Schuber/Yellow-Silver Trails Loop

The hike begins at a kiosk in the southwest corner of the parking area. Just ahead, you'll notice two sets of three blazes on a tree. The orange blazes mark the start of the Schuber Trail, and the silver-on-white blazes mark the start of the Silver Trail.

Follow the co-aligned Silver and Schuber Trails, which descend a slope and continue ahead on a wide gravel road, crossing the Ramapo River on a steel truss bridge. In another 250 feet, the orange blazes turn left, but you should continue ahead on the Silver Trail, following a wide dirt road along the southern shore of Scarlet Oak Pond.

Near the end of the pond (just before the road begins to climb), turn left onto the green-on-white-blazed Halifax Trail and follow it for 0.2 mile along another dirt road. When the Halifax Trail ends, turn right onto the orange-blazed Schuber Trail, which you will be following for the next four miles.

Immediately, you’ll cross a wooden bridge over a stream and reach the ruins of a stone cabin, built by a camp that once operated on this property. Here, the Schuber Trail turns right and begins a rocky climb along the stream. The trail soon levels off, passing attractive cascades and pools in the stream to the right. After curving to the right, the Schuber Trail reaches a junction with the wide park road leading to the MacMillan Reservoir (coming from below, the Silver Trail, which will be your return route, ends here).

Follow the Schuber Trail as it turns left and continues along a paved section of the park road. After crossing a bridge, be sure to follow the main road as it curves left (don’t follow the unblazed dirt road that continues straight ahead). Soon, the trail passes to the left of the stone dam of the MacMillan Reservoir (rebuilt in 2009). 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 orange blazes. 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 begins on the left. You should proceed ahead on the orange-blazed Schuber Trail, which crosses a stream, descends a little, and levels off. In 750 feet, you’ll reach a fork in the road, where the light-blue-blazed Ridge Trail leaves to the right. You should take the left fork, continuing to follow the orange blazes of the Schuber Trail, now on a narrower path.

In another half a mile, just before reaching an intermittent stream, follow the orange blazes of the Schuber Trail as it turns sharply left (the route you have been following, which curves to the right, is now marked as the Red-Silver Trail). 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 reaches an old woods road, where it turns left onto the Yellow Trail (blazed with yellow diamonds). Follow the joint Schuber and Yellow Trails, which soon bear right and begin a steep and rocky ascent. 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 (996 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. At the base of the descent, it turns left and joins a woods road that comes in from the right.

After a level stretch, 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.

After descending a little, the Yellow-Silver Trail curves right at an intersection with the red-blazed Marsh Loop Trail. Continue to follow the Yellow-Silver Trail, which levels off. After passing through an area with thick understory, the Yellow-Silver Trail descends to end at an intersection with the Schuber Trail, opposite the dam at the eastern end of MacMillan Reservoir.

Turn right and follow the orange-blazed Schuber Trail, In 0.2 mile, the Schuber Trail turns right, leaving the road, but you should continue ahead on the road, now following the route of the Silver Trail. Just beyond a bend to the left in the road, a sign points to a beautiful waterfall on the stream in the valley on the right. The Silver Trail bears right at the base of the descent, passes to the right of Scarlet Oak Pond, and continues across the bridge over the Ramapo River to end at the parking area where you started the hike.