Overview: This 5.5 mile loop in Ringwood State Park visits five ponds, a large rock outcropping, and two viewpoints at the crest of Mount Defiance. The pink-blazed loop was recently blazed in 2020 by the NY-NJ Trail Conference.
Hike Length: 5.5 miles
Elevation gain: 640 feet
Location: Ringwood State Park, Bergen County, NJ
Parking: Park in Parking Lot C.
Maps:
NOTE: The pink-blazed Five Ponds Loop was blazed as a single color loop trail in 2020. Older maps will not show the correct trail colors.
Trail description:
Note: This trail description was created by Daniel Chazin for the NY-NJ Trail Conference. We have made a few additions and added our own photos to it.
This hike loops around five ponds in Ringwood State Park — Gatun Pond, Brushwood Pond, Weyble Pond, Glasmere Ponds and Swan Pond — following woods roads and footpaths, and it climbs to two viewpoints at the crest of Mount Defiance. For much of the way, the hike follows multi-use trails, which are open to mountain bikes. The Five Ponds Loop was recently blazed [in 2020] by volunteers of the New York-New Jersey Trail Conference.
You will notice triple pink-on-white blazes on both sides of Parking Lot C.
Bear right (south) (do not begin at the kiosk) and follow the pink-on-white-blazed Five Ponds Loop up a woods road, bearing right at the fork. Soon, you’ll join another woods road that comes in from the left, the route of the white-blazed Crossover Trail. The pink-on-white and white trails jointly climb gently on the woods road, then level off. After climbing a little more and curving to the left, you’ll reach a junction with the red-on-white-blazed Ringwood-Ramapo Trail.
For a short detour to the curiously-named rock outcropping “Warm Puppy Rock,” make a right onto the red-on-white-blazed Ringwood-Ramapo Trail. Follow the trail for about 1/8th of a mile until you reach an exposed ridge with partial views to the west.
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Warm Puppy Rock -
Warm Puppy Rock
Retrace your steps and head back to the pink-blazed Five Ponds Loop.
Here, the Crossover Trail leaves to the right, but you should continue ahead on the woods road, now following only the pink-on-white blazes of the Five Ponds Loop
The trail now begins to descend. Along the way, you’ll pass on the left the start of the pink-with-black-stripe-on-white-blazed Five Ponds Connector, but continue ahead on the woods road. After curving to the right, you’ll cross a gravel road at the base of the descent. The Crossover Trail is visible on the right here, but you should continue ahead. Just beyond, the Crossover Trail joins from the right. Both trails cross a stream and then bear left, leaving the woods road.
Follow the joint Five Ponds Loop/Crossover Trail, which head uphill, go around a switchback, and then continue gently uphill on an attractive footpath, constructed by the Jersey Off-Road Bicycle Association (JORBA). After passing a balanced rock on the left and crossing a woods road, you’ll reach the crest of a rise.
Here, the Crossover Trail leaves on the left, but you should continue ahead, following the Five Ponds Loop. Just beyond, the Five Ponds Loop joins a woods road that comes in from the right. The road curves to the right, climbing gradually.
Be alert for a right turn, where the Five Ponds Loop leaves the road and climbs more steeply on a footpath. After a short climb, it turns right onto a woods road. Just ahead, there is a viewpoint on the left over Gatun Pond (the water level of the pond is currently very low), a good spot to take a break.
Continue ahead on the road, climbing gently, and bear right at a fork. When you reach the next intersection, continue to follow the pink-on-white blazes. A short distance beyond, you’ll reach a four-way intersection, where you turn left, then bear right just ahead and descend to Brushwood Pond, crossing a woods road along the way. At the base of the descent, a short side trail on the right leads to a view of the pond.
The Five Ponds Loop now emerges onto a large field (on weekends, you may notice illegal use of this area by all-terrain vehicles).
Continue across the field. Towards the northern end of the field, you’ll notice a pink-on-white blaze on a tree to the right. Turn right and continue along a woods road. To avoid a flooded section of the road, the Five Ponds Loop bears right onto a footpath, then joins another road. After crossing between two small ponds, the road climbs a little.
Just ahead, follow the Five Ponds Loop as it turns right onto a footpath, leaving the road and rejoining the Crossover Trail. The footpath soon ends at a T-intersection with the woods road just south of Weyble Pond. Follow the pink-on-white and white blazes as they turn right, rejoining the road, and follow the road around the southern end of the pond. In a short distance, the Crossover Trail leaves to the right. Just ahead, a rock ledge on the left, below the road, offers a view over Weyble Pond (the level of this pond is also currently very low).
Continue to follow the Five Ponds Loop as it heads north on the woods road. The trail turns left at the next intersection, then bears right at the following intersection. About half a mile from Weyble Pond, the Five Ponds Loop turns left, leaving the woods road, and heads downhill.
At the base of the descent, the Five Ponds Loop crosses a woods road, turns right, then immediately rejoins the woods road. It now passes between the two Glasmere Ponds, with good views over the northern pond.
The trail goes around a gate and reaches an intersection with another woods road. It turns left and follows the road for 100 feet, then turns right onto a footpath and begins a steady climb of Mt. Defiance on switchbacks.
At the top of the climb, the Five Ponds Loop crosses the blue-triangle-on-white-blazed Skylands Trail and the red-on-white-blazed Ringwood-Ramapo Trail.
At the Ringwood-Ramapo Trail junction, turn left for a brief detour to a viewpoint. After a few hundred feet, look for an opening an climb a partially exposed ridge.
After enjoying the view, retrace your steps back to the Five Ponds Trail and continue to follow the pink blazes.
A short distance beyond, as the Five Ponds Loop bears left, follow an unmarked side trail which leads right to a west-facing viewpoint, with the hills of Tranquility Ridge County Park visible in the distance.
The Five Ponds Loop now descends steadily on switchbacks, following an old carriage road. At the base of the descent, the Five Ponds Loop turns left, joining the white-blazed Crossover Trail. Follow the Five Ponds Loop/Crossover Trail along a wide road for about a quarter mile. When you reach a fork in the road, bear right and continue on the pink-on-white-blazed Five Ponds Loop, which begins to descend. Swan Pond is just to the right.
After passing a paved road that goes off to the right, follow the Five Ponds Loop as it turns left onto a gravel road. After crossing a bridge over a stream, the Five Ponds Loop bears right at a fork and continues to its end at Parking Lot C, where the hike began.
