I visited Ringwood State Park for a hike with a hiking group I'm apart of. This park has a lot of…read morecool sights to see as you go along the trail. When you first arrive, you arrive at a big house/mansion. I didn't get to read much on the history of this house, but the grounds were beautiful. They also gave a bit of a creepy vibe at times. The trail was fairly easy to hike. However, there was a part where you have to walk across a river. You have to be careful because some of rocks are slippery. I think this would be a good place to hike in the fall around Halloween just because of the creepy vibes.

Maybe not as well known but Ringwood State Park is a pleasure to walk with a lot of trails! The…read morearea around Shepherd Lake is beautiful and a perfect place to walk around with a cup of coffee. Also no fees for admission or parking! Follow my Instagram and TikTok @thephotographerfoodie for more! :)

I love hearing the little league games ^_^ And the park has a lot of fun things for the children to…read moreplay on. Parking in the rear.

If you ever need a timeout and take a break, this is one of the best drives in the state of New…read moreYork. The drive takes you past lakes, the beautiful green scenery etc. If you plan to drive here at night, it is pitch dark, I don't recall seeing a light post. There is a boating dock along the drive. It is close to the Woodbury outlets and bear mountain, so you can make a full day of activities. Restrooms may be hard to come by.

This is a great drive, especially in the fall. In fact, I came here twice in the last 2 weeks (and…read morethis is over an hour away from my place). Fun roads, with minimal traffic (at least early). Lots of great scenery. There are a few cool small roads that intersect it that are really fun. Many hiking options. We did one that was fairly nice, and a little challenging in fact (some minor climbing). I can't remember the name, but the entrance is right by the visitor center. Tip: Storm King Hwy is not far, and is a REALLY fun drive!

This place is huge!!!! Visit and buy a membership and go often! The staff is kind, dedicated and…read moreknowledgeable! Sign up for a program or hike today!

The most amazing hidden gem in Bergen County, NJ. Family…read morefriendly, easy trails and so beautiful. One of our most favorite places .

I think this place is a hidden gem. There's not a lot of natural lakes that you can swim in. Of…read morecourse when I went, they were closed for swimming and they even have a dock with boat rentals, which was also closed. I'll be sure to come back to swim in the lake and maybe take a boat around. I don't think the boat is quite big ending for a boat ride that will get my adrenaline flowing, but a canoe or paddle board would be cool. But even closed, this is a great place to go for picnicking or hiking with free parking. There's picnic tables, a jungle gym, bathrooms and I'm sorry I didn't check to see if the showers were working if you wanted to use them. Now, this is important. I started walking around the lake, around the lake wound be going to the left, but the trail went right. I went left, there was a rock wall and I figured I'd follow it and it would bring me back to around the lake. It didn't, I ended up crossing into New York and wandering around Sterling Forest until I eventually found my self on the main road. After walking about 3 more miles, I was actually able to find a trail that lead back to the lake, of course when that trail reached the road for the lake, I walked a mile in the wrong direction, my point is FOLLOW THE TRAIL! The lake is in Ringwood state park and right by the NJ Botanical Gardens and also Skyland Manor.

The lake itself was beautiful and the kayak, row boat and peddle boat rentals were reasonably…read morepriced. It was a nice excursion on the water except for the constant gun shots from skeet shooting taking place nearby. If you can drown out the noise from that it is a very serene experience. The staff at the boathouse was friendly and helpful.

A nice area for hiking with castle ruins and a lake and changing elevations. There are some paved…read moreroads but also trails off that path. You can hear the sound of cars on the highway both at the end and beginning of the hikes. Lots of dogs off leash even though there are signs that say to leash all dogs. The parking lot can get crowded later in the afternoon especially in the spring and summer, but there were plenty of spots on a Sunday morning at 9:30.

