Passaic County Highpoint Trip Report

Date: September 5, 2007
Author: Don Desrosiers

This hike is not that long but with all of the bushwhacking it is going to take you a while. We took better than 5 hours. Some of that was waiting for the dog to figure his way through the thick underbrush but mostly we kept at it steady. You will need long pants and if you had a set of loppers they might come in handy. A GPS will definitely be a plus.

one point north of Terrace Pond

Use Mike Schwartz's update from March 14, 2004. If you don't see the surveyor's tape, you are on the wrong fin. We added a few more small cairns along the route as an aid. When you get to a cairn in a small flat open area, it is time to start looking for a route southeast to the next fin. Fight your way to the point in question. Then fight your way back.

Bearfort BM and one other point

Back to the blue blazed trail around the end of the pond, through a couple of very wet and muddy areas, until the trail makes a turn to the right. This bushwhack to the BM point is not too difficult, although you would have to pay attention. The highest point in this contour is clearly to the north of the actual BM. The area to the southeast is a slog through the underbrush but if you look you can find remnants of some sort of minimal path. Pay close attention to where you went up in order to come back with a minimum of trouble.

three areas southwest of Terrace Pond

Back to the Blue trail then to the white blazed trail around the west side of the pond. Take faintly red blazed trail to the right. First area is on the left and we were able to see the skyline of NYC in the distance. The second area is further along and to the right through the scrub. The final point is farther along that fin of rock after another fight with the undergrowth.

I have no idea which area is the highest but in the winter you should be able to narrow it down to three areas.