Hewitt,
New Jersey
Total Time: 0:45 min
Estimated Distance: 1.45 Miles
The Monskville Reservoir is a relatively recent reservoir having been created in 1987. In fact, if you look at the map below which is based on the USGS, you will see that the reservoir doesn't even exist there (I couldn't find a more updated map to use). It is very large, and my attempt was to hike along its entire frozen length. Unlike the lakes in Harriman which I am more familiar with, the Monksville Reservoir doesn't have any markings indicating if the ice is thick enough to go upon. However, I saw several ice fisherman on the lake which made me assume it was safe. As I continued hiking along the lake I noticed it was a bit slushier than I felt comfortable with and also there were no more people all the way down where I was going, so I bailed out earlier than I had hoped for.
I started at the boat launch area, and headed south along the frozen reservoir. I bailed out at the bend of the reservoir at the power lines, heading up the power lines trail and then along the trail on the eastern shore. Because of the recent ice storm, hiking conditions were quite challenging since I would constantly fall through the glazed ice layer on top of over a foot of snow.
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| Map of the route. This is an old USGS map which doesn't even show the reservoir as it is prior to 1987! |
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| This is a satellite view which shows the reservoir and the route I took. |
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| Walking down towards the boat launch. Note the ice-fisherman's tent. |
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| Walking south along the reservoir |
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| Looking north towards the road while walking along the reservoir. |
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| The path on the route back. |
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