Easy Hikes
Information on this page current as of
January 30, 2008
What do we mean by
"easy" hikes?
In general, the hikes on this page can be completed in
two hours or less by hikers with relatively little hiking experience,
including by school-age children who are among the group. (An "easy +" rating
means that the hike is over 3 miles long or includes some moderate
slopes.)
Hike leaders should take a
moment or two to read our "Tips" before
setting out on any of the hikes listed on this page.
Hikes on this page:
Ross Dock to Englewood Boat Basin
The Women's Federation Monument (easy +)
Shore Trail at Bloomer's
Area: Englewood Cliffs
Length: <1 mile (round-trip distance)
Time: <1 hour
Map: Map 1
Parking: Englewood Boat Basin & Picnic Area
Description: Beginning at the north end of the Englewood Picnic Area (by Bloomer's Beach), find the unmarked trail that goes up behind the old bathhouse. Follow this trail going north until you meet the Shore Trail, which splits into a lower trail and an upper trail (to be used during high tide). The lower and upper trails meet just south of Undercliff Picnic Area (it's worth the extra few minutes to keep going north to take a look at the bathhouse ruins at Undercliff Beach). This hike is suitable for small children or picnickers who want to take a short hike.
Ross Dock to Englewood Boat Basin
Area: Fort Lee and Englewood Cliffs
Length: 3 miles (round-trip distance)
Time: 1 hour
Map: Map 1
Parking: Ross Dock Picnic Area; Englewood Boat Basin & Picnic Area
Description: The Shore Trail from Ross Dock to Englewood Boat Basin (alternatively begun at the Englewood Area and proceeding south to Ross Dock) is level and open enough that it is popular among joggers, as well as those out for a simple riverside stroll. Begin at the white-blazed Shore Trail at northern end of Ross Dock Picnic Area. Continue north until you reach Englewood Boat Basin. The Shore Trail is flat and wide in this area, with even, dry terrain. The trail closely follows the river, allowing for many scenic views. Return on the same route.
Cape Fly Away Loop (easy +)
Area: Alpine
Length: 3.5 miles (round-trip distance)
Time: 2 hours
Maps: Hike begins on Map 2, though most of it is shown on Map 3
Parking: Alpine Boat Basin & Picnic Area
Description: This relatively short hike makes a great introduction to Palisades hiking for hikers of all ages.
Begin at the Kearney House at the north end of the Alpine Picnic Area. Head north up the white-blazed Shore Trail behind the Alpine Pavilion. This is the steepest section of your trip, but it soon levels off at the intersection with the orange-blazed Closter Dock Trail. Keep north on the wide Shore Trail, which was originally laid out as a road in the 1840s, called the Cape Road. You will cross a stone-railed bridge by a pretty waterfall, and you may notice a set of stone steps going uphill nearby: these led to a storage bunker for dynamite during the 1930s. You will get to a relatively cleared area with lilies and other non-native growth. This was known as Cape Fly Away, a small fisherman's hamlet in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. A pair of stone stairways to old docks on the river frames the Cape Fly Away area, and these are interesting to explore (but be aware of poison ivy growth along the stairways, especially in summer).
About a mile in, the trail splits, and arrows painted on a rock will show that to the right, the Shore Trail goes downhill to the river; to the left, an unmarked but very wide and obvious trail is identified as the "Upper Trail," which continues on the same level you are at. Take the Upper Trail, realizing it will rejoin the Shore Trail in just under 1 mile. This is a pretty and easy section of trail, winding its way through a mature hardwood forest growing on the talus slope beneath the cliffs. You will pass through the Excelsior Flats picnic area along the way. (If you keep a sharp eye to the right, some distance after the picnic area you will find the foundation remains of a nineteenth-century "bone factory," where animal bones were ground into bone meal.) The Upper Trail will eventually descend to the river to rejoin the Shore Trail.
The more ambitious may want to follow the Shore Trail north about another 0.5 miles to the cliff-face vistas that begin just beyond Bombay Hook, which will add close to an hour to this hike's round-trip time. Otherwise, begin your return south on the Shore Trail. You will in many instances be fewer than a hundred feet from your outbound route, but the change in habitat could not be more dramatic: the mature forest is replaced by a riot of sun-fueled growth along the shoreline (and beware of poison ivy, especially in summer). The trail is also much more narrow here and in places quite rocky. (At low tide, there is some good beach-combing south of the old jetty, called Twombly's Landing, you will pass not long after beginning your return trek.) Eventually, the trail will begin to climb uphill, to return to the split at the Upper Trail. At the base of this hill is a set of stairs leading out to the old Excelsior Dock; another set of stairs leads uphill to the Excelsior Flats picnic area (you can take this route if you'd like to, then return by heading south when you get to the Upper Trail.
Return on the Shore Trail to the Alpine Picnic Area.
The Women's Federation Monument (easy +)
Area: Alpine (near State Line)
Length: 2 miles (round-trip distance)
Time: 1 hour
Maps: Map 3
Parking: State Line Lookout
Bus Access: See "Point Lookout" hike description on our "Public Transportation" page
Description: This short hike is ideal for children, who will find the ravine just challenging enough, the "castle" at the end a fun destination.
Begin at Lookout Inn and head south along Old Route 9W, noting the aqua blazes of the Long Path along the way—you’ll be following these markers the whole hike. (Once you pass the barrier stones, you are on the active roadway on which you drove into the Lookout, so use caution here.) About a hundred yards along, you will see where the aqua blazes leave the road through a gap in the parapet stones, and the trail enters the woods.
The trail goes down a ravine on stone steps. At the base of the Ravine, the aqua trail intersects the blue-and-white-blazed Forest View Trail; as you go up the other side of the ravine, the two trails overlap. At the top you will find the Women’s Federation Monument, which is in the shape of a watchtower, or "castle." (The New Jersey State Federation of Women’s Clubs led the fight to save the Palisades at the end of the last century—take a moment to read the plaque on the southern end of the Monument.) Explore a bit (can you find the old swimming pool a few hundred feet south of the Monument?), then return using the same route.
