Where am I going?
Highlight Hiker Blog
May 7, 2021
Long Pond Ironworks
Highlands Trail South
You saw me hike the Highlands trail down Horse Pond Mountain. You saw me hike the Highlands trail north to the New York state line. Now it was time for me to connect those two with a short piece of trail I like to call “Highlands South”.
The connector will fill in the blank on my map between the Long Pond Ironworks Visitor Center and Horse Pond Mountain. It was a short distance but a perfect little hike to squeeze in on a cool and cloudy day.
A friend of mine is an NY/NJ Trail Conference trail maintainer and this is his section of trail, so I felt very important and official on this hike. But, overall, I was feeling joyful because I have been very successful at knocking out trails on map #115 so far this season. I knew then that at the rate I was going I could complete this map and map #116 before summer, so I bounced along the trail happy in the knowledge that I was closing in on my goal.
I think Long Pond Ironworks is really fascinating history. I have had my nose in my map so I haven’t explored much of the park itself, but it’s worth an afternoon with a picnic lunch to roam about the grounds. There are many remnants of mining everywhere in this corner of the world, and looking at Long Pond Ironworks gives you a greater understanding for the iron ore history that is scattered throughout Passaic and neighboring counties. Not to mention the geology behind it. Taking the time to learn about our local history is just as important as learning about world history. I mean, it’s all connected, right? But if you’re ever curious about local history, LPI is a great place to start because there is so much documented information, and the Friends of Long Pond Ironworks make it very digestible.
Long Pond Ironworks
Highlands Trail South
Total Mileage:
3.45 miles
Total Elevation:
741 feet
I started at the Long Pond Ironworks Visitor Center & Museum. There is an unmarked path that leads to the Highlands Trail, and you can go north (toward NY) or south (toward Horse Pond Mountain).
The trail starts out very densely covered, but once you get to the south side of Greenwood Lake Turnpike, the forest opens up with more mature growth.
It was ironic that I had come across these Mayapple plants because just the day before NY/NJ-TC had posted an article about them on Instagram!
The trail crosses Greenwood Lake Turnpike, which I was particularly excited about but it wasn't too terrible of a highway crossing.
See? Every once in awhile the traffic clears up!
The hardest part about the highway crossing was getting over the guard rail!
Hewitt Brook sits prettily under Greenwood Lake Turnpike.
The trail is only flat for a nanosecond once you've crossed Greenwood Lake Turnpike.
I believe this is a Chestnut Oak tree. They were everywhere in this section.
Despite it being an overcast day, the forest was vibrant and green.
The trail cuts through walls of boulders.
Yeeeeeah... I may or may not have missed that turn. I'm not saying.
The Wanaque River empties into Monksville Reservoir here at it's northernmost point.
The tallest point across the Reservoir is the top of Monks Mountain.
The trail walks along the Reservoir for a short distance on a beautifully graded single track trail that turns to a woods road.
It has little peek-a-boo views throughout its length.
My friend who maintains this section of trail asked me if he had taken down enough of this tree to get by. He did a great job!
The trail turns to a wide access road before it turns west into the woods. I wonder if the woods road follows the length of the Reservoir, though. It would make for a lovely scenic walk.
But instead, I turned west onto the rock-laden single track.
BE MORE ERRATIC!
This section of trail is not traversed too often, and has some overgrowth, but it is a lot of fun nonetheless. Besides, you know how I love the trail less traveled!
The geology here reminds me a great deal of what you'd find around the Newark-Pequannock Watershed.
Trails littered with rocks that are the size of- or just larger/smaller than- your foot. You have to pick your way over them since the space between isn't large enough for an adult sized footstep.
And then there was the mud....
This little section was my favorite of the hike.
Not quite a rock scramble, but close! The damp, mossy rock is a cool oasis amid the humid forest.
The climb isn't significant, and is fun for those enjoy this kind of hiking.
Isn't it pretty??
Yep. That's the trail.
A few short ups and downs and viola! The view opens up at the power line.
You can see right over Monksville Reservoir. This was my destination, as this is where the Highlands begins the climb up Horse Pond Mountain.
The trail is so pretty and underused. I love when the forest growth is so close to your shoulders - its like a little hug from Mother Nature.
Now, the Highlands trail ( teal blaze) is on the left. The alternate (blue blaze) is to the right. This alternate has been decommissioned, but I decided to follow it around to see what I could see.
The dark trunks and the light, airy leaves are beautiful.
High on the ledge, you avoid some serious wetlands on this trail.
There are random stands of pin along the length of the trail.
I ended up getting turned around due to a large downed tree, and ended up here by this mysterious and only slightly creepy tricycle.
But by quickly retracing my steps, I found my way back to the Highlands trail and headed back the way I came with the long vistas of Monksville Reservoir.