Bird Mountain–Buttermilk Falls, 6 sights is a 16-mile out-and-back in Stokes State Forest near Normanook, NJ. The route passes Lake Ashroe and Bird Mountain before reaching Buttermilk Falls at the turnaround, 8 miles in. It climbs 2,368 ft, with sections as steep as 35% grade, and is mostly dirt. It scores 76/100 on the Ambleway Wildness scale: genuinely wild.
Elevation
0 mi423 – 1,476 ft · steepest grade: 35%16.2 mi
Getting there
Trailhead: Red Maple Trail 41.18388, -74.81123
Nearest town Normanook, NJ
Directions
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Bird Mountain–Buttermilk Falls, 6 sights
16 mi · ▲ 2,368 ft · 6 hr 31 min
Elevation 424–1,477 ft
Out & Back · Stokes State Forest
Trailhead: Red Maple Trail · 41.18388, -74.81123
Weather Sep 7: sunrise 6:33 AM · sunset 7:24 PM
Parking lot at the trailhead
- Start on Red Maple Trail, heading SW.
- 50 ftPass Lake Ashroe.
- 1.5 miBear left onto Coss Road/Red Maple Trail, heading SE.
- 0.1 miSharp right onto Woods Road/Red Maple Trail, heading SW.
- 1.5 miContinue straight onto Woods Road, heading SW.
- 1.3 miTurn right onto Appalachian Trail, heading SW.
- 0.4 miPass Bird Mountain.
- 150 ftContinue straight onto Woods Road, heading W.
- 2.1 miSharp right, heading SW.
- 1 miPass Buttermilk Falls.
- 150 ftReach Bird Mountain, then turn around and head back the way you came.
- 3.1 miContinue straight onto Appalachian Trail, heading NE.
- 0.4 miTurn left onto Woods Road, heading NE.
- 1.3 miContinue straight onto Woods Road/Red Maple Trail, heading E.
- 1.5 miSharp left onto Coss Road/Red Maple Trail, heading NE.
- 0.1 miBear right onto Red Maple Trail, heading NW.
- 1.5 miArrive back at the trailhead.
Each distance is the walk from the previous step. Tap a step for a map of its junction.
Trail surface
83% dirt17% gravel
Weather
Sunrise 6:33 AMSunset 7:24 PM
Sunset
The best sunset spot on this hike is 4.9 mi in (~148 min). Leave by 4:36 PM for the 7:24 PM sunset. Back at your car by 9:47 PM, after dark — bring a headlamp.
Good to know
- Parking lot at the trailhead
More from Red Maple Trail Trailhead
- Kittatinny Lake–Lake Ashroe, 4 sights 4.6 mi · ▲ 528 ft
- Acropolis Viewpoint–Lake Ashroe, 7 sights 6.8 mi · ▲ 944 ft
- Lake Ashroe–Jacobs Ladder Trail, 4 sights 6.8 mi · ▲ 831 ft
- Culvers Lake–Lake Ashroe, 4 sights 7.3 mi · ▲ 1,363 ft
- Tillman Falls–Lake Ashroe, 6 sights 10 mi · ▲ 919 ft
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