Norvin Green State Forest

Category: Park in Ringwood, New Jersey

Address: 150 Snake Den Rd, Ringwood, NJ 07456, USA

Phone: +19739627031

Opening hours

Sunday: 7AM–8:30PM

Monday: 7AM–8:30PM

Tuesday: 7AM–8:30PM

Wednesday: 7AM–8:30PM

Thursday: 7AM–8:30PM

Friday: 7AM–8:30PM

Saturday: 7AM–8:30PM

Reviews

Pamela Doyle

Sep 26, 2022

Beautiful park however a lot of the trails were not clearly marked and I got lost for a while.

Donald Harvey

Sep 16, 2022

High point is definitely worth the 2+ hours hike.

EE Grimshaw

Sep 12, 2022

Norvin Green is one of my absolute favorite places in NJ to hike. It has a tremendous variety of trails with different terrain, difficulty level and unique environments; if the mood strikes you, it's possible to hike up and down a few mountains with gorgeous 360-degree views, or something much easier that involves exploring some of the mines on the eastern side of the forest, closer to the reservoir. There's something for virtually any type of hiker, and because so much of the area is rugged, you're not likely to find too many ignorant young hiking pups wandering aimlessly without water or a map. I usually get out here at least a few times every year, and most recently stopped by with one of my chums two Saturdays ago for an 8.1-mile hike. If you're approaching Norvin Green from 287, I would strongly recommend stopping by the Quick Chek on 511 - the bathroom options are pretty much non-existent in the forest (apart from strategically placed foliage), the employees there are always very pleasant and you have a lot of hiking snack options if you haven't had time to preplan that aspect of the adventure. We did a circuitous route beginning at the Weis parking lot up the green trail, past the natural pool to the kiosk, then up blue to Wyanokie High Point, back down and continuing on the blue trail to Carris Hill, then taking the yellow trail from there down into the wetlands, turning west onto the blue trail, past Chik Falls and over to Otter Hole. At that point, you can either take the green Otter Hole trail back to the kiosk (I think that's about 6 miles), or turn west again in .2 miles onto yellow and up Buck Mountain, meandering along the ridge until you hit the woods road (subjective term) and can follow it back to the green trail/kiosk. Deciding to incorporate Buck Mountain adds about two miles to the trip, so if your haunches aren't up to it, just keep going north on green. You'll still get a workout in, regardless. The climb up to Wyanokie is fairly strenuous. I'm in very good hiking shape and can do it without any breaks if needed, but you're definitely earning the views once you ascend past the main tree line. The view on top has to be one of the top two or three in the state; on a clear day, you can see the NYC skyline (that's true as well for the top of Buck Mountain and several points along the yellow trail before it descends), as well as the mountainous regions to the north and west. It's gorgeous, and the only damper on this particular day was the obvious effects of the seasonal drought - tons of brown foliage and several of the water features were dried up or close to it. Especially down in the wetlands, you're usually hopping over a small stream or two. Not on this day, and Chik Falls was a barely discernable trickle. The Buck Mountain climb is one of the toughest in the area - if you can do it without taking a breather, god bless. It's something like an 800-foot ascent in .1 miles; it doesn't require actual rock scrambling or climbing, but it's probably in the tier right below that. But as with Wyanokie, you're getting amazing views for the sweat expended on the incline, and because it's a nastier section of the forest, there isn't nearly as much foot traffic. It's not unusual to get some solid wildlife sightings up on the ridge. This particular hike certainly had its share of wildlife. We saw either a garter or ribbon snake with Pittsburgh Steelers coloring, a skink, AKA the corgi of lizards, oodles of small frogs (presumably panicking over the lack of water), and met two canine chums, Nala and Argo. A very solid crop, and not out of the ordinary for this area. I couldn't recommend this place more highly. Nearby Wanaque doesn't have a lot of great eating options, so given that you've more than earned your calories from tromping around in the woods, I'd venture a little further south to sup on scrumptiousness.

Edward Yilmaz

Sep 3, 2022

There are a variety of tracks in terms of challenge(difficulty) and time constraint.Easy access, safe and wonderful view with exposure to nature and its healing.Couple creeks with small falls mostly in spring and early summer active but almost dry late summer.

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Questions & Answers

Do they allow dog to run or hike with?

Glenn Allsopp | Oct 3, 2018
jay whitmore | Oct 3, 2018

Dogs are supposed to be leased

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Is there a grassland with designated trails to take photos of birds like Bobolinks ,Meadowlarks and Dickcissels ?

lucio retacchi | Jul 4, 2022
Ola Goworek | Jul 4, 2022

there is plenty of grassland and meadows, haven't seen signs for this specific purpose but would still definitely give it a shot! We ware able to see so much wildlife birds included :) hope you will love it !

Looking to move on westbrook rd ringwood . I love to ride my atv anywhere I can get away in ringwood to ride ??

Gregory Larcombe | Dec 6, 2021
Über Dad | Dec 6, 2021

Only on your own land or private land you have permission to be on

4x4 trail for jeeps?

Gustavo Velez | Oct 2, 2021
masahiro inada | Oct 2, 2021

No, the trail is for only hiking.

Is this trail safe to hike post Hurricane?

Arisha Ilarraza | Oct 2, 2020
Shannon Perry | Oct 2, 2020

I am not sure about the whole park, but approaching from the southern trails, all was clean except for 1 down tree. Easily skirted.

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Is there a stream to play in?

Catherine Mitch | Oct 2, 2020
Raheen Moody | Oct 2, 2020

No

Is it good for bike riding?

Cesar Castrof | Oct 2, 2020
james gaither | Oct 2, 2020

No way too Rocky

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Is camping allowed??

Rosy Herrera | Oct 2, 2020
james gaither | Oct 2, 2020

They have a club that you can join in order to camp on premises. But there is camping areas in this area close to the park.

Can u go camping here ?🌝

david Londoño | Oct 2, 2020
Alexandra | Oct 2, 2020

I don't think they allow camping at this time.

When is parking for the trials allowed at the Weis Ecology Center? are there specific hours/days it's ok to park there?

Emilio Petronez | Oct 2, 2020
Gene | Oct 2, 2020

Trials Event? Maybe check their website events calendar

Any Waterfalls on the trails?

Micho MarinOff | Oct 3, 2019
Tim Fau | Oct 3, 2019

Yup, by otter hole parking lot

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Are you allowed to let dogs swim in the lake?

Diane Roulette | Oct 3, 2019
Diane Roulette | Oct 3, 2019

Thank you guys for the information.... It's a shame there's no specified area for dogs to run and swim free

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Is it a good place to bike?

Andrew Oettinger | Oct 3, 2019
Scott Borsos | Oct 3, 2019

No

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Is there bears of deers 🤔

Quinn Rosie | Oct 3, 2019
Alex Garcia | Oct 3, 2019

Bears, deer, snakes, rabbits, & bugs. Fish & frogs

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Does this park has entry point with picnic and play area along with ample parking? If yes then at what location?

Arpit Gawande | Oct 3, 2018
RJ Siniscalchi | Oct 3, 2018

It's more of a hiking area than anything else; unless you are a member of the Highlands Pool.

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