Washington Valley Park — Attraction in Bridgewater Township

New Jersey has a lot of excellent hiking spots. It's understandable that most of them are in pretty rural areas with tons of room to roam/explore. So when I found out there was a 5.7-mile hike in the immediate vicinity of Bridgewater/Somerville, I was pretty skeptical. This is a pretty chaotic section of the state, with a lot of major highways interconnecting and a mall and heinous traffic circle thrown in for good measure - it's not the first or 100th place I'd think of for a hike. That remains the case. You can't force the design of a hike, and this is a clear example of a situation where you should have had, say, a mile's worth of trails and left it at that.

Our trek started at the entrance/parking lot off of Newmans Road (spacious, easy to spot with a pretty clean port-a-potty; there were drops on the seat but that's people being animals and not a reflection on the park) following the red trail running roughly parallel to the Washington Valley Reservoir before crossing Chimney Rock Road and heading up and down the orange trail in a quasi loop that runs alongside the East Branch Reservoir before another brief foray on a road (this one Gilbride Rd) and then doing another loop on the yellow trail that goes up to the Chimney Rock Outlook before circling back to Gilbride, at which point you basically complete the prior orange loop and then head back on the other side of the Washington Valley Reservoir to the parking lot. If that sounds overly complicated, you're right.

There are two huge issues that mar this hike for me. One is that whoever designed the trails/blazes for this place had no idea what they were doing. Literally every possible trail and offshoot is painted with a blaze, always the same color as the "main" trail. As such, it's incredibly difficult to follow an official hiking itinerary because every fork in the trail has two choices with the same color blaze. Incredibly foolish and short-sighted. We had to VERY carefully stop each time, look at the map in our book AND double-check the GPS/map on the AllTrails app (which I hate doing) just to make sure we were on the right path. There's no reason to put a blaze on literally any walkable route like that; no idea what they were thinking.

The other problem is what I alluded to earlier - this is a populated area with minimal room to hike so you end up by definition having to cross and briefly walk alongside busy roads. Chimney Rock was incredibly busy midday on Saturday, and cars were whizzing by us the entire time (the first section was probably about two minutes long, while the second was five minutes - believe me, it felt longer). I'm stunned people don't get hit there, especially since there's not a lot of room off to the side for pedestrians. If you're at the point where you're brainstorming a hiking trail and you can't avoid having the hikers come into contact with moving vehicles, that's probably a clue to scrap the plans.

The big selling point of this hike is Chimney Rock, which was apparently a lookout point for George Washington during the Revolutionary War. That's all well and good, but for the money they spent to put up a protective fence and pave the trail here, they couldn't be bothered to maintain the actual rock, which is covered by broken beer bottle glass. And I'm sure General Washington had a much prettier view back in the day than we did; we were treated to the gorgeous scenery of the Stavola Bound Brook Quarry - crushed stones as far as the eye can see!

The best part of the hike by far was the last section on the northern side of the Washington Valley Reservoir, and this is the part I'd actually preserve for walking, etc. It definitely helped that the sun was out at this point, but there was a cute bridge and a lot of bird activity. We also encountered a fallen tree (picture attached) that was taken down by a beaver. Very cool sighting.

Head over to Watchung Reservation if you're in the area and want to commune with nature. You may hear the sounds of Route 78 but at least you won't be crossing that highway as part...

I can't recommend Washington Valley Park enough! It was an absolute delight to visit. The park offered a wonderful escape into nature, with a fantastic variety of wildlife to admire. On my most recent visit, I even spotted several types of woodpecker and a huge beaver den!

The highlight for me was definitely Buttermilk Falls. The cascading water was so picturesque, and the surrounding area was teeming with beautiful flowers, plants, and mature trees. It truly felt like a scene straight out of a painting.

The trails were well-maintained and offered options for both short and scenic hikes. It's a perfect place to stretch your legs, breathe in the fresh air, and immerse yourself in the beauty of the outdoors. And if you're looking for a lovely spot for a picnic, there are plenty of open areas that would be ideal.

Overall, Washington Valley Park was a fantastic experience. I left feeling refreshed and invigorated. Five...

My husband and I recently moved to the area and are avid hikers. We were very excited to explore Washington Valley Park. We were sadly disappointed.

I cannot describe this park in any other way but crowded and dirty. We didn't even hike a mile before turning around to leave...in that distance we had to move off trail three times in order for large parties of people to pass by. Also, this trail does not seem to prohibit mountain bikes so keep in mind you may have to hop off-trail to let them pass.

In addition to the amount of people, was the amount of broken glass along the short distance we traversed...it was everywhere.

So, while the surroundings were absolutely lovely...it was much too crowded and dirty for us. Sadly, we will not...