Wawayanda State Park

Park Overview:
The swimming area and boat launch are both popular. The trail system is composed primarily of woods roads and is largely level. Terrace Pond area and the Appalachian Trail offer a more rugged hiking experience.
Trail Uses:
Hiking
Bridle path
X-C skiing
Dogs:
Dogs on leash
Trail Miles:
29 miles
Park Acreage:
17500 acres
City/County/State:
Hewitt
/
Passaic
/
NJ
Buy Trail Map:
North Jersey Trails Map
Park Description:

Wawayanda State Park embraces over 34,350 acres of forests and waters in the rough, hilly country of the New Jersey Highlands.  The name, pronounced Wa-wa-yanda, is the phonetic rendition of the Lenape name, said to mean "winding, winding water," or "water on the mountain." 

Wawayanda Lake, one of the focal points of the park, is 1 ½ miles long, has 5 ½ miles of wooded shoreline, and covers 255 acres.  It has both a popular beach/swimming area and boat launch.  Close by are the ruins of the Wawayanda Furnace, a charcoal blast furnace used to produce iron during the 1840s through the Civil War.  The Wawayanda Mine is 2 ½ miles northeast of the iron furnace along the east side of Wawayanda Road  [near the New York State border] and consists of five openings or shafts.

Parking Fee: From Memorial Day weekend to Labor Day.

The park includes the High Breeze Farm Historic Site [Barrett Farm]. The Vernon Township Historical Society leases an adjacent building.   There is no entrance fee; usually open only on weekends.

Terrace Pond:  An aquatic gem that lies at an altitude of 1,380 feet - Terrace Pond is surrounded by steep cliffs of puddingstone conglomerate, with nearby blueberry swamps and impressive stands of rhododendron.  Although formally part of Wawayanda State Park, it is separated from the rest of the park by Clinton Road, and its features are visually and geologically distinct from those of the remainder of the park.  [No parking fee]

Trails Overview:
  • Wawayanda State Park: Toward the eastern part of the park various old woods roads and paths lead southward through one of the finest forests of its kind in New Jersey.  A swamp containing an extensive stand of Atlantic white cedar is noteworthy for being so far from its usual haunts along the seacoast marshes [Cedar Swamp Trail; blue].  For the most part the woods roads are fairly level and excellent for seasonal cross-country skiing.  Many of the trails pass through low-lying areas and portions of the trails may be flooded during wet seasons.  The Appalachian Trail [19.6-mile segment; white], which crosses the park from east to west, offers a more rugged experience.
    • During the winter some hikers report disappointment by the noise of large numbers of legal snowmobiles.
    • There are fourteen trails range that range from 0.8 to 5.7 miles [not including the Terrace Pond area].  Total miles of trails: 29.0
  • Terrace Pond:  Like Abram S. Hewitt State Forest to its north, the trails in the Terrace Pond area climb steeply.  At the same time this is an especially good place to observe the conglomerate beds of reddish-purple puddingstone as they dip downward from either side toward the center of the pond. Six trails range from 1.0 to 3.8 miles.  The Terrace Pond North [blue] and the Terrace Pond South [yellow] trails can be combined with a portion of the Terrace Pond Circular Trail [white] to form a 5.2 mile loop hike.
    • Total miles of trails:  13.7

 

Directions:
  • The main entrance to Wawayanda State Park is off Warwick Turnpike, about two miles north of Upper Greenwood Lake.  The Appalachian Trail [white] can be accessed from a parking area off the Warwick Turnpike less than a half-mile north of the Park entrance, or [at its Western end] where NJ Route 94 and Prices Switch Road  [County 515] meet. 
  • High Breeze Farm Historic Site is reached via NJ 94 north to NY 94, just over state line  right on Barrett Road.
  • For Terrace Pond the most popular trailhead is at parking area P7 on the east side of Clinton Road, 7.5 miles north of NJ 23 and 1.7 miles south of Warwick Turnpike.
Contact Information:
Wawayanda State Park
973-853-4462
Walk Book Region:
Bearfort Ridge and Wawayanda
Fees:Some times and places; check with park