Schuber/Yellow-Silver Trails Loop
Directions to trailhead
Take N.J. Route 17 to U.S. Route 202 in Mahwah. Proceed south on Route 202 for two miles, then turn right into the Ramapo Valley County Reservation parking area.
Bus Directions
Short Line offers bus service from Port Authority Bus Terminal in New York City to Ramapo College, which is located about a mile to the north of the park entrance on Route 202. For schedule information, go to www.shortlinebus.com. Only limited service is available on weekends.
Hike Description
The hike begins at a kiosk in the southwest corner of the parking area. Just ahead, you'll notice a triple-black-square-on-yellow blaze on a tree, which marks the start of the Vista Spur Trail. Follow the black-square-on-yellow blazes as they descend wooden steps, join a wide dirt road, and continue ahead to cross the Ramapo River on a steel truss bridge. Just beyond the bridge, you'll pass one end of the orange-on-white-blazed River Loop Trail on the left and, in another 250 feet, you'll pass the other end of this loop, but you should continue ahead on the wide dirt road, following the black-square-on-yellow blazes along the southern shore of Scarlet Oak Pond (formerly the site of a gravel quarry).
At the end of the pond, you’ll notice a sign for the “Yellow Vista Loop,” with arrows pointing in both directions. Here, the yellow-blazed Vista Loop Trail begins. Continue ahead, but in 75 feet, at a sign for the “waterfall," turn left and follow the yellow blazes for a quarter mile along another dirt road. After passing the start of the black-square-on-orange-blazed River Trail on the left, you’ll cross a wooden bridge over a stream.
On the other side of the bridge, the trail turns sharply right and follows the cascading stream. Soon, it begins to climb on stone steps, passing an attractive waterfall along the way. This beautiful trail section was built in 2017-18 by an AmeriCorps trail crew of the New York-New Jersey Trail Conference. After passing more cascades and pools in the stream on the right, the Vista Loop Trail levels off, curves to the right, and reaches a junction with the wide park road leading to the MacMillan Reservoir.
Follow the Vista Loop Trail as it turns left, joining the blue-blazed Ridge Loop Trail, and continues along a paved section of the park road. After crossing a bridge, the trails diverge. Bear left and continue to follow the blue-blazed Ridge Loop Trail. Soon, the trail passes to the left of the stone dam of the MacMillan Reservoir (rebuilt in 2009). Here, the red-blazed Marsh Loop Trail begins on the left, and just ahead, the pink-blazed Reservoir Loop Trail begins on the right. You’ve gone a little over a mile from the start, and this is a good place to take a break.
When you’re ready to continue, proceed ahead on the wide road, still marked with the blue blazes of the Ridge Loop Trail. The paving ends at the dam, and the route becomes rather rocky. For the next third of mile, the trail continues to climb.
Just beyond the crest of the rise, the red-blazed Marsh Loop Trail crosses. You should proceed ahead on the blue-blazed Ridge Loop Trail, which crosses a stream, descends a little, and levels off. In 750 feet, you’ll reach a fork in the road, where the blue-blazed Ridge Loop Trail leaves to the right. You should take the left fork, now following the red/silver-blazed Rcoky Mountain Connector along a narrower path.
In another 0.2 mile, just before reaching an intermittent stream, you’ll come to another junction. Here, you should turn sharply left onto the orange-blazed Schuber Trail, which begins here. The Schuber Trail now ascends a rocky hillside and levels off along the southeastern shoulder of Rocky Mountain. After proceeding through a rocky area, it crosses a stream on rocks. It parallels a prominent rocky ridge to the right for some distance, then climbs through a cleft in the ridge and descends through woods to reach paved Bear Swamp Road, about three miles from the start.
The Schuber Trail crosses the road and continues across a wooden bridge over Bear Swamp Brook. About 150 feet beyond the bridge, the trail turns left again, leaving the paved road, and re-enters the woods. It soon approaches a particularly wild and beautiful section of the brook, featuring cascades, pools and a deep rock cut.
A short distance beyond, the brook curves to the left as the Schuber Trail continues ahead, climbing through a rocky area. After crossing a stream on rocks, the trail passes to the right of the ruins of a cabin (once part of the adjacent Camp Yaw Paw). The trail now crosses a second stream and turns left onto the Yellow Trail (blazed with yellow diamonds). Follow the joint Schuber and Yellow Trails, which soon begin to climb, first gradually and then more steeply. Reaching the crest of the ridge, the trails bear right and continue along the grassy ridge, entering Camp Glen Gray (owned by Bergen County).
Soon, the Old Guard Trail, blazed with a green tulip leaf on white, leaves to the right. A short distance beyond – at the high point of the ridge of Twin Hill (995 feet) – you’ll come to an expansive viewpoint over northern Bergen County from a rock outcrop a short distance to the left of the trail. The Manhattan skyline is visible on the horizon to the right, and on a clear day, you can even see the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge in the distance. You’ve now gone about four miles – a little more than halfway – and this is another good place to stop and take a break.
When you’re ready to continue, return to the trail and turn left. You’ll now be following the Yellow Trail (the Schuber Trail leaves to the right here). The Yellow Trail descends along the ridge and soon reaches a woods road. Turn left onto this road, marked with the silver-on-yellow blazes of the Yellow-Silver Trail, which descends on switchbacks. Near the base of the descent, it turns left, leaving the road, and joins another woods road that comes in from the right (be alert, as this turn is easily missed).
After climbing gently through a valley, the Yellow-Silver Trail begins a steady descent. Towards the base of the descent, it bears left at a fork, crosses two streams on rocks, and reaches paved Bear Swamp Road. The Yellow-Silver Trail turns left onto the road and crosses Bear Swamp Brook on a wooden bridge. It then turns right, leaving the road, proceeds through the ruins of a goat farm, and climbs gradually on a woods road.
In 0.8 mile from the goat farm ruins, the Yellow-Silver Trail descends a little and ends at an intersection with the red-blazed Marsh Loop Trail. Turn right onto the Marsh Loop Trail, which levels off. After passing through an area with thick understory, the Marsh Loop Trail descends to end at an intersection with the blue-blazed Ridge Loop Trail, opposite the dam at the eastern end of MacMillan Reservoir.
Turn right and head downhill on the Ridge Loop Trail. Soon, the yellow-blazed Vista Loop Trail joins from the left, but when the two trails diverge, bear left to stay on the blue-blazed Ridge Loop Trail.
The Ridge Loop Trail continues to descend, following the wide park road. A short distance ahead, you’ll reach a junction where the blue blazes head uphill to the left. Here, you should bear right and follow the descending route of the blue/yellow-blazed Vista-Ridge Connector. Near the base of the descent, the Vista-Ridge Connector curves to the right, and it soon ends at a junction with the yellow-blazed Vista Loop Trail. Proceed straight ahead on the Vista Loop Trail, and in 200 feet continue ahead onto the black-square-on-yellow-blazed Vista Spur Trail, which passes to the right of Scarlet Oak Pond, continues across the bridge over the Ramapo River, and ends at the parking area where the hike began.