Wildcat route recommendation

huffster

Well-Known Member
I feel like I've found a good loop at Wildcat, but as a result I'm always doing the same thing when I go there.

Here's the route: Park by Bat Cave, Beach Glen Trail (blue) south, then up the switchbacks and all the way out to Meriden Rd. Take the road over to Righter Mine trail (green). Follow Righter Mine all the way up along the brook and stay with unmarked right up to the dam. Climb up to the road and cross the dam to catch Wildcat Ridge trail (yellow). Follow that to and then parallel w/Upper Hibernia Rd. Go up the road to Hawk Watch. Then down Hibernia Brook Trail (orange), then turn right onto Four Birds (white), cut across past the cemetery, back out to orange all the way back to parking. This is about 11.5 miles, somewhere around 2.5 hours.

Anybody got a suggestion of another loop that flows pretty well like this one, so I can mix it up next time I'm there?
 

JimN

Captain Wildcat
Team MTBNJ Halter's
That's the standard loop. You can take Four Birds from right near the hawk watch back toward the bat cave, and you can even take Four Birds all the way from yellow near the dam. There's also lots of other awesome stuff nearby that is unmarked.

https://www.strava.com/activities/441600865
https://www.strava.com/activities/370349367
https://www.strava.com/activities/466042775

The stuff outside of Wildcat requires 3-5 hours at my pace and/or parking at the Splitrock boat launch. You could really ride all day up there and not hit everything, including riding to West Milford on just about all dirt. Hit me up anytime for a tour. The stuff in and around Wildcat is pretty much the best stuff around.
 

trailhead

JORBA: Wildcat/Splitrock
JORBA.ORG
Stay on Righter Mine and climb up over the hill....adds miles and fitness....hear the heckles if you pass it. ( someone stole the trail sign I had there).

Leaving the Hawkwatch on White going towards the Cemetery (West)....take a left on the Jeep Trail marked by the rock pile, stay right and take this all the way to Graffiti Cliffs. It is the one of the best downhill runs on the mountain, and long. But just an out and back, so climb back up to White and continue. I cleared it of all the face slappers.
 
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huffster

Well-Known Member
Thanks guys. Not sure when I'm headed back. But, you've given me some ideas to mix it up a bit when I do head back. Thanks for the invitations to show me the ropes. If I can see it coming, I'll let you know. I often just make a game day decision. This is probably why I ride by myself 99% of the time.
 

huffster

Well-Known Member
@JimN
Hey, seeking some intel and I know you are "da man" when it comes to all things Wildcat. Someday I should take you up on one of your offers for a tour, but I still continue to just go when I can squeeze it in, which makes it hard to coordinate with others. That does allow me the joy of exploring and learning for myself which is something I really enjoy. But, I'm not against asking for some tips.:D I.e. your previous suggestion about getting back into the park via Darlington Dr. was A+, so THANK YOU.

As you probably noticed on Strava I went off exploring on the other side of Green Pond Rd, yesterday. There are some nice trails over there. There were many turns I didn't take, so I'll be back to explore more. I went up Snake Hill Rd and took an early right turn onto a red trail. After a short distance and passing some sort of mini circus-tent-looking-thing, I took a left and started to climb.

As I was going up, up, up, I was thinking "When I get to the top, I should turn around and ride this trail down?" But, in my usual fashion I wanted to see where else I could get to. I later compared my approach to that hill to one of your rides. I see you went further up Snake Hill before taking a right and climbing. I'm confident I know where our "paths" crossed at the top. And your approach allowed for the downhill bomb I climbed up.

So, to my question(s): Is the later turn a more manageable climb? Is there some sort of landmark to finding that point of entry?

When I exited out by Lake Telemark into that neighborhood, I was waved down by some dude in his driveway who wanted to talk about the fat-bike. He also hooked me up with the next entry off White Birch Trail (road) and some other tips for future use. I loved this connection to Oreland trail. I know you like to climb that trail, but I wanted to go down it, so I hit the road and rail-bed to achieve that.

I still need to go check out the new trail coming down from Hawkwatch. I was thinking of adding that in, but time was of the essence. Some day, I'll put it all together. I also HAVE to say that the final bomb down from Upper Hibernia (orange, white, past the cemetery, back to orange...is FUCKING A FANTASTIC way to end a ride!!!!!

Wildcat area is becoming one of my faves. I love Wildcat, Wawayanda and Allamuchy areas because you can put together so many different routes to keep it fresh.

Thanks again, and in advance.:):):)
 

JimN

Captain Wildcat
Team MTBNJ Halter's
Yeah, so if you go further up Snake Hill Rd then you get a lot more climbing done on the road. It's a nice warm up. The entrance is fairly obvious if you are paying attention. You enter on a double track/woods road that has some debris in front of it, and shortly after you start climbing, you make a left onto some single track. There is a small rock cairn there. This climb goes to the top of the same woods road but is more fun. You go straight across the woods road at the top (you came at this from the other side and made a right onto the woods road), and then you have the nice long descent that you climbed, which goes back to where the circus tent is. You can make a right at that T to get back to Snake Hill Rd where you went in. If you make a left there instead, you have two options. One is a brutal woods road climb, and then a bunch more crappy woods road stuff that would be tough to navigate and includes a river crossing/mud hole (and riding next to a superfund site), but it gets you to a good descent down to the pond by the soccer fields on the other side. We have been mostly skipping that lately though. To skip it, you make a right shortly after the left at the T by the tent. There is a small rock pile there as well, and it's right before the climb starts getting difficult. I think it gets you into Lake Telemark right where you got there, although I've never gone the way you went. Also just a note, the way that you climbed up, you got to the top and made a right onto the main woods road. If you had gone straight there, you would have gone down the single track that we normally climb up. I've never taken that woods road down, but I'm guessing it wasn't much fun?

