Washington Valley Park

We recently checked out Washington Valley Park in Bridgewater, New Jersey.  The park is split into two different sections, and for this hike, we stayed in the eastern portion.


For more information about the park and to get a trail map, visit the Somerset County Park Commission here.

We parked in the lot at the end of Miller Lane and took the paved path (Yellow Trail) down to the hawk watch.  After the hawk watch, the trail is no longer paved.  We then hiked down to Buttermilk Falls.  From there we took the Yellow Trail north along the East Branch Reservoir up to Gilbride Road.

Buttermilk Falls

East Branch Reservoir

 

From Gilbride Road, we took the Orange Trail south along the East Branch Reservoir.   We took another section of the Orange Trail back up. 

 

To get back to the parking lot, we took one of the interior Yellow Trail routes.  Between the two trails, we hiked a little over 3 miles.  It was a nice area, with lots of changes in elevation, but some of the trails were very rocky, so we had to be careful.  I'm always surprised by places like these, that seem so quiet and pretty and remote, when we're right in the middle of suburban Somerset County.  I definitely think this is a place we would visit again, and maybe next time we'll visit the western portion of the park and the Washington Valley Reservoir!