Apshawa Preserve and Butler Reservoir

West Milford, near Butler
Passaic Co,
New Jersey

Hiking Trails:
Blue Trail: Blue blaze
White Trail: White blaze
Red Trail: Red blaze
Green Trail: Green blaze

Total Time: 1:30 hour
Estimated Distance: 2.7 Miles

Pros: Interesting area
Cons: None

I had never been to this area before, which features nice tranquil forest, scenic lakes, and nice streams. Most of the area of the hike is surrounded by a fence to keep the deer out and enable more natural plant growth. I parked in the preserve parking lot, and took the Blue Trail to the White Trail, which slowly climbs up to a nice view of the Butler Reservoir. Upon the the descent, the trail meets up with the Red and Green Trails at the dam, and then crosses over a metal bridge across the Apshawa Brook, onto a peninsula jutting into the Reservoir. I then turned around and went back along the Blue Trail back to the parking area.

Pyramid Mountain Natural Historical Park

Passaic and Morris Counties,
New Jersey

Hiking Trails:
Mennen Trail: Blue blaze
Lucy's Overlook Trail
Yellow Trail: Yellow blaze
Kinnelon Boonton Trail: White blaze
Green Trail: Green blaze

Total Time: 2:15 hour
Estimated Distance: 3.5 Miles

Pros: Interesting Rock Formations
Cons: Views and climbs are not so dramatic

Hiking Partner:
Menachem Touretski

This hike was on a beautiful spring day, with a strong sun, but a bit on the cooler side. I have never been to this area before, so it was nice exploring the region. We parked two cars; one we left at the park at Kinnelon Recreational Field at the north end of the Taylortown Reservoir, and the other at the Pyramid Mountain Visitor Center, where we started the hike.

We started on the Mennen Trail, which was being refurbished with a shoulder of white marble rocks by a large volunteer crew. We continued along the path, crossing the stream, the power lines, and then ascending the mountain the view. We continued along the trail, until the short spur to Lucy's Overlook, and then went back went down the yellow trail to the large Bear Rock. We then went Kinnelon-Boonton Trail with its concurrency with the Mennen Trail up the mountain, and then branched off at the Green Trail, going back to our second car.

Kakiat Mountain Spring Hike

Kakiat County Park,
Rockland Co.,
New York

Hiking Trails:
Mountain Trail: Orange blaze

Total Time: 1:00 hour
Estimated Distance: 1.6 Miles

Pros: Good climb with good views
Cons: Busy on Weekends

I go to Kakiat many times without taking pictures or documenting it here on the blog. However, the very warm weather and the blooming trees made this hike particularly memorable, and I decided to take my camera to share the photos.

I parked at the Kakiat parking area, and took the Mountain Trail up, cutting across a bushwack to the lower view. I then continued on the trail to the upper view at the top of the Mountain. I went down on the Mountain Trail back to my car.