Scarlet Oak Pond Walk — Attraction in Mahwah

This place has changed SO much this year. I went there on a Sunday and the first thing I see when I walk in are 2 bergen County sheriff cruisers driving down the trail. Then I see that they set up camp sites on all of the open areas surrounding the lake drastically limiting fishing. Who wants to camp at a place where 300 ppl walk by your tent every day?? In total I saw 5 police vehicles on the trails and blocking the trails. Pretty disappointed with what they've done. They're clearly trying to produce more revenue but this park used to be much more rustic. There were 2 cop cars blocking off upper access to McMillan reservoir and the greater Ringwood state forest that ramapo County reservation used to be a great trailhead for. I fullybexpect to see basketball courts and swings and a jungle gym next time I come back.. if I come back. This place basically turnd into any...

We parked here to hike the Vista Loop Trail (via AllTrails) at around 12:30pm on a Saturday afternoon. By then, the large parking lot was nearly full, so definitely plan to get there earlier if you can. By the time we left at 3:30, there was a sheriff stationed at the entrance of the lot to deal with crowd control. The park has a lot of varied trails for hikers of all abilities and ages, so even though our hike started out very crowded, it really thinned out as we headed deeper into the woods. There are porta johns a little ways past the trailhead. The park is dog friendly as long as...

We parked at the Ramapo trailhead near Scarlet Oak Pond and followed the Vista Loop Trail on AllTrails. Parking lot was empty around 8am when we started but was full by noon when we ended. Trail was varied and had a bit of everything - hills, mini scrambles, wooded areas, panoramic viewpoints, lake, waterfall, little bridges. The flowering prickly pear cacti on the...