Hike Type: Loop
Distance: 5.84 miles
Duration: 2 hours, 57 minutes
Elevation Min: 501ft (parking lot)
Elevation Max: 1461ft (Mt. Minsi)
Total Elevation Gain: 983ft
Parking: We parked in the dirt lot just before Lake Lenape at the trailhead (40°58'47.42"N, 75° 8'31.66"W)
Weather: 36°F, sunny when we started the hike, cloudy when we got to the views, and sunny when we got back to the lake
First hike of the new year! My friend and I couldn't decide if we wanted to to our last hike or this one, so we decided to do both a week apart! We got to the parking lot at Lake Lenape around 11am, from which the trailhead is very visible, and took some at the lake to take some photos!
Some photos from the beginning of the hike. The first stretch of the trail is along the Mt. Minsi fire road, which had some water running on it from the Lake, but it was easily passable.
Some photos of the lake! Lows were in the 20's the night before so there was still some ice on the lake and where the water flowed out!
The AT began to climb up the fire road and not too long after breaks off left, which is the turn we took to stay on the AT. From there the climb got very scenic with seasonal views, paralleling cliffs that overlooked the gap and (unfortunately) scenic interstate 80, who's noise could be heard almost the entire hike.The views really made up for that fact, though.
Here's where the AT breaks off of the fire road. Both routes climb to the top, but AT is by far more scenic.
Some gorgeous views along the AT.
From here the trail dipped between these cliff side views and more wooded sections that were wet and covered with a pretty plant that I still don't know the name of. The trail crossed Council Rock, which didn't offer any more views than the trail and Eureka Creek which was a brief water crossing. Neither of those were marked on the map so they were pleasant surprises for us!
The climb really started after crossing the creek. The trail was narrow and the woods were thick, but it was beautiful! Halfway up the climb was Lookout Rock, which wasn't marked at all. We took a very brief side trail to gorgeous views on NJ from the mountainside!
Lookout Rock is where the clouds started to roll in which covered us until we made it back to the lake at the end of the hike. It got very chilly very fast!
The hike got pretty steep after Lookout Rock, but it was gorgeous climbing through the pretty plants from before that I need to learn the name of. After the climb it levels out and meets back with the fire road, and from there the majority of the climb is done! We followed the AT across the fire road to the first viewpoint overlooking Mt. Tammany. There were people there, and the area is pretty small so we kept going to the Mt. Minsi summit a little ways further and had lunch at an AT campsite off a side trail, marked "Vista."
The trail surfaces back to the fire road, where it follows for a hot second then breaks off to the right as a short cut through the fire road which loops around the corner.
After here is the view of Mt. Tammany, but we kept going along the AT to the Mt. Minsi summit.
There were some old ruins right beneath the summit.
Here we are! A short walk after this is a side trail to the vista/camp ground.
Views from our lunch spot!
After lunch we got back onto the AT to head down the mountain. We stopped at the first overlook to take some photos of Mt. Tammany and then started the descent! Where the AT splits off we stayed on the fire road and took that for over a mile until we took an unmarked trail on the left to Table Rock where we came across a small water cascade off a side trail. The trail was unmaintained and unmarked, but still very easy to follow and we saw a good amount of people on it. There were limited views from Table Rock, but the area was very scenic.
From the vista we took a right back onto the AT.
There was a small structure with an antennae which must have been broadcasting something? We have no idea what it's purpose is.
Views of Mt. Tammany across the river!
Where the AT breaks off on the left we stayed right on the fire road.
The fire road was featureless, but a nice alternative to an out-and-back hike.
It's not visible in this photo, but the trailhead to Table Rock was to the left of this pipe.
The unnamed cascade off an unmarked side trail. There was an old frame of a sign at the head of the side trail, but I think these trails were abandoned a while ago.
The trail from table rock got a little more messy and harder to follow, but still not too bad. At one point the trail comes to a fork. According to the map taking a right would bring us back to the fire road, but that trail looks pretty eroded away and dangerously steep so we took the left trail which worked out well. The trail descended to the opposite side of Lenape Lake, where it hooked up with an old network of trails that haven't been maintained since possibly Hurricane Sandy, just based off the damages that are there. That trail appeared to the formerly marked red trail, which brought us back to the parking lot!
We were very grateful the trail went over an old bridge and we didn't have to find a way to cross the lake! The trails behind the lake seemed to be from an eagle scout project from a while ago? We're still not sure.
Another great hike at the water gap! It got very cold, but it's still great to be outside as long as possible before the inevitable show hits.
Hike Summary:
- From Lake Lenape, follow the white-blazed Appalachian trail the entire way to the Mt. Minsi summit.
- Retrace on the summit until the AT and the fire road split, stay on the fire road.
- Take the fire road down the mountain until an unmarked trail on the left appears across from a large pipe, take that trail to Table Rock.
- From Table Rock, stay on the trail, veer left at the fork, and follow to Lake Lenape.
- When the trail hits the lake, follow the path left back to the parking lot. There are old, metal, red blazes along this trail.
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