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Allamuchy Mountain State Park is in northwestern New Jersey with more than a dozen marked trails. It is also has a section preserving Historic Waterloo Village on the Morris Canal. Adjacent to Stephens State Park, the two parks have miles of trails on nearly ten thousand acres.

I met up with Take a Hike NJ at the trailhead for the Sussex Branch Trail. The Sussex Branch Trail is a rail trail that runs along the Narrow Gauge Sussex Mine Railroad bed. This was used in the 1800s to carry iron ore from the mines to the Morris Canal

The section of the Sussex Branch Trail in Allamuchy begins at Waterloo Road and runs for three miles up to Cranberry Lake.  The beginning of the trail runs past Jefferson Lake. Shortly after leaving Jefferson Lake behind, we found a small waterfall.

We paused at the waterfall for some photo ops and then continued on the flat, wide rail-trail. About a mile from the parking lot, we turned onto the Blue Iron Mine Loop Trail. One of the hikers found some rocks that looked like iron ore.

About halfway through the loop, we found what looked like a cave entrance. It may have been an entrance to the mine. More photos and then we continued on, back to the rail-trail and on to Cranberry Lake.

Allamuchy Posts:

• Allamuchy Mountain State Park
• Waterloo Village (Coming Soon)

Location: Waterloo Rd, Stanhope, NJ 07874

Designation: State Park

Date of my visit: February 8, 2020