Hike of the Week 01/09/2003

Description:

From the southern end of the parking area, follow the blue blazes of the MacEvoy Trail. The trail passes stone ruins, turns right onto a woods road, and heads uphill to Ramapo Lake. For much of the way, it parallels a brook with several cascades (particularly attractive after heavy rains). After the trail crosses a tributary stream about half a mile from the start, the lake comes into view, and the trail descends to reach a paved estate road. Turn left and follow the road downhill to the dam. Here, the blue blazes turn right, but you should continue ahead across the dam.

On the other side of the dam, proceed ahead on the wide gravel road, now following yellow blazes. After about 500 feet, the yellow-blazed trail leaves to the left. Continue ahead along the wide gravel road, now unmarked. The road runs close to the eastern shore of Ramapo Lake, with views across the lake. To the north, atop a hill with several pines, you can see the ruins of Foxcroft, a mansion built in 1910 which fell into disrepair in the 1950s.
The road proceeds through dense laurel thickets, crosses a causeway over an arm of the lake, and passes a swamp to the left. After briefly following an inland route past some rock outcrops, the road resumes running parallel to the lake shore, but some distance from the lake, with dense vegetation blocking most views over the lake.
Just past the southern end of the lake, about a mile from the dam, the road reaches a T intersection, where you should turn right. Then, in another 300 feet, bear right at a Y intersection. Here, the Cannonball Trail, marked by red-“C”-on-white blazes, joins from the left. You’re now heading north through dense laurel thickets, paralleling the western shore of Ramapo Lake, but some distance from the water. In another half a mile, you’ll pass a building on the hillside to the left that was formerly used as a ranger station. A short distance beyond, a rock ledge to the right of the trail offers a pleasant view of the lake.

Soon, another gravel road joins from the left. Follows the road ahead, crossing a stone causeway that isolates a quiet pond on the left from the main body of the lake. Next, you’ll reach another Y intersection. Here, the Cannonball Trail turns left onto an intersecting gravel road, but you should bear right and continue along a winding section of the lakeshore road, now once again unmarked. You’ll pass a small, abandoned stone building along the lake shore to the right and then reach another intersection. Here, you should bear right, joining the blue-blazed MacEvoy Trail.

Follow the blue-blazed gravel road that runs close to the shore along the northern end of the lake, passing a private residence on a ledge to the left. When you return to the northern end of the dam, bear left, uphill, on the road, then follow the blue blazes as they turn right, reentering the woods. Continue along the blue-blazed trail back to the parking area where you started the hike.

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