Vista & Reservoir Loops (Ramapo Valley County Reservation)
Hike Type: Figure-8 Lollipop Loop
Distance: 4.86 miles
Elevation: 719 feet
My Time: 1 hour, 54 minutes
Book Time: 2 hours, 47 minutes
Parking: Ample parking at Ramapo Valley County Reservation trailhead.
Hiking Challenges: Ringwood-Ramapo Hiking Challenge
Hiking Challenges: Ringwood-Ramapo Hiking Challenge
The Hike
Another day, another Ramapo hike! This post-work hike would bring me to the nearby Ramapo Valley County Reservation. There was an ENORMOUS parking lot, and a summer camp nearby. I again was feeling silly with my backpack, but I also decided that I did not care. I suited up and got started entering the woods at a cool, abandoned building that was mostly made of brick with trees growing through it.
I was nervous becuase my bladder was full, but thank goodness there were a bunch of porta potties. I crossed the river while following the Vista Spur, and the river was flowing HEAVILY and overflowing its banks. I then turned onto the purple Pond Loop, following the river on the right and the still pond on the left.
The trail left the perimeter of the pond and I passed a duo that was in the middle of a personal training session? There was a partially mowed field around a shrubbery on the left with a view up to the ridge I'd be climbing, and the trail turned left at a split.
This bit was SUPER sunny and had me wishing I was spending the afternoon on a beach, or at least wearing sunscreen. I hiked into the woods and turned right onto the Vista Loop, crossed a bridge, and began to climb up to a ridge. My wrist was really hurting after a few day sof playing the clarinet (and I guess whacking spider webs with my poles in Maine...).
The trail was now climbing and I was SWEATING. I passed a couple in a flat stretch with some tree views out to the valley, and after another quick uphill I came to a much better view towards Ramapo Lake and NYC in the hazy distance.
I hiked uphill some more, my sweat was obstructing my vision, and after another walking break I came to "Cactus Ledge" (according to AllTrails) which had the best view of the day. The sun was HOT! The woods were delightful! A trail runner passed me here, and he looked like he was slathered in oil he was so sweaty.
I passed a junction with the Halifax Trail, staying left in pretty woods and praying for a breeze. I caught up to and passed a new person soon after. I noticed I was feeling much heavier today, but that was probably because I had just hiked ten miles yesterday and it was much warmer today. The trail rambled about before crossing an old stone wall (which got me wondering why I feel there's so many more of them in New England than New Jersey - maybe NJ is just so populated they all got demolished or it was industrialized much faster than NE so they weren't built as prolifically?).
I passed a junction with white, hiked on some delightful Earth, the blue trail joined and descended before leaving and the Vista Loop came to one more viewpoint after following a yellow-star spur.
I rambled a bit more, zoning in and out, before making my final sunny descent to the reservoir (and accidentally skipping a switchback). The trail came to an open slab overlooking the reservoir, where I got off-trail again and had to awkwardly backtrack past some teens to get where I needed to be on the pink-blazed Reservoir Loop.
I excitedly passed a five-lined skink and two people swimming. The guy, who was clearly a little upset, said "well now we need to turn back because you used up all my energy swimming out here." I walked across the dam, which was kind of cool, and the shallow spillway kept my feet mostly dry. There was a family playing with their dogs in the water as I began to loop the reservoir. It sure seemed like there was no swimming, but it also seemed not very enforced.
I could see the ledge I hiked down from the far side of the reservoir, and I awkwardly passed a couple silently sitting on a rock (I'm sure they weren't thrilled that I was there). There were more teens swimming and shouting on the far side of the reservoir, and in fairness, it was a great swimming spot. The trail began to drift away from the shoreline into wonderfully flat words before passing a jucntion with a red-blazed trail and crossing over a bridge.
The Reservoir Loop did get hard to follow at times, but my crankiness diminshed when I saw a cormorant sitting on a buoy! I hiked across another bridge over a mostly dry stream as I saw the cormorant shoot out a poop. My loop ended back up on the ledge, and then I had an easy quick repeat of the Reservoir Loop to the dam before continuing back onto the Vista Loop, completing the loop.
I was following an old road on the Vista Loop, with some old pavement, before the trail turned off the road bed to come up to a waterfall. Some nice ston steps led to the top of the falls, but there were a few couples at the base of the falls with one person sitting literally in front of them, blocking the view for everyone else. Their counterpart could see that this was undesirable, but the perpatrator would not budge. It would have been beautiful to see without people!
I followed the stream down and eventually crossed the stream on a bridge. I went rogue and turned onto the orange/yellow trail, but it was flooded, so I turend around and finished up the Vista Loop. I passed a hasidic couple that asked how far the falls were (I can't fathom hiking in their traditional clothing in the dead of summer) and followed the Vista Spur back to my car! I caught a plaque at the abandoned building right by the parking lot, and it said:
"Site of A.B. Darling Mansion
Built 1864
As owner of Fifth Ave Hotel he used this as a dairy farm.
Bought by George Crocker in 1900, then Emerson McMillin and 1926 the Roman Catholic Diocese of Newark.
Now owned by County Park Commission. Hoppers own the land before Darling.
Mahwah Historical Society 1976 BC. Commission"
Back at the car, I changed my shirt, threw a towel down, and was blasting air conditioning as I drove on home!
Step-by-Step
- Park at Ramapo Valley County Reservation.
- Start hike on unblazed trail north of Vista Spur.
- At ruins, turn left.
- At jct., turn right onto Vista Spur (yellow/black).
- At jct., turn right onto Pond Loop (purple).
- At jct., turn right onto Vista Loop (yellow).
- Eventually, turn left and join Reservoir Loop (pink).
- At jct., turn right and cross Reservoir Dam.
- At terminus, turn right onto Reservoir Loop (pink).
- Follow Reservoir Loop around reservoir until it rejoins with Vista Loop (yellow), and follow Vista Loop back to Vista Spur (yellow/black).
- At jct., turn right onto Vista Spur (yellow/black).
- Retrace steps to car.
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