HikerBlue Mountain Lake: choose a New Jersey woodland loop
Blue Mountain Lake works best as a choose-your-distance woodland day. Pick a loop before leaving the trailhead, then use the network’s flexibility to shorten the plan if the group wants more time beside the lake.
- Route type
- Trail network
- Distance
- Check selected route
- Cumulative ascent
- Not verified
NPS describes looping options up to 5.9 miles. This is not a single fixed outing; select a circuit on the map. Cumulative ascent has not been verified for this outing. A source’s elevation change or summit height is not used as total climbing.
Sources reviewed 2026-10-13 · Independent HikerQuests planning guide
Start here
Use the designated Blue Mountain Lake trailhead and current NPS map. Verify the drive because Water Gap road closures can change the sensible approach.
Terrain & what to see
Interconnected former roads create several loop choices. NPS rates the area easy to moderate, but the distance depends on which branches you follow.
Lake scenery and ridge forest make this a good place to build a photo post around small observations across the walk.
Before hiking
Download the map and identify the return junctions. Do not read “up to 5.9 miles” as a measured route automatically supplied by this guide.
Landscape & trail notes
NPS explains that these paths reuse roads from a former housing development. Their origins help account for the branching layout beneath today’s forest.
After the hike
Name the circuit or attach your recorded route when you post. Hemlock Pond and Crater Lake can be saved as planned extensions for another day instead of accidental additions.
More ways to plan the day
- Compare loops and out-and-back hikes
- Browse towns and regional guides
- NY, NJ & PA Hiking Trails: Ridge, River and Lake Guides
- Northern New Jersey Hiking: High Point, Stokes & the Water Gap
- Delaware Water Gap Hikes in NJ & PA: Tammany, Minsi and Lakes
- Buttermilk Falls Trail, NJ: waterfall to Appalachian Trail
- Crater Lake Loop, New Jersey: a ridge-top lake walk
- Hemlock Pond Loop via Crater Lake