Stephens Lake–Castle Viewpoint, 4 sights is a 3.3-mile out-and-back in Ramapo Mountain State Forest near Oakland, NJ. The route passes Castle Viewpoint before reaching Stephens Lake at the turnaround, 1.6 miles in. It climbs 633 ft, with sections as steep as 20% grade, and is mostly dirt. It scores 35/100 on the Ambleway Wildness scale: green fringe.
Elevation
0 mi440 – 879 ft · steepest grade: 20%3.6 mi
Getting there
Trailhead: Castle Loop Trail 41.04703, -74.25168
Nearest town Oakland, NJ
Directions
AMBLEWAYwww.ambleway.com
Stephens Lake–Castle Viewpoint, 4 sights
3.3 mi · ▲ 633 ft · 1 hr 25 min
Elevation 441–880 ft
Out & Back · Ramapo Mountain State Forest
Trailhead: Castle Loop Trail · 41.04703, -74.25168
Weather Sep 7: Partly cloudy, high 73°F / low 54° · precip 0% · wind 5 mph · sunrise 6:30 AM · sunset 7:22 PM
Parking lot at the trailhead
- Start on Castle Loop Trail, heading N.
- 0.3 miTurn right onto Cannonball/Castle Loop Trail, heading N.
- 450 ftBear right onto Deer Ledge Road/Cannonball/Castle Loop Trail, heading N.
- 150 ftTurn left onto Castle Loop Trail, heading W.
- 50 ftPass Castle Viewpoint.
- 0.1 miContinue straight onto Algonquin Gas Transmission Service Road/Castle Loop Trail, heading SW.
- 250 ftBear right onto Algonquin Gas Transmission Service Road, heading SW.
- 0.5 miTurn right onto Wanaque Ridge Trail, heading SW.
- 0.3 miBear right, heading N.
- 0.1 miBear right, heading N.
- 0.2 miReach Stephens Lake, then turn around and head back the way you came.
- 0.2 miBear left, heading S.
- 0.5 miTurn left onto Algonquin Gas Transmission Service Road, heading S.
- 0.5 miBear left onto Algonquin Gas Transmission Service Road/Castle Loop Trail, heading E.
- 250 ftContinue straight onto Castle Loop Trail, heading E.
- 0.2 miTurn right onto Deer Ledge Road/Cannonball/Castle Loop Trail, heading NE.
- 150 ftBear left onto Cannonball/Castle Loop Trail, heading NE.
- 450 ftTurn left onto Castle Loop Trail, heading E.
- 0.2 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
75% dirt7% paved18% unspecified
Weather
Partly cloudyTemperature 73°F54°
Precip0%Wind5 mphUV6Humidity67%
Rained 0.3″ 4 days ago (0.6″ over the last week)
Hourly temperature
75°50°
Sunrise 6:30 AM12 AM3 AM9 AM12 PM3 PMSunset 7:22 PM
Tue
76°57°
Wed
83°59°
Thu
84°64°
30%
Fri
75°56°
21%
Sat
76°54°
Sun
84°62°
Good to know
- Parking lot at the trailhead
More from Castle Loop Trail Trailhead
- Castle Viewpoint & Hoeferlin Memorial Trail via Castle Loop Trail 1 mi · ▲ 96 ft
- Lake Tamarack & Schuber Trail via Castle Loop Trail 1 mi · ▲ 120 ft
- Todd Hill–Todd Lookout Loop, 6 viewpoints 1.7 mi · ▲ 320 ft
- Water Tower Ruins–Ramapo Lake Loop, 8 sights 2.3 mi · ▲ 431 ft
- Matapan Rock–Algonquin Gas Service Road, 4 sights 2.7 mi · ▲ 252 ft
- Lake Tamarack–Lake Vreeland, 3 lakes 2.9 mi · ▲ 447 ft
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