South Mountain Reservation is a nature preserve and network of hiking trails in Essex County, New Jersey. It spans over 2,000 acres, from its northern end in West Orange to its southern end in Millburn.
The trail network is complex, and you could spend an entire day exploring. There are short, easy trails that are one to two miles long. There are also longer, more difficult trails like the Lenape trail. You could easily run a loop through the reservation that covers ten miles or more.
Some of the notable landmarks in the reservation include Hemlock Falls, Washington Rock, Turtleback Rock and the Orange Reservoir.
South Mountain Reservation happens to be my home trail – it’s around the corner from my house. So I’m determined to run, map, and explore every inch of it. Check out the posts below to see some of the trails that are out there.
South Mountain Reservation is home to a complex network of trails, including the Orange Reservoir Loop. The Orange Reservoir Loop is a paved trail that loops around the Orange Reservoir in the northern part of South Mountain Reservation. It’s approximately 1.6 miles long, and it has distance markers every 1/10 of a mile. The loop … Read more
The South Mountain Reservation is home to a complex network of trails, including the Oakdale Trail and the Lenape Trail. The Oakdale Trail connects two points on the Lenape Trail, forming a 2.5 mile loop that is a moderately difficult trail to run. The loop is fairly hilly, and it includes substantial elevation gain over … Read more
The South Mountain Reservation is home to a complex network of running trails, including the Turtleback Loop Trail. The Turtleback Loop is a moderate difficulty, hilly trail through the northeastern end of the Reservation. It’s mostly single track, dirt trails, and it has about 400 feet of elevation gain over 3.5 miles. It’s a great … Read more
The South Mountain Reservation is home to a complex network of hiking trails as well as some paved running routes, including Valley View Drive and Brookside Drive. Brookside Drive is a fairly busy road, but on Sunday mornings it is closed to vehicular traffic – providing an extra wide, paved, running and biking route. Together, … Read more
The South Mountain Reservation is home to a complex network of trails, including the Mayapple Loop Trail. The Mayapple Loop Trail is a short, moderately difficult trail at the northern most tip of the South Mountain Reservation. It’s located in West Orange, north of Northfield Ave. The loop is about 1.6 miles long and it … Read more
The South Mountain Reservation is home to a complex network of trails, including the Zoo Loop Trail. The Zoo Loop is a short, moderately difficult trail in the north end of the South Mountain Reservation. It’s located near Northfield Ave in West Orange. The loop is two miles long and it circles the Turtle Back … Read more
The South Mountain Reservation is home to a complex network of trails, including the Interpretive Trail. The Interpretive Trail is in the northern end of the reservation, near Walker Road and Northfield Avenue in West Orange. It’s a short, easy going trail that connects one of the parking areas to the larger trail network and … Read more