Hike Reviews
September 17, 2016
pleasant walk
<p>Did this hike (more or less; see below) on a beautiful Saturday, and, as was already indicated elsewhere, there are remarkably few people on these trails. Overall, this rates as a very pleasant ramble, though I don't think I would recommend it for those who have to travel a long distance (like me) to get there. The only quibble I had with the writeup was that I never saw the unmarked path mentioned to get to the shore of Deer Park Pond. I just kept on going on the Lake View Trail until I got to the dam splillway, then I retraced my steps to the Barberry Trail. Regarding the path to the viewpoint on I-80, be aware that the fence through which you pass is not visible from the Deer Path. Since I'm constitutionally averse to going back the same way I went out, I varied the return trip, with unexpected side benefits. Instead of taking the Deer Path back all the way from the end of the Barberry Trail, I instead turned left onto the Lake View Path (which follows the route of Deer Park Road, then went west on the Birch Trail for about 0.2 mile and finally followed an unblazed (but well-beaten) path (shown on the NY/NJ Trail Conference map) back to the parking lot. Along the way, I discovered several spots with quite obvious evidence of old mining activity. The first, a shaft entrance just a few yards to the right of the road, was at N40º53'50.5", W74º48'11.3". Then, along the unblazed trail, there were a couple of exploratory pits, as well as what looks like a cut, all around N40º53'30.9" W74º48'39.4".</p>
September 13, 2015
tip to find the scenic overlook
<p>This clarification will save others some trouble with the original directions. After reaching the junction with the yellow-blazed Birch Trail and going to the left to stay on the white-blazed Deer Park Trail, the trail will soon go down a hill and come to a T marked with white blazes. Go RIGHT (as the hiker above noted, going left puts you on the Allamuchy Pond Trail marked by metal disks and won't take you to the scenic overlook). After turning right you will then pass the rock outcropping on the right and the trail will turn left. You will then come to another T, where you will now turn LEFT and can then follow the description as in the original 2007 review. (Just for orientation purposes, if you turn right here instead, you will hit the blue trail). Good hike!</p>
August 29, 2015
Update 8-29-15
<p>I am always reluctant to try I hike that was registered 8 years ago with no recent comments. Most importantly, I really enjoyed this hike, but have a couple of comments. I was unable to find the scenic outlook, though I backtracked a couple of times. Maybe things have changed in 8 years. Also, there is no unmarked trail that leads to the lake near the Barberry Trail, though I did go left on the Lakeview Trail at the junction and walked for about 500 yards. The major thing missing from the above is the unlisted T intersection which occurs between paragraphs 3 and 4 above. I thought I was at the T junction described in paragraph 4 and turned left. This is an unmarked trail which leads to the Allamuchy Pond trail. Including this detour and some backtracking looking for the overlook, this 6.1 mile hike became an 11.2 mile hike. I did really enjoy it though. On a beautiful Saturday in August I saw only one other hiker in 5 hours, and about 5 groups of mountain bikers. I had the trail mostly to myself. </p>