long story short, used to be a boy scout, miss hiking big time. looking for good trails to go hiking on preferably not the ones w perfect paths and tons of people. looking for something up north, suggestions?

Ramapo Mountain has good hiking. Get a trail map to pick your level of hike .

 

If you are willing to travel into NY about 1 1/2 or so , check out Devil's Tombstone for a few real real challenging hikes. It is by Hunter Mountain and you can camp there. The trails range from an easy long hike , to grueling scrambling up on your hands and feet type stuff.

 

Of course there is also the Gunks . Extreme hiking is available , as well as tame stuff. Also about 1 1/2 outside of North Jersey

http://www.gunkguide.com/09June/0906010-hiking.html

These series of books have some pretty good hikes in them. I have NJ and Maine, they have served me well in the past.

 

http://www.countrymanpress.com/titles/50HikesNJ2.html

Ramapo Mountain has good hiking. Get a trail map to pick your level of hike .

 

If you are willing to travel into NY about 1 1/2 or so , check out Devil's Tombstone for a few real real challenging hikes. It is by Hunter Mountain and you can camp there. The trails range from an easy long hike , to grueling scrambling up on your hands and feet type stuff.

 

Of course there is also the Gunks . Extreme hiking is available , as well as tame stuff. Also about 1 1/2 outside of North Jersey

http://www.gunkguide...010-hiking.html

gonna try to get out to ramapo sometime this week. im sure i'll be able to check out devs tombstone by the end of this summer also, thanks for the suggestions! I'll update the thread w pics once i go

These series of books have some pretty good hikes in them. I have NJ and Maine, they have served me well in the past.

 

http://www.countryma...50HikesNJ2.html

Thanks but im not really one to read books lol. would just go to waste after the first time I looked at it, appreciate it though.

Ramapo Mountain is a great place. I mountain bike there. It's about 20 miles from Ramapo Mtn to Ringwood State Park. I forget the exit number, but it's off 287 W. a few exits (west) past Butler. Maybe Skyline Drive?

A fun hike is the Appalachian trail from 94 in Vernon to near the entrance of Wawayanda over in West Milford. The first mile of the trip is pretty much UP and will take an hour for a normal person. It's a strenuous hike but it's awesome at the top.

 

From Barret road to Wawayanda it's mostly flat but it's a nice hike. You can always go the other direction. People usually go with 2 cars, parking one at the end and driving to the beginning.

In for some info. I feel exactly as the OP. The last few years with having a new family and stuff its sometimes tough to find time for this type of stuff, but i REALLY want to get back into it as well.

Two good resources for finding trails in NY and NJ are these:

http://www.njhiking.com/

 

http://www.nynjtc.com/

 

I do a lot of trail running, and I'm always looking for trails that are not too rugged, kind of the opposite of what you're looking for. So if you find any like that, be sure to let me know.

 

There are couple of trails right from Cherry Ridge that are used for biathlons up there. The nicer is the one that heads north up to Wawayanda.

yes yes ringwood, i have been mountain biking there since 1998! great trails for riding, hiking, they have the botanical gardens there too, plus you can go swimming, fishing, boating and barbecue at sheperds lake, i go there all the time... there is a shotgun range near by that i can hear but not sure where it is!!!

yes yes ringwood, i have been mountain biking there since 1998! great trails for riding, hiking, they have the botanical gardens there too, plus you can go swimming, fishing, boating and barbecue at sheperds lake, i go there all the time... there is a shotgun range near by that i can hear but not sure where it is!!!

That's Thunder Mountain you hear. It's at the top of the hill above Sheperd Lake. Go up that road behind the old stone church and the range is at the top.

That's Thunder Mountain trap & skeet. I forget the name of the road it's on, but it's not far from the swimming lake.

Get yourself any of the trail maps from New York-New Jersey Trail Conference, available at Amazon as well as most outdoor stores:

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=ntt_athr_dp_sr_1?_encoding=UTF8&field-author=New%20York-New%20Jersey%20Trail%20Conference&search-alias=books&sort=relevancerank

 

We've been exploring those in Bear Mountain for years and haven't run out of choices yet.