The first time I followed someone's shortcut route through Telemark, I was like, "so I have to ride through this dude's driveway?" But I've since been told the guy doesn't mind. I was showing this woman around a few weeks ago, and she busted her chain in there. We were right by that heavy equipment after the bridge from the gravel driveway, and some dude walked over to make sure we were ok and asked us if we needed any tools. Sounds like a lot of friendly people living are around there.

The orange way back to the car is a favorite of many. I've been going up it lately, so that I can go down the new trail instead though. Also a note, if you start from the bat cave on orange, you can make a left at the T instead of making a right and doing the climb. There is a bridge there that lets you cross the water and end up behind the fire house on Green Pond Rd. This is right near Snake Hill, so you don't have to ride much road to get there. The bridge is a bit rotten, so make sure you walk in the middle of it.

I prefer to go down Oreland as well, but the normal loop I do over there just generally flows better to go up it. If I don't ride the stuff on the other side of Green Pond, then I'll often ride down Oreland from inside Wildcat and then do the Darlington Drive climb to get back in.

This shows the ride to the far side of Telemark, which includes the Camp trail that descends to Girl Scout Pond:
https://www.strava.com/activities/1013616638

I haven't done that much exploring other than the two routes I normally do through there. I have recently had an idea for how to avoid both the climb of death and the mud hole, but I haven't tested it out yet. Stay tuned.
 

huffster

Well-Known Member
Perfect feedback, man. Thanks for all the nuggets. I'd like your reply twice if I could.

Yeah, the downhill on that woods road was nothing to write home about, but it was new to me and it was down, so it wasn't all that bad either. In comparison to what I climbed, I was wishing I had done the out and back. But, now you have schooled me on how to single-track up and down...THANKS!

I never would've went down that "driveway" if the guy I talked to didn't say something like: "Oh yeah, Jim(?) don't care. He's cool. A bunch of us ride dirt-bikes around here and go in/out that way".
 

JimN

Captain Wildcat
Team MTBNJ Halter's
I never would've went down that "driveway" if the guy I talked to didn't say something like: "Oh yeah, Jim(?) don't care. He's cool. A bunch of us ride dirt-bikes around here and go in/out that way".

Haha, nice. I've seen dirt bikes and ATV's back there a few times. One of the guys that helped build this single track lives right in Telemark there, and he said the guy was cool with it. The first few times I had no idea, but I was like, "What's the worst that could happen?"
 

JimN

Captain Wildcat
Team MTBNJ Halter's
I thought of something else for you on today's ride. If you ride the stuff on the other side of Green Pond, and then cross back on the power lines, you can go around Oreland trail without riding on Green Pond. Cross Green Pond on the power lines, go over the bridge and ride up that first section of single track, and then make a left on the woods road that you would normally cross. I haven't actually ridden this before, but it takes you to the Oreland rail bed, which you would make a right on. You could then make a right onto Oreland trail just like you did yesterday to go down it.

I also tested out my theory today. I ducked out to the road like I would have if I was skipping the Camp trail, and then I made a left and went back into the woods. You still have to spend 10-15 minutes on a crappy woods road littered with loose rocks, but you can avoid a gross climb and a river crossing/mud hole. Finding the single track down might be a bit challenging, but let me know next time you are going and I'll try to describe it for you. Or you could just let me show it to you :p
 

huffster

Well-Known Member
I thought of something else for you on today's ride. If you ride the stuff on the other side of Green Pond, and then cross back on the power lines, you can go around Oreland trail without riding on Green Pond. Cross Green Pond on the power lines, go over the bridge and ride up that first section of single track, and then make a left on the woods road that you would normally cross. I haven't actually ridden this before, but it takes you to the Oreland rail bed, which you would make a right on. You could then make a right onto Oreland trail just like you did yesterday to go down it.

Thanks. I should've used that yesterday instead of road segment. I didn't think of it, but I had actually worked out that woods road connection to the rail-bed on a recent ride. There is a fork in the woods road and you have to stay left (really straight). It gets a little less obvious just before a stream crossing, but then goes uphill for a little bit to the rail-bed.

I also suspect that if you fork right (uphill) on that same woods road, that you will likely cut a diagonal toward the other end of Oreland. I.e. when you get on Oreland by the rail-bed, you take a left off a woods road. I suspect it is that same road.

I also tested out my theory today. I ducked out to the road like I would have if I was skipping the Camp trail, and then I made a left and went back into the woods. You still have to spend 10-15 minutes on a crappy woods road littered with loose rocks, but you can avoid a gross climb and a river crossing/mud hole.

I'll have to check out your Strava. But, I bet I'll find one thing for sure...you went down the new trail from Hawk-watch :p. I've noticed you are addicted. That is a great place for a connection that was not there before. I must ride it sometime soon, I guess.
 

JimN

Captain Wildcat
Team MTBNJ Halter's
I'll have to check out your Strava. But, I bet I'll find one thing for sure...you went down the new trail from Hawk-watch :p. I've noticed you are addicted. That is a great place for a connection that was not there before. I must ride it sometime soon, I guess.

Yeah, the new trail is pretty damn awesome. It lets you ride all the good parts of Beach Glen Trail without having to ride Meriden Rd or the old rail bed heading up to the reservoir, which is really nice. The only problem is that it's a one way trail. I mean, I'll try going up it at some point, but I don't expect it to be much fun.
 

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