The Highlands Trail

When complete, the Highlands Trail is intended to be a long distance hiking trail that spans New York and New Jersey: stretching from the Connecticut/New York border at the north terminus, and the New Jersey/Pennsylvania boarder at the south terminus. For now, the Highlands Trails ambles beautifully throughout the Reading Prong region of the Appalachian Mountain range, serving as a way to walk from state park to state park. While there is some road walking on the Highlands Trail in Northern New Jersey, it is limited around the Bearfort Mountain region and south of the Norvin Green section.

When I first stumbled on the Highlands Trail blazes in Long Pond Ironworks State Park, I had no idea what it was or where it led. I have, over the last year, become an enormous fan of the trail, its stewardship, history and solitude.

If you have followed me for some time, you’ll know that most of my exploring throughout Newark-Pequannock Watershed has been on, or has mention of the Highlands Trail. It is not limited to this area but rather crosses through four New Jersey counties and so, it is in my opinion, that it deserves it’s own dedicated page. If you’re a fan of the Highlight Hiker pages, you may have seen some of these photos before. I will try to organize them by park, and in a SOBO pattern.

I would love the opportunity to thru-hike the Highlands Trail. Though camping is not allowed on the trail itself, it is allowed in some of the state parks which it passes through. Other than that, it requires planning for getting to/from the trail to a B&B or hotel in a nearby town overnight over the majority of its (current) 150 miles.

PLEASE NOTE: Certain natural areas, such as the Newark-Pequannock Watershed, require a permit for all hikers: including thru-hikers on the Highlands Trail.

My travels on the Highlands Trail have been broken up into several different blog posts. Here is a short list:

Dunker Pond section

Two Brooks section

Highlands South of RT-23 section, I

Highlands South of RT-23 section, II

Echo Lake East section to eastern edge of Watershed

Bearfort Waters Clinton section

Hanks Pond section

Explore it