I love the AT but there are other nice areas in northwestern NJ, eastern PA, and NY. I backpack much more frequently during the winter more than the summer for a number of different reasons so I can't really give you great choices for summer. It's hard to find areas that aren't crowded during summer, at least in my experience.

that's one thing for sure shepards lake has gotten somewhat crowded the last 2 years, the secret got out I guess, I remember when I first started going to back in 1998 there were like 2 to 3 families on the beach that's it! wow I can't believe thunder mountain was right there all this time, can anyone go shoot there? I got a pistol grip h&r pump 12 pump, lol...

Any trail in the Delaware Gap is great. I'd also like to get back into hiking more but it's been hard lately... Maybe someday.

i would love to hike in PA so I could carry at the same time... def going to check this stuff out..

 

maybe we should get a group thing going!

appreciate all the responses ITT, will update w pics once i finally get out. got hung up this past week

Just be careful if you bring a pet hiking. There are porcupines up on the AT and they don't mesh well with canines.

 

I hiked the AT last August with my son one afternoon. Here is the view from Sunrise Mountain.

 

 

The AT is such a pretty hike in some areas. Just watch for Eastern timber rattlers out sunning themselves and black bears feeding on blueberries. It's that time of year.

 

 

http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/breaking/little-egg-harbor-township-man-bit-while-helping-rattlesnake-cross/article_c4c23d80-99f3-11e0-bc78-001cc4c03286.html

I'm heading to Allamuchy State Park tomorrow. Going to start out on the manicured ex-railroad trail , then peel off in search of abandoned mines in the woods. There are many up there, dating back to the late 1700's. Not going in any, just looking at.

Took one of my daughter's backpacking / camping a couple of weeks ago by Bushkill. Nice state park that had about 13 / 15 miles. I feel better about having my kids with me and being able to carry a handgun...and bear spray.

 

Go on Amazon and buy a few books on NJ backpacking or hiking. I got two books for NJ and PA. Geocaching is something my kids are getting into as well. Quality family time in the woods is priceless.

AT is real nice.

 

If you're near NYC and only have a few hours, there's 'bombay hook'/'the giant stairs': http://www.njpalisades.org/hikes_challenging.htm

It goes along the hudson river and you get some surprisingly scenic views.

 

When you finish you can also get some great burgers at the filling station: http://www.yelp.com/biz/the-filling-station-palisades

AT is real nice.

 

If you're near NYC and only have a few hours, there's 'bombay hook'/'the giant stairs': http://www.njpalisad...challenging.htm

It goes along the hudson river and you get some surprisingly scenic views.

 

When you finish you can also get some great burgers at the filling station: http://www.yelp.com/...ation-palisades

 

I usually trail run this when I get time. However, my uncle who also runs it often told me they just had a bad rock slide in May, just below the overlook. The area might be out of service for some time.

 

Article: http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2012/05/17/residents-recall-seeing-rock-slide-at-palisades-cliffs-in-new-jersey/

I just recently hiked Black River in Chester NJ. Great hike. You can get info at njhiking.com or nynjtc.org.

"Stairway to heaven"...off the AT trail head on Route 94 near heaven hill farm...you will NOT be disappointed..........

will be my next trip after tomorrow, life has been way to crazy since making this thread. going to bear mtn tomorrow, hopefully theres a good view espesh since im lugging the camera

One of my favs. the Long Path out of Nyack. Start out at Nyack Beach State Park, make your way to the Long Path and head North.

There are several places to cross down to the Hook Mtn/Nyack Beach bikeway for the return trip (good for some running).

Not sure of the distances as it has been several years since I have been there. Great views of the Hudson (and Ossining prison).

 

Across the Hudson Pocantico Hills and Rockefeller Park are both nice.

http://i49.tinypic.com/2wciaua.jpg

 

 

 

we took the hardest trail which was pretty steep at parts but nothing too bad. legs were super sore from squatting the day before which made things harder than they should've but we made it. my shirt changed from blue to black by the top just to see all the people that drove up there