Tourne Loop (2x) (Tourne County Park)

Tourne Loop (2x) (Tourne County Park)

Distance: 2.75 miles
Elevation: 640 feet

Time: 0 hours, 48 minutes 
Hike Type: Lollipop Loop
Hiking Challenges: 52 Hike Challenge 2024

The Hike

First hike of my New Jersey July at the place I've hiked the most (besides the Blue Hills) - the Tourne! It was an absolutley beautiful day in the high 70s with low humidity, crystal clear skies, and a lovely breeze. I had no pack, no headphones, no water, and just planned to loop the Top of the Tourne a couple times. It was a little buggy down low but no issues.

I started on the first lap, which starts 1/3 of the way up the hill, and my lungs were still a bit angry from my Franconia Ridge hike, but thankfully each full lap is only 300 feet, so even when I get gassed, its not for long. The viewpoint near the top is fully grown-in, but a bench is still there, and the view from the top is almost fully grown-in. I wonder if there's any plans to possibly open it back up? They keep cutting new mountain biking trails, so I think it would make sense to reopen that view.

On the first descent I had to dodge falling acorns from squirrels who were out to get me, followed by one mountain biker flying down the trail (I get the whole "share the trail" thing, but I really don't like sharing with mountain bikers...

The second lap was much sweatier than the first, but nowhere near as bad as it could be with this lovely weather. It was more humid down low - the breeze up top became the reward. I shockingly started to miss having a backpack on becuase I could now feel the sweaty polyester shirt clinging to my back line saran wrap, which was... a bummer. I passed the same person a few times, decided to do a third lap to get my elevation close to 1,000 ft, and then realized the time and I would be late for dinner with dad, so I settled on just two laps. This was a nice way to kick off my July in New Jersey!

Step-By-Step

- Park at parking area on the Old Denville Side of McCaffrey Lane.

- Start hike on Yellow Dot trail from parking lot.

- At terminus, turn left onto Yellow trail to hike the loop.

- After two loops, return to car via Yellow Dot trail.

Map of Tourne County Park (2024)

Photo Album