Ramapo Mountain State Forest: Ramapo Lake

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Ramapo Mountain State Forest protects 4,269 acres in the mountainous region of Northern New Jersey. It is in both Passaic and Bergen Counties and is a separate park from the adjacent Ramapo County Reservation.

There is a well-marked network of trails here. I met up with a local hiking group in the upper lot on Skyline Drive. In my previous visit to this park, I’d begun at the lower lot.

We followed the yellow Hoeferlin Trail which was a rocky descent from Skyline Drive to Ramapo Lake. Ramapo Lake is a man-made lake. It is 120 acres now and began as a 25-acre pond.

In the late 1800s, it was known as…