Yellow Trail Loop at Garret Mountain Reservation
Directions to trailhead
Take I-80 west to Exit 56 (Squirrelwood Road/Woodland Park/Paterson). Turn left at the bottom of the ramp onto Squirrelwood Road. (If you are coming from the west, take Exit 56A and proceed south on Squirrelwood Road.) Continue along Squirrelwood Road for 0.6 mile, then turn left onto Mountain Avenue at the New Street Reservoir. In 0.3 mile, you will reach the entrance to Garret Mountain Reservation on the right. Turn right and continue along the park road for 0.4 mile to the parking area for the Pat Di Ianni Boat House, on the right. Turn right and park in the parking area.
Hike Description
From the parking area, follow the path downhill to a lawn at the southern end of Barbour’s Pond, and turn left onto a wide macadam path, passing to the left of a stone building and a smaller maintenance building. As you pass the entrance to the smaller building, you’ll reach the Yellow Trail. Turn left onto the Yellow Trail, which you will follow for the entire hike.
The trail parallels a stream on the right. Continue ahead where a branch road goes off to the left, but a short distance beyond, the trail turns left, away from the stream, and begins to climb. At the top of the climb, with homes visible on the right, the trail turns sharply left and begins to descend. At the base of the descent, the trail turns left, then immediately right. It crosses a concrete bridge over a stream and then crosses Park Road, the main road that circles the park. Just beyond, it reaches a junction with the White Trail, which begins here. Follow the yellow blazes, which turn right onto a wide gravel path.
In another 250 feet, as the gravel path bears left, the Yellow Trail continues straight ahead, climbing an embankment and again crossing the paved road. The trail turns right and runs parallel to the road (do not follow the paved road leading ahead to the park stables). At the next intersection, the trail bears left and continues parallel to the paved Weasel Drift Road.
Just before reaching the park boundary, the yellow blazes turn left, leaving the road, and ascend into the woods on a footpath. With the access road to the stables visible on the left, the trail bears right, passes between abandoned concrete tank supports, and begins to run along the ridge of Garret Mountain, with the stables to the left. At the end of the stables, the trail bears left, makes a short but steep descent, and then turns right, continuing along the ridge.
About 0.2 mile beyond the stables, the trail reaches an unobstructed viewpoint to the east from the edge of the ridge. Clifton, as well as the southern part of Paterson, may be seen directly below, with much of southern Bergen County beyond, and the Manhattan skyline clearly visible in the distance. The Verrazano-Narrows Bridge is at the extreme right of this broad panorama. This is a good place to take a break while enjoying the spectacular view.
The trail continues north along the ridge, passing several more viewpoints. Soon, you’ll reach a stone observation tower, built in the 1890s by a wealthy silk manufacturer as part of Lambert Castle, at the base of the mountain. The trail skirts to the right of the tower, following a stone wall.
Beyond the tower, the Morris Canal Greenway Trail (marked with canal-boat-logo-on-yellow blazes) joins from the right at a break in the stone wall. Follow both the yellow and the Greenway logo blazes, which curve to the right (do not descend on the macadam path). Soon, the trail descends on a rocky path and stone steps, and it briefly parallels the paved park road.
About 0.2 mile from the tower, a side trail to the right leads to another expansive viewpoint to the east from the edge of a cliff. A police firing range is located directly below, so don’t be startled to hear gunshots! Just beyond, the trail passes a small paved parking area on the left. It enters the woods on a footpath and passes a playground on the left. The trail turns right and skirts the playground, then crosses a grassy area and descends on a footpath to the entrance to an overlook. Here, the White Trail and the Greenway Trail leave to the right. It is worth making a short detour to the overlook, which affords a panoramic view over downtown Paterson (directly below) and High Mountain to the north.
After taking in the view, return to the trail junction and turn right, crossing the entrance road to the overlook. The Yellow Trail now follows a macadam path parallel to Park Road, passing on the right a plaque in memory of Robert Dix Benson, the first President of the Passaic County Park Commission. At the next intersection, follow the Yellow Trail as it bears right and climbs along a paved road that leads to Veterans Memorial Point, the site of a communications tower.
Just beyond a guardrail barrier at the end of the paved road, the trail bears left and descends into the woods. A quarter of a mile beyond, the Yellow Trial turns right, briefly joining the White Trail, then turns left, climbs over a small rise, and descends, first gradually, then more steeply on switchbacks.
At the base of the descent, the trail goes across a grassy area, then crosses the park entrance road at a kiosk. It turns right, then bears left and begins to parallel Mountain Avenue. After crossing its outlet stream on a wooden footbridge, the trail runs along the west side of Barbour’s Pond. At the end of the pond, bear left at a fork, proceed across a footbridge, and continue across the lawn and up the hill to the parking area where you began the hike.