Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Ramapo Overlook

So Much Rain!!
Makes for a great waterfall

With the large amount of rain that we have been getting I thought a trip to a nearby waterfall would be a sight to see.  I did some digging and came across a highly recommended hiking trail with a water fall in Ringwood, NJ.  The best part about this trail apart from the waterfall was that it was dog friendly.  Many of the user reviews started that their dogs had a great time and did not have to remain on a leash for the entire hike.  Walter had been going a bit stir crazy being cooped up inside due to the rain so this place seemed perfect.  The drive to the park was a short 25 minutes from my home in Hillsborough, NJ.  When I first arrived I was confused about where to park, there are two parking lots that are not well marked.  I parked in the second lot, farthest from the road and that turned out to be the correct lot.

Walter has Never Been so Happy
This trail is made for dogs and their owners


Walter and I went for the hike on Monday morning and we were the only two on the trails.  He had a great time running ahead of me on the trails and exploring the woods on either side of the trails.  The parking lots are located off of a busy road so I did keep him a leash until we reached the head of the trail.  The park itself consists of two trails, the white blazed Todd Trail and the Yellow Blazed Trail.  The white blazed trail is directly across from the parking lot, which is where I began my hike.  The trail begins out with a lot of rocky terrain through a densely forest area.  The loop is pretty short and if you retrace your steps you will arrive back where you began to pick up the yellow trail.  The Yellow trail begins by taking you through a swampy area; Walter was covered in mud within a minute.  Due to the vast amounts of moss there are not many trees along the beginning of the trail, making it a bit boring.  Eventually you will walk back into the forest where you will be able to hear sounds of small waterfalls.  Exploring around a bit Walter and I were able to find the falls where we both did some climbing and he was able to swim around and wash a lot of the mud off.  The one downside of this trail is you have to retrace your steps to return back to your car, both of the trails do not seem to loop around like majority of the trails I have hiked in the past.  I plan to return again when the weather warms up so I will be able to take a swim in the falls with Walter.

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