Upper Yards Creek Reservior–Sunfish Pond, 8 sights is a 5.2-mile out-and-back near Mount Vernon, NJ. The route passes Upper Yards Creek Reservior before reaching Sunfish Pond at the turnaround, 2.6 miles in. It climbs 474 ft, with sections as steep as 20% grade. It scores 78/100 on the Ambleway Wildness scale: genuinely wild.
Elevation
0 mi1,362 – 1,601 ft · steepest grade: 20%5.7 mi
Getting there
Trailhead: Yards Creek Road 41.00011, -75.05408
Nearest town Mount Vernon, NJ
Directions
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Upper Yards Creek Reservior–Sunfish Pond, 8 sights
5.2 mi · ▲ 474 ft · 1 hr 58 min
Elevation 1,363–1,602 ft
Out & Back
Trailhead: Yards Creek Road · 41.00011, -75.05408
Weather Sep 7: sunrise 6:34 AM · sunset 7:25 PM
- Start at the trailhead, heading S.
- 50 ftPass Upper Yards Creek Reservior.
- 50 ftBear left, heading SE.
- 50 ftContinue straight onto Yards Creek Road, heading E.
- 50 ftBear left, heading E.
- 50 ftBear right, heading SE.
- 150 ftBear left, heading SE.
- 0.1 miSharp right onto Mount Tammany Fire Road, heading NE.
- 0.9 miSharp right onto Buckwood Trail, heading SW.
- 0.6 miBear left onto Sunfish Pond Fire Road/Buckwood Trail, heading N.
- 0.3 miContinue straight onto Sunfish Pond Fire Road, heading NW.
- 0.5 miTurn right onto Dunnfield Creek Trail, heading NW.
- 50 ftPass Sunfish Pond.
- 150 ftReach Upper Yards Creek Reservior, then turn around and head back the way you came.
- 100 ftTurn left onto Sunfish Pond Fire Road, heading W.
- 0.5 miContinue straight onto Sunfish Pond Fire Road/Buckwood Trail, heading E.
- 0.3 miBear right onto Buckwood Trail, heading E.
- 0.6 miSharp left onto Mount Tammany Fire Road, heading SE.
- 0.9 miSharp left onto Yards Creek Road, heading N.
- 0.2 miBear left, heading NE.
- 250 ftBear right, heading NE.
- 50 ftArrive back at the trailhead.
Each distance is the walk from the previous step. Tap a step for a map of its junction.
Trail surface
15% dirt12% gravel73% unspecified
Weather
Sunrise 6:34 AMSunset 7:25 PM
Sunset
The best sunset spot on this hike is right at the trailhead, so there is no walk out. Be there by 7:04 PM to have the sun's last 20 minutes of sky before it sets at 7:25 PM. Your car is right there — dark at 7:53 PM.
More from Yards Creek Road Trailhead
- Upper Yards Creek Reservior–Buckwood Trail, 4 sights 3.5 mi · ▲ 365 ft
- Laurel Falls–Upper Yards Creek Reservior, 10 sights 13.3 mi · ▲ 2,187 ft
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