Water Tower Ruins–Ramapo Lake Loop, 8 sights is a 2.3-mile loop in Ramapo Mountain State Forest near Oakland, NJ. The route passes Castle Viewpoint, Wanaque Reservoir Overlook, Water Tower Ruins and Ramapo Lake. It climbs 431 ft, with sections as steep as 26% grade, and is mostly dirt. It scores 13/100 on the Ambleway Wildness scale: paved and peopled.
Elevation
0 mi600 – 919 ft · steepest grade: 26%2.6 mi
Getting there
Trailhead: Upper Parking Trailhead 41.04779, -74.25172
Nearest town Oakland, NJ
Directions
AMBLEWAYwww.ambleway.com
Water Tower Ruins–Ramapo Lake Loop, 8 sights
2.3 mi · ▲ 431 ft · 59 min
Elevation 600–917 ft
Loop · Ramapo Mountain State Forest
Trailhead: Upper Parking Trailhead · 41.04779, -74.25172
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 Tamarack Road/Hoeferlin Memorial Trail, heading N.
- 50 ftBear left onto Hoeferlin Memorial Trail, heading N.
- 0.4 miSharp left onto Cannonball Trail, heading SW.
- 0.1 miTurn right onto Castle Loop Trail, heading W.
- 50 ftPass Castle Viewpoint.
- 0.2 miContinue straight onto Algonquin Gas Transmission Service Road/Castle Loop Trail, heading SW.
- 250 ftContinue straight onto Castle Loop Trail, heading SW.
- 0.3 miPass Wanaque Reservoir Overlook.
- 50 ftPass Water Tower Ruins.
- 0.3 miPass Ramapo Lake.
- 150 ftTurn left onto Cannonball Trail, heading SW.
- 200 ftTurn left onto Foxcroft Road, heading W.
- 50 ftBear right onto Cannonball Trail, heading W.
- 0.7 miSharp right, heading NE.
- 0.1 miBear right onto Rye Cliff Road, heading SE.
- 450 ftContinue straight onto Castle Loop Trail, heading NE.
- 350 ftThe loop closes back at the trailhead.
Each distance is the walk from the previous step. Tap a step for a map of its junction.
Trail surface
91% dirt2% paved7% 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 Upper Parking Trailhead 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
- Matapan Rock–Algonquin Gas Service Road, 4 sights 2.7 mi · ▲ 252 ft
- Lake Tamarack–Lake Vreeland, 3 lakes 2.9 mi · ▲ 447 ft
- Stephens Lake–Castle Viewpoint, 4 sights 3.3 mi · ▲ 633 ft
Get outside more
A wild hike near Oakland, emailed to you once a week.
Hikes near Oakland, New Jersey