The Lenape Trail is a trail through Essex County , connecting many county parks and reservations, wooded spaces, and historical sites. It begins in Newark , New Jersey and ends in Millburn , New Jersey . It was established in 1982. It is the fifth longest trail in the state behind the Delaware and Raritan Canal Trail , the Appalachian Trail , the completed section of the Highlands Trail in the state and the Batona Trail . The Lenape trail traverses Newark and its suburbs, as well as the Watchung Mountains and Passaic Meadows. Because of the steepness of the Watchung Mountains and the flood-prone nature of the Passaic Meadows, the former basin of Glacial Lake Passaic , these areas have remained much less developed than the rest of the northeastern part of the state. This trail therefore offers hikers an opportunity to see cultural and historical sites of an urban trail, as well as large natural and undeveloped areas. The trail's proximity to New York City and the various ridges it traverses, including Forest Hill , Orange Mountain (part of First Watchung Mountain ), and Second Watchung Mountain , offer many views of the skyline. The Lenape Trail forms a segment of the Liberty-Water Gap Trail and incorporates the West Essex Trail , the Lenape Trail's only rail-to-trail section. The Lenape Trail also connects with Morris County's Patriots Path trail system on its western terminus.
18-698: The Lenape Trail is maintained by volunteers of the New York-New Jersey Trail Conference in partnership with local park conservancies and the Essex County Park System . Full maps of the trail can be found at LenapeTrail.org . The Lenape Trail's eastern terminus is in Newark's Ironbound district and continues through Downtown Newark and the Frederick Law Olmsted -designed Branch Brook Park ,
36-542: A 2,100-mile (3,400 km) trail from Maine to Georgia (subsequently named the Appalachian Trail ) was publicized by the New York Evening Post . The project generated great enthusiasm, and on October 7, 1923, the first section of the trail, from Bear Mountain west through Harriman State Park to Arden , New York, was opened by groups of enthusiastic volunteers. The first trails built were
54-827: Is a volunteer-based federation of approximately 10,000 individual members and about 100 member organizations (mostly hiking clubs and environmental organizations ). The conference coordinates the maintenance of 2,000 miles of foot trails around the New York metropolitan area , from the Delaware Water Gap , north to beyond the Catskill Mountains , including the Appalachian Trail through New York and New Jersey. It also works to protect open space and publishes books and trail maps . The organization's headquarters are at 600 Ramapo Valley Road, Mahwah , New Jersey . On October 19, 1920 local hiking clubs gathered in
72-782: Is an organization coming out of the conservation or environmental movements that seeks to protect, analyse or monitor the environment against misuse or degradation from human forces . In this sense the environment may refer to the biophysical environment or the natural environment . The organization may be a charity , a trust , a non-governmental organization , a governmental organization or an intergovernmental organization . Environmental organizations can be global, national , regional or local. Some environmental issues that environmental organizations focus on include pollution , plastic pollution , waste , resource depletion , human overpopulation and climate change . Many states have agencies devoted to monitoring and protecting
90-582: Is part of the Passaic Meadows. The trail continues through Branch Brook Park with yellow blazes. After traveling north through Branch Brook Park, the trail follows sidewalks and aqueducts through Belleville and Nutley before crossing over the Garden State Parkway on a pedestrian bridge. The trail travels through Bloomfield partially through parks and along Watchung Avenue before crossing Brookdale Park, passing Applegate Farm, crossing
108-860: The Montclair-Boonton Line and entering the Mills Reservation. The trail combines after this with the West Essex Trail on the former Caldwell Branch of the Erie Railroad. The trail continues in Verona on the old Erie Railroad line and follows sidewalks once again before passing through Verona Park and then Eagle Rock Reservation. The trail passes the Eagle Rock lookout on the Orange Mountain ridge of
126-958: The Outings page of the New York Evening Post , and included representatives from the Appalachian Mountain Club , the Fresh Air Club, the Green Mountain Club , the Tramp and Trail Club, the Associated Mountaineering Clubs of America and the League of Walkers. Major Welch guided the organization during its first ten years. Raymond Torrey served as its Secretary. In 1922 a proposal by forester Benton MacKaye to build
