Trails near Long Valley, Lebanon or Clinton - recommendations?

DSide

DSide

New Member
I'm moving west from Essex County, probably to Long Valley (although possibly Lebanon Twp or Clinton Twp) - can anyone provide tips on local trails? Saw some info on Stephens - is there riding at Schooley's mountain park? Any others? My dream is to be able to ride to the trailhead without putting my bike on top of the car, which is a big reason we're moving out of Essex. Thanks in advance
 
Welcome @DSide.

Parts of Long Valley (LV) may be a bit far for regular rides into Stephen's State Park, and depending on location in LV, could be a big uphill ride back home.

I don't think there is very much riding at Schooley's Mountain park, certainly not enough to make it a destination park, but maybe a ride around to get your wheels on dirt. But if you link Schooley's Mtn. with Patriot's path, it could give you a mix of Patriots path riding and some single track.

On days when you are willing to drive to a trailhead, the good news though is that you would be a relatively short drive to Kinney Rd in Stanhope where you could ride into Stephens, Deer Park or Allamuchy and combined this Allamuchy Mountain area is over 9,000 acres.

Also, the Nassau trails near High Bridge are not too far a drive from LV either.
 
M3Tim said:
Round Valley too, if you are a masochist.😀
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Never rode there but one of the houses on our short list is across the street from RV, less than a mile from the park entrance. A lot of climbing or very technical?
 
jackx said:
Welcome @DSide.

Parts of Long Valley (LV) may be a bit far for regular rides into Stephen's State Park, and depending on location in LV, could be a big uphill ride back home.

I don't think there is very much riding at Schooley's Mountain park, certainly not enough to make it a destination park, but maybe a ride around to get your wheels on dirt. But if you link Schooley's Mtn. with Patriot's path, it could give you a mix of Patriots path riding and some single track.

On days when you are willing to drive to a trailhead, the good news though is that you would be a relatively short drive to Kinney Rd in Stanhope where you could ride into Stephens, Deer Park or Allamuchy and combined this Allamuchy Mountain area is over 9,000 acres.

Also, the Nassau trails near High Bridge are not too far a drive from LV either.
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Looking at I guess, southwest corner of LV so Stephens is a short drive, sounds like Nassau is also. Will definitely check out both - Thanks.
 
Schooleys is an end point of patriots path. - there is a link from there to columbia trail, which links to nassau and lewis morris. If you have all day and don't want to drive.
black river and hacklebarny also

Round valley/cush and the mooch are not far. nor is dickerson mine with a little creativity in the car.

Road bike will blow you away out there - very little traffic on the back roads.
 
DSide said:
Looking at I guess, southwest corner of LV so Stephens is a short drive, sounds like Nassau is also. Will definitely check out both - Thanks.
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Perhaps it would be a 3-5 mile road ride to Stephen's, which might put you on the topside of Stephen's, so longer rides in the park might mean riding back uphill within the park to get back to where you entered the park.
 
fidodie said:
Schooleys is an end point of patriots path. - there is a link from there to columbia trail, which links to nassau and lewis morris. If you have all day and don't want to drive.
black river and hacklebarny also

Round valley/cush and the mooch are not far. nor is dickerson mine with a little creativity in the car.

Road bike will blow you away out there - very little traffic on the back roads.
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Yes, looks like road bike heaven out there - not like my daily flirt with death trying to ride my West Orange - Millburn loop. I'll surely miss having to stop and "educate" drivers who've just nearly killed me.
 
Plenty of homes all along Stephen's in the mount olive area two. If schools are a thing then it's also top notch. You literally can find a home with option to ride right out your back yard. Once in in Stephen's then you can pull North and Deer Park into a gigantic loop and you want epic you can tie KVSP in also at 95% dirt.

Hackettstown is same and Warren county with slightly better taxes. If you need a good realtor in this area or mount olive PM me.

Sounds like @Pampa Will be selling his soon which he can confirm both area and scchools.
 
DSide said:
Yes, looks like road bike heaven out there - not like my daily flirt with death trying to ride my West Orange - Millburn loop. I'll surely miss having to stop and "educate" drivers who've just nearly killed me.
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Road bike heaven if you don't mind elevation.

Although flatter roads can be found in Middle Valley, heading southwest of LV towards Califon boro. Middle Valley is between the Schooley's Mtn. ridge on the north side and what I might call the Fairmount ridge on the south side. Or if you're up on Schooley's Mtn. you can ride southwest along the ridge on Pleasant Grove Rd. until the long downhill to Penwell at Route 57.
 
Clumbia Trail to Nassau and Vorhees. Kind of a boring ride on the Columbia trail after you do it a few times. But totally flat.

The mooch trails are more interesting but you probably would need to load the car up for that. Especially if you want to do a real mooch ride, then you have to save your legs for the trails.

Road rides are nice but a shit load of climbing. At least further west near where I am.
 
Allamuchy North is my favorite in the state. So many miles of unmarked goodness. You would need a trail guide, unless you are like myself and have fun getting lost.
 
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I grew up in Long Valley (on Schooley's Mtn), beautiful area of NJ. As a kid, rode my 10-speed everywhere, and the last challenge getting home was always climbing back up the mountain, prided myself for rarely ever having to walk. My oldest brother, who has ridden virtually every mountain range in every state, has said the Schooley's climb is one of the hardest he's seen. He placed first place in road racing in Arkansas, so I think he knows a little about road riding.
Back to topic - from LV, closest places are Stephens, Deer Park and Allamuchy North. Round Valley is pretty close, I wouldn't define it as technical, just lots of climbing. For a relaxing ride, KSVP, Deer and Stephens are all good. For a fun family ride, ride Columbia trail to Ken Lockwood Gorge in Califon, really pretty place.
 
I’ve been in Long Valley since 2002 and will echo what others have said. Excellent road riding and fairly easy access out the door to Nassau and Voorhees via Columbia Trail. Nassau is a great system and still growing, and linking it with Voorhees can net some serious mileage with not too much pavement. Allamuchy parks are a 15-20 minute drive depending on where you start your ride.
 
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