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Monksville Reservoir & the Hasenclever Iron Trail in Tranquility Ridge

August 3, 2020

When I hopped in the car to head into the woods, I didn’t quite know where I would end up. I knew I wanted to go out for at least 1.5 hours, and I didn’t want a hike that was very strenuous. I had in mind to either revisit the Hasenclever Iron Trail or Jungle Habitat. Habitat would have allowed me unending flexibility, but I settled on Hasenclever for two reasons: A. I am inherently curious (thanks to my Dad) and the Hasenclever is filled with rich history, and B. I had tried to hike this trail once before but got really freaked out, turned around and came home. I said I would never go back to this trail alone. But, considering the emotional tornado I’m finding myself in, I wanted to find myself brave. You get nothing from nothing, so they say, and that afternoon I was craving something that I couldn’t attain… couldn’t even name for that matter. So I brought myself to the challenge and accepted it.

Though I didn’t devote my attention to the history while I was there on this visit, what I can tell you is that the trail follows an old road which was built in 1765 by Peter Hasenclever to connect his two ironworking operations: one in Ringwood, the other in Long Pond. The trail is approximately 6 miles long, with 12 interpretive signs/sites beginning at the site of his Long Pond furnace. The road was used until 1939, when, at the death of the final private owner, the land was donated to the State of New Jersey. The plan for the historic trail was conceived by Martin Deeks and Paul Frost in 2001 (Friends of Long Pond Ironworks).

Unfortunately, in the 1960’s, Ford Motor Company dumped toxic paint sludge into the Hasenclever mines, with the primary dump being Peter’s Mine, which lies along the interpretive trail. This area is now a Superfund site, overseen by the EPA and closed to hikers. This means that, sadly, you are no longer able to hike the full 6 miles from Long Pond to Ringwood Manor. The trail “closure” was just a plastic gate that had been torn apart as I headed east, which doesn’t do much to keep the public safe. There is no signage to alert you of the dangers and no mention is made at the welcome kiosk, so let this be your warning: if you plan to visit the Hasenclever, bring your own water supply. All ground water in this area is contaminated with lead, arsenic and benzene. Do not drink water from any pond or stream in this area.

On the personal side of the Hasenclever Trail… years ago, when I first decided to hike all of the trails on maps 115 & 116 (NY/NJ Trail Conference), I was moving in order from east-to-west. I was excited to tackle the western part of the Hasenclever as I had hiked the eastern side up to the closure, and planned to hike up to Peter’s Mine and back with the Olden Golden (who, at the time, was more of Spry Guy than Olden Golden). There was only one car parked at the lot, and I saw him hike in just ahead of me. I wanted to maintain my space, so I let him move ahead. I was aware that this was a one-way in and one-way out trail and having seen this other dude hiking, I knew the quotient of how many others were on the trail. But when I made it to interpretive sign #6 I started hearing unnatural noises… it was the nearby sound of someone (badly) trying to imitate a bird call. And an equally awful callback from further away. To me, it was clear that it was signal, and I was suddenly unaware of my quotient. Whether or not it was kids goofing off or not didn’t matter to me: my spidey sense told me it was dangerous to continue and my time to go. So I turned tail and headed back.

In any case, my opinion of the trail is overall quite good. I think an interpretive hike with an historian would be sweet for the Hasenclever if the entire trail could reopen. You can feel the history here and I would imagine that if you tackle the trail in the early spring when the trees are still bare, you can see even more remnants of the past. It is a deeply rutted woods road in certain sections, a seasonal creek bed in other sections, and a true woods walk in one small reroute. Overgrown and full of cobwebs on my visit, I was completely alone until I reached the area where the trail is “closed”. When I got there (which I stood humming and hawing whether or not that was the official closing) I heard music from down the hill. Then I strong smell of skunk. Oh wait second… that’s not skunk. It’s just skunkY. And that made me decide that if it wasn’t the official trail closure, it was close enough, and I rounded and trod back from whence I came. So clearly the area is popular for it’s remoteness but, kids…? There’s a reason for that. It’s incredibly toxic. I don’t think your parent would want you out there!

Monksville Reservoir was lovely as always, considering that it is a man-made body of water (created in 1987). It seems to blend it with it’s surroundings and is now a haven for fishing, kayaking, and SUP’ing.

The traffic over the reservoir on Greenwood Lake Turnpike can be a bit noisy, but it isn’t intrusive to the serenity of the area. At one point as you’re climbing further in on the Hasenclever, the trees buffer the noise and you truly do feel that this place lives up to its “Tranquility” name.