My 350th Yelp review is a banger…read more I try to stop by Ramapo at least once a year, usually at the beginning of hiking season; there's a nice 5- or 6-mile route I do in there that helps me build up for the more hardcore hikes later in the year, and it's unusual for me to do this one so late into the actual summer. Boy, is this a different hike in June. Ask the gazillion bears I saw. Yesterday I did about 6 miles, starting at the Ramapo Lake Trailhead parking lot, going on the blue trail to the aforementioned lake and then turning left onto N Shore Drive. I then veered off toward the castle ruins but made a pretty quick right before the path up to said ruins onto Cannonball to Skyline Drive, joining up with the Castle Point Trail back to and through the castle ruins, before heading down back to the lakefront and continuing all the way around the lake until getting back to the blue trail and the parking lot. The official hike in my book says it's 6.6 miles when you include an additional loop to the south of the lake that gets you very close to 287, but i bypassed that today. One of the big issues with this section of Ramapo is the parking situation. I can't tell you how many times I've had to pivot and do a different hike because this Ramapo Lake parking lot was completely full by mid-morning, and the powers that be insist on plastering no parking signs in every other conceivable area going literally miles down Skyline Drive. I get that Skyline is a busy road but there ARE sections where you can theoretically park safely on the shoulder without bothering anyone else - I think there's a compromise here somewhere, but because they don't have one, this lot is usually full by 8:30am on a nice day, and then you have vulture cars just lurking in the middle of the lot for ages waiting for hikers to come back so they can immediately grab the new spot. You can't tell me that's much safer than the alternative. Anyway. The other mild annoyance for me is that you can often hear car traffic, especially in the southern section by 287, but it is what it is. The lake and the castle are the real selling points here, especially the castle. Ruins are one of my all-time favorite hiking kinks, and this adventure has them in droves. The one drawback (again, because of the time of year) is that it gets overgrown with foliage very quickly, so this is a rare instance where I would recommend exploring it in the early spring before you're bushwhacking to get through. Very cool optics though, and a definite must at some point if you're in the area. The wildlife situation? Man. This was one for the books. I usually see one or two bears a year, but I saw that many today, and numerous hikers told me they'd encountered others as well. It was insane and I've never seen anything like it. I got a picture of the biggest one I saw (attached) as I was slowly backing away, and I'd guess this was a 700 pounder? Big boy, and wasn't particularly fazed by my bear horn (though he did ultimately wander off after a few toots on it). Absolutely would not do this hike without a bear horn. I don't even want to ponder what would have happened otherwise. Neither of the bears seemed aggressive but you just never know, and if cubs had been around? Ugh. I encountered a park ranger toward the end of the hike who said it had been insane bear-wise the entire summer and they're just getting more comfortable with humans so again, be careful, use common sense, etc. The trail conditions were pretty decent. Some of the blazes/markers were not the best, and a few sections of Cannonball were one way (meaning you had to keep turning around to confirm the markers because they were only on one side of the trees/poles). As mentioned, the trail section by the castle is overgrown right now but I'm not crazy about advocating for maintenance in an area that by definition should probably be preserved and as authentic as possible. To me there aren't too many significant inclines on the trail (there's one small section very close to the parking lot where you have to take a minute for footing on the rocks, as well as the climb up to the castle if you're going on that trail) but it's definitely rocky and not particularly flat except by the lake. This is one of the better hikes in the area but it's not my absolute favorite - it's crowded and a little too close to civilization. But arguably the bears cancel some of that out. Memorable day.

Excellent and quaint waterfront area open to residents of Greenwood Lake & surrounding towns. It…read morewas very peaceful when I visited on a weekday with barely anybody in sight other than a few employees and lifeguards. The parking lot has plenty of spaces. There is a small stage set up for special events and music performances. There is a pathway to the left that leads up to a gazebo and offers incredible views of Greenwood Lake & the shoreline. There is a modestly small sized beach area manned with 2 lifeguards on duty. There's plenty of picnic tables to have some food while taking in lake views or the surrounding mountains. There's also a swing set available in the open green area adjacent to the parking lot. It's definitely a cute and peaceful spot worth visiting in Greenwood Lake and excellent for some photo opportunities.

Wow .. fantastic park . I was in Pomona area and was looking for a good bird watching area. Googled…read moreand found this place .. lots of parking outside also rest area, which is clean and usable.. good location . How was able to spot a lot of good birds.. right when you enter this small pond and lots of birds there. Make sure you get your tripod and zoom lens... you can also walk inside for small trail. Took some good shots . Must visit park for bird lovers...

My entire experience was wonderful. I woke up early and decided to take walk yesterday morning. I…read moredon't live far from the park. 10min walk.. it was beautiful. I will go there again. It was also my first time walking the park.. My husband had surprised me with an amazing picnic there once, I enjoyed that spot by the water. I say my walk was enjoyable. Both experiences were incredible. I'll always go to Kakiat County Park.

The starting point for quite a few hikes in Harriman with bathrooms (soap if you get there at the…read moreright time!) There's also a little store and vending machines. The parking lot fills up but cars can park on the side of the road. On a nice sunny Sunday afternoon in summer, a lot of people seemed to be headed toward Pine Meadow Lake. It's nice but there was a lot of garbage near there and people swimming (even though there were signs that said no swimming and to take out any garbage you bring in). Very disappointing! If you go counterclockwise you will usually end with Pine Meadow. I prefer to go when there are less people which means cold enough that there are no people with bathing suits.

I've said it before and I'll say it again - parks get stars even when they're not up to snuff. It's…read morefreedom, it's greenery it's blue skies, singing birds, no traffic rumble - and it's all there just waiting for you to come get some. How can I whip out my thick red marker and wrist X's with wreck less disregard of what has been set aside for us, by those that came before us --all in the hopes that we don't totally F it up. I tend to believe and it's not easy to concede that we (as in They) will one day as corporate america blows the tops off mountains for a little slice of yellow cake - dirty swines. The welcome center was closed up tight, paddocks and bolts, metal shutters and such -- what a sight for me to see and to feeling that feeling as I have daily in my NYC life. Gates, electric fence, cameras, deadbolts, dogs, attack birds -- ya know, just the home security essentials -- and I live in a semi affluent area - well, that's why I've got all those terrible things - minus the dogs and birds. So around and around I went -- looking the one floor 60 foot structure up and down - imagining it without the metal, sure is a pretty structure with such stones that you'll step upon on your way up the trail. I do hope to see the visitors center open some day, talk with the parks mounties and rangers -: to ask questions, to learn more about the lay of the land and what flies, glides, walks and slithers within.