During the summer, my husband and I enjoy hiking in Northern, NJ. The fall is also nice, but we tend to go more in the summer. We have more free time as well.
Last week, we decided to head to the “Staircase to Heaven” on the Appalachian Trail. We’ve hiked several portions including in New York at Bear Mountain. The Staircase to Heaven is supposed to have one of the best views in all of the state. Spoiler: It did not disappoint!
There are several portions of the trail you can park to get to the top. There is about a 2-mile hike/walk, followed by a steep 1.5 mile hike. It’s a longer hike, but it’s scenic. The closer spot is close to the mountain, where you you have about a 1.5 mile steep and rocky hike to get to the top. Since we were later and assumed the closer lot was filled, we parked further away and hiked 3.5 miles to the top.
After an extremely rocky hike, we made it to the top, and the view was fantastic. So far, it’s definitely one of my favorite views in New Jersey.
After making it to the top, we decided to explore the Appalachian trail a little further and found a water fall.
It was perfect because the weather was so hot, so it was nice to take a refreshing dip in the stream. Thank goodness running clothes are basically like bathing suits and dry quickly. Ha!
Afer that we took the hike back to our car. It seemed to go much quicker this time, thankfully.
Other Hiking Posts:
Getting Lost at Bear Mountain and Revisiting (not getting lost)
Hiking the Hollywood Sign (LA)
We are hoping to get another hike in before the end of the summer so we will see. Tristate locals: do you have any recommendations of hikes?
Questions for you:
Do you like hiking? Where is your favorite?