Hiking NJ: Washington Valley Park [VIDEO]

In our latest webisode of Hiking NJ we are off to Somerset County. Washington Valley County Park  in Bridgewater is part of the Somerset County Park System. WVP is about 90 minutes from Ocean County.

Washington Valley Park is about 715 acres. The park is home to the Washington Valley Reservoir and the Chimney Rock Hawk Watch. The park has a parking area, but that appears to fill up fast. The park does not have restrooms. There is a posted map, but the day we were there they were out of maps to taken with you. You may wanna copy or download a map in your phone. The park has several trails, color coordinated, we did the ”red” and ”white” trails. These two trails center around the reservoir.

The terrain, especially on the red trail, was very rocky and wet. So be sure to wear your hiking shoes/boots. There are also some creeks to cross and they are slippery, so take your hiking polls or take ”your time” crossing rocks. The is some incline, but nothing to extreme. We did about 5 miles and had 6 floors of incline, so nothing to worry about. The trails at Washington Valley are graded as ”moderate” and that’s for the rocky conditions and water crossings.

There is some nice scenery at Washington Valley and the White Trail really takes you close to the waters edge of some great photos. We encountered some birds and some white tailed deer while hiking.

We will see you next time and who knows where we will end up as we hike New Jersey.