Sunfish Pond is a 44-acre glacial lake surrounded by a 258-acre hardwood forest located on the Kittatinny Ridge within Worthington State Forest, adjacent to the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area in Warren County, New Jersey. The Appalachian Trail runs alongside the western and northern edges of the lake.
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Sunfish Pond Natural Area
4.7
(11)
I have been to a few national parks before but this one was the worst so far. I went in the summer on a Saturday. My goal was to visit sunfish pond....Parking was difficult and limited, visitor centers were closed, but at least the staff or volunteers were friendly. On the bright side they had a free shuttle from a park and ride that sends you to the main lots. The bad thing is that shuttle stops before 6pm and there's no way to get back to the area on foot. I'm not an experienced hiker or anything but the trail doesn't have adequate signs(they also blend into the foliage), descriptive signs(it's labeled with abbreviations and without distance) and the maps on display are hard to read. For example I wanted to go on a particular trail which is called Red Trail but the sign had another name. I had to look closely for colored circles on the signs that denote the trail name. We asked around and we did find our destination but it was a long and difficult hike through the Appalachian trail. There are also no restrooms, trash cans, or water fountains. The water is acidic and there is a sign that says "no swimming " so if you take a swim your skin will burn. If you want a hike you will certainly get one here but if you want to enjoy scenic views go to the river or creeks. Anyways I had a good time please don't let that stop you it just wasn't as nice as places...
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05/31/2021:
This is a beautiful lake worth of the hike of 9.5 miles from Kittatinny Park thru Appalachian Trail, and back thru Dunnfield Creek Trail, which was such an adventure because we had to walk across the creek at 5 different spots to get back to the trail.
According to the sign, this glacier lake is one of the 7 natural wonders in NJ because of its unique acidic composition, in which only several hardy species of fish such as pumpkinseed sunfish and yellow perch can survive. It’s also been designated as a Natural Landmark since 1970 by US National Park Service.
Today we parked at Kittatinny Park and walked across under I-80 to Dunnfield Nature Area to the trailheads. We hiked on AT, which is sometimes rocky and sometimes muddy after rain. After visiting Sunfish Pond, we followed Dunnfield Creek Trail back down the mountain. This route turns out...
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October 2021
Worthington State Park offers the best hikes in NJ. Sunfish pond is splendid especially in foliage.
If you want a short hike under 2.5 hrs then search Douglas parking area in Google Map. Once getting there you will follow either the orange/red mark or the blue square with white border mark. The first one is steeper but shorter.
If you like a long hike then park at Mt Kittatinny visitor center then follow Appalachian trail to Sunfish. That will take you 3.5hr one way and 2hr more to come back to the parking lot. Either parking area has restrooms.
Saturdays are often crowded. We went on a Sunday and that was the most peaceful hike I...
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