144-908: The Walter Kidde Dinosaur Park . This park has thousands of dinosaur tracks, including the smallest ones ever found. The Lenape Trail continues west across the Morristown and Erie Railway tracks and passes under I-280. The Lenape Trail continues along Hatfield Swamp before ending at the Essex County Environmental Center and leading on to the Patriots' Path , which similarly traverses Morris County . 40°44′08″N 74°09′51″W / 40.73544°N 74.1643°W / 40.73544; -74.1643 New York-New Jersey Trail Conference The New York – New Jersey Trail Conference ( NYNJTC )
162-759: The First Watchung Mountain, with views of the New York Skyline, and goes under I-280 and follows power lines over the Second Watchung Mountain. A side trail leads through the South Mountain Reservation , between Orange Mountain and Second Watchung Mountain, through Locust Grove in Millburn . The Lenape Trail continues through Becker Park (a former dairy farm). Here there is a blue side trail to
180-858: The Log Cabin atop the Abercrombie & Fitch sporting goods store in New York City . The meeting was proposed by Meade C. Dobson of the Boy Scouts of America and organized by Major William A. Welch , general manager of the Palisades Interstate Park Commission to plan a system of hiking trails to make Harriman - Bear Mountain State Park more accessible to the public. In addition to Welch and Dobson, those attending included Raymond H. Torrey , who edited
198-748: The New York - New Jersey Trail Conference had helped expand the Huckleberry Ridge State Forest in Orange County, New York by transferring 389 acres from the New York - New Jersey Trail Conference holdings to the State of New York. The Huckleberry Ridge State Forest grew to 1500 acres with the acres purchased from the Trail Conference. The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation paid $ 1.55 million for
SECTION 10
#1732772290165216-785: The Orange County Land Trust was also reported by the Times Herald-Record. The Trail Conference has been active in open space preservation in its region since its earliest days, including the efforts that led to the preservation of Storm King Mountain , now Storm King State Park. In that project, the Trail Conference joined with The Nature Conservancy to found the Scenic Hudson Preservation Committee, which eventually became known and established as Scenic Hudson, and which continues to protect land today. The Trail Conference also led
234-1005: The Passaic River. The trail changes from sidewalks to surfaced trails to dirt trails and aqueducts throughout its length. The trail also passes through Newark's Hayes Park, Military Park, Washington Park, Branch Brook Park , Belleville's Belleville Park, Nutley's Booth Park, Yantacaw Park, Memorial Park, Kingsland Park, Bloomfield's Clarks Pond Nature Preserve, Brookdale Park (in Bloomfield and Montclair) , Yantacaw Brook Municipal Park, Mountainside Park in Montclair, Mills Reservation , Verona Park , Eagle Rock Reservation , O'Connor Park in West Orange, Becker Park in Roseland, Lurker Park in East Hanover and Hatfield Swamp, which
252-860: The Ramapo-Dunderberg, the Timp-Torne, the Tuxedo-Mount Ivy Trails, and the Boy Scouts' White Bar Trail; all are still in use. In 1923, the Palisades Interstate Trail Conference changed its name to the New York New Jersey Trail Conference. During the 1930s, as more trails were built, a system of trail maintenance was developed giving each hiking club a share of responsibility. Over the ensuing years, as
270-516: The effort to preserve Sterling Forest in New York and the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area on the border of New Jersey and Pennsylvania . The Trail Conference participates in, or attends in an advisory or information gathering capacity, a number of governmental, quasi-governmental, or not-for-profit agencies, including: Environmental organization An environmental organization
288-517: The land purchase from the New York - New Jersey Trail Conference, the Times Herald-Record reports. Stephen Sacco goes on to report that throughout New York and New Jersey, the New York - New Jersey Trail Conference has managed to preserve 2400 acres through direct land purchases in the past 10 years. Protecting the 43 mile long Shawangunk Ridge Trail has been a priority for the New York - New Jersey Trail Conference and other conservation groups including Open Space Institute , The Nature Conservancy , and
306-477: The largest park in Newark. Branch Brook Park is home to the city's Cherry Blossom Festival with 3,500 cherry trees and the most diverse cherry blossom display in the country. Leaving Newark the trail continues west through Belleville , Nutley , Bloomfield , Montclair , Cedar Grove , Verona , West Orange , and Roseland traversing the Watchung Mountains before reaching its western terminus at
324-501: The number of miles of trails maintained has grown, the Trail Conference has relied on trained individual volunteers as well to maintain the trails. They also have developed skilled volunteer trail crews to repair and build trails. According to one study, for every $ 1 invested in trails, $ 2.94 is returned in medical benefits from improved health . On May 31, 2011 the Times Herald-Record reported by Stephen Sacco that
#164835