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Ramapo Mountain
20 reviews
4.3 of 5
The trails here can be a bit tricky and downright nasty at times. This is not a place to learn riding skills, it is a place to hone already existing skills. Most of the trails are remote and seldom ridden, so if you don't know how to ride and take a fall - you could be there for a while.
Most of the trails are color blazed, and practically all are awesome and will challenge the most seasoned rider.
Route 287 to Skyline Drive/Ringwood (#55?); from 287N:make left at light, from 287S:bear right at exit. Either park at the lower parking lot on the left or the upper parking lot, around 1 mile north of 287.
Summary: Ramapo offers some of the best riding in northern NJ. I ride here with a buddies at least 3 times a week. There are so many trails to ride and you can literally spend all day riding something different if you know where you are going. There are several different routes to take. Some trails, such as Cannonball (red C trail markers) offer everything from swithcbacks to jumps, to logs, to rocks. Great place to ride, but not for beginners.
If you know the area you can start in Pompton Lakes next to the old Dupont factory. Here you can park your car on Schulyer Road at the end. Take the Skyline Drive exit but do not go towards Ringwood up the hill. Go left off the exit, through the two lights, then look for Schulyer Ave on your right about 2 miles down. At the end of Schulyer, go right to the end of the road. There are parking spaces and a little trail that leads to a soccer field. Walk across the field and you will see a trail that starts with an intense climb up. That is Cannonball trail. You can take it all the way to the top of Sklyine Drive following the C trail markers. It is a sick ride.
Recommended Route: Take the Skyline Drive exit to the top of the hill and you will find a parking area on your left. Park here. From here you can take the yellow trails to the lake, the white trail to Cannonball trail, which is a great ride down to the lake. Another option is going across the street into Camp Tamarak. THere is great riding here, though some trails say no bikes. There is a sick downhill yellow trail, or a challenging, rocky white trail. You must take the Orange trail to the white trail.
Other recommended trails in the same area: If you know the area you can start in Pompton Lakes next to the old Dupont factory. Here you can park your car on Schulyer Road at the end. Take the Skyline Drive exit but do not go towards Ringwood up the hill. Go left off the exit, through the two lights, then look for Schulyer Ave on your right about 2 miles down. At the end of Schulyer, go right to the end of the road. There are parking spaces and a little trail that leads to a soccer field. Walk across the field and you will see a trail that starts with an intense climb up. That is Cannonball trail. You can take it all the way to the top of Sklyine Drive following the C trail markers. It is a sick ride.
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Summary: I took a drive into Jersey to find Skyline Drive and it was worth it. I'm sure it would have been even better if it was a nice day. I tried to get a run in before the rain but I got caught in a light drizzle.
Pretty technical stuff, lots of rocks, roots and steep climbs. A little slippery in the rain.
Streams, foliage and the lake made for some great scenery. I would not bring someone just starting out here. In fact, I was thinking about bringing my full face helmet and some pads for the next visit.
I followed the bike trails in the dirt to find the best lines over some pretty narly rocks. This place is great to practice for Diablo!
Recommended Route: I came from NY, so I went NYS TWay to I 287 (exit 15) to exit 57, Skyline Drive, stayed right off the ramp and drove about 1.5 miles to the second parking area on the left. The first lot has the big sign that says Ramapo State Park, but it looks like a big climb right from the start!
Bike route - I followed some yellow markers, double yellows, and then some light blue ones that brought me down to the first parkinglot that I passed while driving.
Other recommended trails in the same area: Ringwood State Park and Waywayanda, Blue Mountain too.
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Summary: I absolutley love Ramapo mountain. I learned how to ride at this place and am still riding there now. There are soooo many trails to explore and theyre all great. When I first started It sucked cause I didnt know where to go and didnt know what I was doing. After talking with a few regulars I learned some good routes and became a lot better....Years later Im still finding new stuff...Theres a lot of trails off of the loop around the lake that have some nice sided drops. I think the trails back here are intermediate but everyone else i know that rides here thinks its advanced. I learned on it so Im used to it...Ive been riding it with a 75mm HT, but an upgrading to a kona dawg 5" fully so I can take more risk.
Recommended Route: I park at the top, take the yellow on the left, down to the lake. Theres some nice steep technical stuff that takes some practice when u first do it about half way down. Once you get near the lake, hop onto the fire road for about 25 feet and on the right (other side) you will see a trail, hop on there and collow that down a fast single track right to the waters edge basically...follow the trail either way around...if you go left (clockwise) you will eventually coe to a T. Go right, then left at the ork, then left at the next fork. you will be on Cannonball and it takes you through some very nice technical riding and also some qucik small drops, then right over 287 which is nice to cool down, then at the end of the bridge, you can go left (yellow) or right (cannonball). Yellow takes you down a very fast fireroadish type thing that looks like it was hit by a few earthquakes (watch out for the 4 foot deep splits in the earth!!!) u end up in okland on pool hollow road. If you go right (cannonball) you end up in a soccer field, and Im told that at the bottom, to the left theres a trail leading up to some jumps and ramps but I have not been able to check that out yet.
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Summary: This place is great! There are tons of challenging and technical trails here. It's not a place for beginners. You will definitely need to be competent to do this terrain. There are lots of technical climbs, decents, logs, rock gardens, creeks, etc. etc. Beginners will lose their mojo.
Recommended Route: Cannonball
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