maps on-line. Your phone GPS will work in this area as well. Signage is mixed in this State Park. The bridge crossing on the reservoir dam is one way but there is a red/green light system. ADMISSION IS FREE. Ten minutes from my home, it is my go to kayaking spot.

On a beautiful fall day my wife and I decided to take a hike…read more Halfway into the hike we came across an area that was a gay kook-up spot We tried to avoid this but ended up in a clearing with a giant tree stump this was later discovered this was called the $@&$ stump

Nice trail that has a steep section, but is worth the views. We followed the yellow trail up to the…read moreoverlook and then turned back down at the mailbox shortly after. We visited in mid October and had perfect weather. The trail was moderately busy so I'd suggest going early if you want to be more spaced out from other groups.

So beautiful. The trails are poorly marked and there aren't any maps really. But it's worth it…read more Just leave plenty of time. Lots of variety

A quiet preserve with a nice, paved path on slight grade. There are more paths through the woods…read moreand alongside the river that runs through the glen. Watch out for coyotes and bears! It's nice to see a refuge like this, and great spot for easy access to a little bit of nature when you need to kick back and dangle your feet in a cool stream..