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Ramapo Mountain State Forest protects 4,269 acres in the mountainous region of Northern New Jersey. It is in both Passaic and Bergen Counties and is a separate park from the adjacent Ramapo County Reservation.
There is a well-marked network of trails here. I met up with a local hiking group in the upper lot on Skyline Drive. In my previous visit to this park, I’d begun at the lower lot.
After hiking down to Ramapo Lake, we walked around the lake on the Blue trail and ascended the White/Castle Trail to the ruins of Van Slyke Castle.
Once up top, we had great views of the NYC skyline, Ramapo Lake and another body of water.
Van Slyke Castle was built in the early 1900s by two of Ruth Cole’s three husbands. Her second husband, William Porter began the mansion on Fox Mountain and called it Foxcroft. Porter died before it was completed and Ruth continued the construction, re-naming it after her third husband Warren Van Slyke.
After Van Slyke died in 1925, Ruth lived there until 1940. The mansion was left to her family who sold it. It was then abandoned during a bitter divorce. It burned down in 1959, leaving behind the stone walls.
We explored the castle ruins before looping around, past a water tower, to return to Skyline Drive.
Ramapo State Forest Posts:
- Ramapo Mountain State Forest
- Ramapo Lake
- Van Slyke Castle
Location: Skyline Drive, Wanaque, NJ 07465
Designation: NJ State Forest
Date designated or established: 1976
Date of my visit: 9/1/2019
How lovely! I’ve never even heard of this place. Thanks for sharing!!!!
Thanks for reading and commenting 😊
Thanks to you as well!
We went today and it’s amazing!! Thank you for recommending !!! It was a great place for hiking!!!
It was a beautiful day for hiking! Glad you enjoyed Ramapo 😊
Those old stone walls evoke olden fairy tales, though it sounds as though they didn’t have happy endings.
True, though the lady who built it stayed to the end of her days. What came after seems nothing but misery
☹
Reblogged this on ravenhawks' magazine.
🙏🏻🙏🏻
I find it reassuring when I see evidence of Nature’s determination to reclaim what was stolen from her. Perhaps it’s a warning to distant New York that the city has won the battle but not the war?
The catastrophe that allows nature to reclaim nyc will herald the end of our civilization. New Yorkers have improved as far as incorporating more green spaces into the urban jungle in recent years, so there is hope
Small steps are good!
What a beautiful park! Thanks
Thanks for reading and commenting 😊
I had no idea that this castle even existed in New Jersey. Looks fun to explore. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks 😊. It was fun!
Great post and pictures! I wrote about this hike on my blog Njurbanforest.com
https://njurbanforest.com/2013/11/13/hiking-ramapo-mountain-state-forest/
Thanks 😊
Enjoyed the view of NYC across a sea of trees.
Thanks 💚💚
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Wow,,, what an amazing place. It would be mind numbing thinking of all the history and stories this castle held.