Frozen Ramapo Lake

Ramapo Mountain State Forest,
Bergen and Passaic Cos.,
New Jersey

Hiking Trails:
MacEvoy Trail: Blue blaze

Hiking Partner:
Shimmy Rosenberg

Total time: 2:00 hour
Estimated Distance: 3.4 miles
Level of Difficulty: Moderate
Level of Recommendation: Highly Recommended
Points of Interest: Frozen lake, scenic area, historical sites
Pros: Pretty scenery and frozen lake
Cons: Lots of people

Ramapo Lake is a scenic lake in the Ramapo Mountains of New Jersey. There is no direct road access, and it requires a short hike to get, which adds to its scenery. Nevertheless, it is still very busy here on weekends, and I was surprised how busy it was considering it was a cold winter day with snow in the forecast. The snow was expected later in the day, and we got back just in time as the snow had just started falling prior to getting home.

We hiked up the MacEvoy Trail to the lake. This part of the trail was particularly icy and very difficult, and I did not have crampons since losing my other ones several weeks prior. Once we got to the lake dam, we walked across heading northwest to the other end of lake where all the islands are. This lake has many islands, and we explored many of them. The largest island contains a ruin of some old furnace. We explored this too, though I have no idea what the purpose of this was for.

From the large island we passed a pocket of ice fisherman, and then I headed down to the southern end of the lake which gets narrow and swampy. From there I cut across to the ring road, and headed back north to the dam and the McEvoy Trail. We took the MacAvoy Trail back down to the parking area.

Map of the Route
Jersey Highlands Map

Shimmy Walking Along the MacEvoy Trail Towards Ramapo Lake

Shimmy Resting on a Large Rock on the MacEvoy Trail

Me at the Beginning of the Lake Near the Dam

Looking North Towards Castle Point

Shimmy on Ramapo Lake

Me on  Small Island at the Northern Part of the Lake

Me Between the Islands

Approaching the Large Island, with the Furnace in the Background

Abandoned Storage Depot on the Big Island, Covered in Snow

Large Furnace on the Island

Another View of the Furnance

Ice Fisherman at Ramapo Lake

Heading South 

View from the Southern End of Ramapo Lake Towards Castle Point