Split Rock Reservoir is a beautiful body of water and a wonderful place for hiking with your pup(s). The reservoir is nestled between the Stonybrook and Greenpond Mountains. It was a cold winter day so we pretty much had this entire trek to ourselves. We're not sure if this trail gets busy in other seasons but during our research, we found that it could be a popular spot for Kayaking and Fishing. Split Rock Road is very rough driving up to the parking area so be careful driving down the narrow road.
A Little Bit of History
This is another area where, unfortunately, we could not find much history. According to the information sign at the beginning of the hike, the reservoir is part of the Farney Highlands, owned by Jersey City but is protected by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection's Fish and Wildlife under a conservation easement purchased the state's Green Acres Program. The reservoir spans 625 acres surrounded by an additional 1,500 acres of woods. Although we didn't catch a glimpse of any wildlife, the area is said to support terrestrial plant and animal species including red-shouldered hawks, barred owls, bobcat, wood turtles and Indiana bats.
The Details
Trail Map: You can purchase the Trail Conference Map 125 here: NJ/NY Trail Conference Map 125
or view this map: Split Rock Reservoir Trail Map
Here is a picture we took of our Map 125: (Note: the trail on this map is red but it is actually the Blue Trail marked by circle "B".
Parking: The parking is on Split Rock Road right before the construction of the dam.
See Google Maps Location below.
40°57'45.1"N 74°27'28.8"W
40.962517, -74.458000
EveryTrail Map:
Split Rock Reservoir at EveryTrail
The Hike
The trek is easy. We did have some trouble actually finding the Blue Trail but once we found it the trail was easy to follow.
Our hike was 4.19 miles and took us a 2.41 hours to complete; stopping several times for water breaks and pictures. We had some trouble finding the blue trail at the beginning of hike because we walked right past the blue markers. In the pictures below, we explain were we should have picked up the Blue Trail in the beginning. Once you find the trail, the blue makers are visible on the trees/rocks and is very easy to follow.
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| Parking to right on Split Rock Road |
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| Walking along the reservoir |
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| The pups messing around! |
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| After following around the reservoir for a bit we decided to look for the Blue Trail. There is an opening in the woods not far passed the big rock on the picture above. |
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| Keep your eyes open for the blue markers on the trees. We missed the markers going up into the woods and ended up on Split Rock Road and had to walk down Green Rd. (which says no trespassing) in order to find the trail. |
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| Heading up to Double D Peak |
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| Caught a glimpse of the moon as we were heading back to our car. |
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| On our way back to the parking lot! |
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