Watchung Reservation is one of our favorite hikes. We have hiked here in all four seasons and have explored quite a bit throughout this park. It is definitely a beautiful hike filled with an abundance of history, trees, flowers, streams and lakes. The pups get their full days worth of sniffing, exploring, swimming (weather permitted) while we humans feel the tranquility much needed from our busy lives!!
There are seven different trails and plenty of unmarked trails to explore the day away. See links to the trail map, Google map location and EveryTrail map below.
A little Bit of History
The best part of starting this blog was the fact that we not only get to share our hikes with you and provide information for you to explore the hidden gems of this area, but the decision to do some research about the history of each location we choose for our hikes.
For instance, we found out that Watchung Reservation was designed by the Olmsted Brothers of Brookline, Mass., the celebrated landscape architects who designed New York’s Central Park and scores of other notable public lands. The Trailside Nature & Science Center is the oldest surviving trailside museum in the United States and that 1882, in the middle of the Reservation, Warren Ackerman bought the property (Deserted Village of Feltville/Glenside Park site) and converted a mill town into a summer resort, called Glenside Park.
Don’t miss out on the other history points through your hike, including:
• Feltville Mill Site – Named after David Felt, who built the mill in 1845 serve as a factory for his printing business. He then built an entire town, Feltville, on the bluff overlooking the mill to house his workers. The Mill was torn down in the 1930’s but there are ten surviving historic buildings, some of which are still inhabited that you can pass during your hike.
• Copper Mine – Copper exploration dated back to the 1600’s.
• Hermit’s Pond – Named after a man who was responsible for operating a steam-driven pump and steam laundry at the pond back in the 1800’s.
• Seeley’s Pond – Named after Edmund A. Seeley who founded a paper manufacturing company and used the falls for power in the late 1800’s. The waters flow over the dam in Seeley’s Pond and flow into the Green Brook headed into the Raritan River.
• Lake Surprise – This Lake has had several names dating back to the 1840’s. From Feltville Lake to Ackerman Lake then Silver Lake and now due to the park planners laying out a road to the lake that wound its way down through the woods such that the lake could not be seen, it is now called Lake Surprise. In its time, this lake was popular for swimming and boating but is now seen as a popular site for fishing and admiring its beauty as you walk around the trail surrounding it.
The Details
Trail Map: Watchung Reservation Trail Map
A less detailed Map: Simplified Map of Watchung Reservation
View Larger Map
The Hike
We followed the Sierra Trail - white trail (starting to the left of the covered pavilion) into the Reservation and the History Trail-pink trail back out. Our hike was about a 4 miles and took us about 2 hours to complete stopping often for breaks for the pups to swim and for us all to explore. We consider this trail fairly easy; no major hikes in elevation and the walking surface is mostly small rocks and some pavement.
Check out our adventures below!
A great place to take a water break
Great pix, all of which resonate with me. We've hiked these trails literally thousands of times year-round over the decades as we live only a few minutes away. I had to do a double take to see that the dogs in the picture weren't mine. Athena, shar pei - pit bull mix, age 11&1/2, still hikes with me. We lost Hailey, border collie - Jack Russell mix, last fall to a huge tumor that was involved with mesenteric arteries, at five days before she was to turn 12.
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