Hike of the Week 01/30/2003

Description:

Before beginning your hike, obtain a free trail map of the reservation from the Trailside Nature and Science Center, adjacent to the parking area. Proceed west (downhill) on the extension of New Providence Road, following the white blazes of the Sierra Trail (which you will be following for most of the hike). The white blazes turn left at a large sign that reads “Nature Trail,” cross a brook, and continue downhill alongside a small glen, running concurrently with the Green Trail. When you reach a wide wooden bridge, turn left, leaving the Green Trail, and briefly follow the Yellow Trail (there are no white markers at this turn). Watch carefully for the next turn, where the white blazes turn right and begin to parallel a very scenic gorge to the left. The Blue Trail soon joins, and the path begin to descend.

At the end of the gorge, the trail route approaches Blue Brook. Here the Blue Trail leaves to the right. You should follow the white blazed Sierra Trail as it turns left and briefly follows the brook. The trail soon bears left and climbs away from the brook, bears left again at the next intersection, then turns right at the next junction. In another quarter of a mile, the trail crosses a small brook. Be careful to proceed straight ahead here and then bear left, uphill. After passing some houses to the left, the trail crosses a dirt road and soon begins a gradual descent.
About two miles from the start, the white blazes turn left onto a dirt road. The trail follows the dirt road for only 300 feet, and then turns left, leaving the road and continuing on a footpath. It ascends through a beautiful pine forest, planted by the CCC in the 1930s, and soon reaches an open grassy area, with a picnic pavilion ahead. Bear right here and follow a cinder road out to the paved Sky Top Drive. The trail crosses the road and re enters the woods, then makes a sharp right turn onto a wide woods road parallel to Sky Top Drive (which often may be seen to the right). About three quarters of a mile from the crossing of the paved road, the trail begins to descend. As the trail bends to the left, a short path to the right leads to an overlook above an abandoned quarry, with I 78 visible in the distance.

After descending more steeply, the trail makes a sharp right in sight of Route 22 and follows an eroded gully (with a number of blowdowns) down to Green Brook. It now runs along the brook, with New Providence Road on the other side. In about a third of a mile, you will reach the site of an old mill, with many brick and concrete ruins still visible. After passing the ruins of the dam that supplied power to the mill, the trail bears right and climbs steeply to an overlook, then descends and once more reaches Sky Top Drive, about four and one-half miles from the start of the hike.

The Sierra Trail turns left and follows the road, using the highway bridge to cross Blue Brook, with Seeley's Pond to the left. After crossing the bridge, the trail immediately turns right, goes through a grassy area, and re enters the woods. It follows a footpath through some fairly dense vegetation and crosses several small brooks on a wooden boardwalk. After about three-quarters of a mile, it turns left onto a wide dirt road (this turn is poorly marked) and finally emerges on a paved road at the Deserted Village of Feltville. Named for David Felt, a New York City businessman who founded the village in 1845 to house the workers at his nearby paper mill, it was abandoned about thirty years later. Some of the buildings in the area are now being restored.

The Sierra Trail follows the paved road through the village for 0.4 mile. After passing the general store and an adjacent home, the Sierra Trail turns right on a bridle path. In 200 feet, it turns right again onto another dirt road, and soon passes a small cemetery which contains the graves of the Willcocks and Badgley families, who first settled the area about 1736. The road soon narrows to a footpath. About a third of a mile from the cemetery, the white blazed trail turns right, descends on a dirt road for 400 feet, then turns left, leaving the road, and immediately bears right onto a footpath. Soon, the trail reaches the dam of Surprise Lake, built in 1845 to provide power for David Felt's paper mill. The trail continues along the northwestern shore of this long but narrow lake for almost a mile, then turns right at paved Tracy Drive, crossing the lake on a bridge. On the other side of the bridge, the white blazes turn left, crossing the road.

Follow the white blazes for only 100 feet and turn right onto an unmarked bridle path that immediately crosses an entrance road to the stables. In about 0.2 mile, the white blazed Sierra Trail will rejoin the bridle path. Continue ahead, following the white markers, for the next 0.4 mile, but do not turn left where they leave the path near the traffic circle; instead, bear right, following the wide path across the paved road. In 300 feet, you will meet the Sierra Trail again; this time, leave the bridle path and follow the white blazes to the right, onto a footpath. Continue ahead on the white blazed trail, which eventually is joined by the Red Trail. In about half a mile, the trail will pass the Trailside Nature and Science Center and reach the parking area where you began the hike.

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