Hike Reviews

October 12, 2020
4
Sterling Valley Loop
Dgrossman
My family and I completed this hike on Saturday. Print out a copy of the directions, they were perfect. The trails are well marked and pretty easy to follow.
December 08, 2019
4
Moderate start, easy middle, swampy end
nicks
Hiked this today. The first 2.8 miles to the fire tower is moderately rough terrain. The trail is frequently marked, and even in several inches of snow, we had no trouble following the markers. This part has great views overlooking the lake. After the fire tower, the next 2.5-3 miles are gentle, wide mountain biking paths. The last mile heads slightly uphill along a stream. The watershed means that sometimes water pools on the trail and gets very muddy. Overall really enjoyed this hike, would do again in drier weather
November 14, 2018
0
Sterling Valley Loop
Daniel Chazin
<p>Largely due to the concerns that you have expressed regarding the condition of this trail, the Trail Conference does not maintain the Sterling Valley Loop.&nbsp; Concerns about the condition of this trail should be addressed to the Park Manager.</p>
November 12, 2018
3
Pretty moderate hike that is swamped at the end
Heather McHale
Loved the Sterling ridge trail. Very well maintained and well-blazed. Great foot path. The fire tower was not open at the top but was open to climb. Great views! I love a good fire tower. The Sterling Valley Loop portion of the trail (the last 1.5 miles) was very soggy almost the whole way. Muddy & flooded out in many parts. Wear waterproof footwear or plan on getting wet to the ankles.
November 03, 2018
5
downed trail blaze and flooding from recent storm
kestrel28
About 1.5 miles from the start on the sterling ridge trail, there is a dead tree that has broken in half and the highlands marker is still on the intact part, but the blue dot on white is on the ground on a broken branch. Probably fell off in the wind and the rain. First waterfall less than a mile in from 17 A on Sterling Ridge trail is super high and flowing quickly...use caution.
January 01, 2017
4
Good hike if you do it on certain days
bromli
Did this hike on new years day. It was sort of crowded on the lake trails but the sterling ridge trail was relatively quiet. The fire tower was closed, maybe for the season or the holiday. The viewpoints from the Ridge trail were decent but limited, and the ones from the lake trail were nice. My recommendation is to only do this hike in the summer or spring season and if you live closeby. It sucks to drive a long time to miss the fire tower.
June 23, 2014
0
We checked
webmaster
<p>You are right and we fixed the push pin on the map.</p>
June 21, 2014
0
Please check the GPS coordinates
jules.egyud
<p>We went on this hike today for the first time. We couldn't follow the driving directions because we were coming from the opposite direction on 17A, so we tried to use the GPS coordinates but we found that the coordinates posted (41.226772,-74.269649) are actually for the West Valley trailhead, which is about 1/2 mile down the road. If you want to update the coordinates, these are much closer to being correct: 41.230616,-74.260762.</p> <p>As for the hike, it was very enjoyable, and the rest of the description is very accurate. This does not seem to be a very highly used trail, as we did not see encounter any other hikers during the 7-mile journey. The views from the top of the fire tower were well worth the climb. The low point of the trail was the last segment (Sterling Valley Trail) because it was very swampy and buggy.</p> <p>Thanks again for the always-helpful trail description!</p>
August 31, 2013
0
Sterling Lake Loop Virtual Tour!
njurbanforest
<div class="content"> <p>Take a virtual tour of Sterling Forest State Park Sterling Lake on NJUrbanForest.com!</p> <p><a title="http://njurbanforest.com/2013/08/31/hiking-sterling-lake/" href="http://njurbanforest.com/2013/08/31/hiking-sterling-lake/">http://njurbanforest.com/2013/08/31/hiking-sterling-lake/</a></p> <p>Plenty of Pictures!!!!</p> </div>