Jersey Shore Sea Kayak Association – Launch site directory

Driving Directions:

• I-287 north to exit 52B (Route 23 North, Butler)
• Take Route 23 north to Union Valley Road.
• Follow Union Valley Road about 6 miles to stop sign.
• From Stop sign, go to second traffic light.
• Turn left, travel to fork in road (about 2 miles) go left about 1/2 mile to Warwick Turnpike.
• Turn left on Warwick Turnpike. (2 lane road not a highway)
• The park entrance is four miles on the left.
• Follow entrance road about 1.5 miles, and turn left into first parking area.
• Continue past first parking area and follow road to boat ramp parking area.

Address:

885 Warwick Turnpike

Hewitt, NJ 07421, Sussex County

Land owner: State

GPS Coordinates: L 41^o 11' 17.3" N    Lo 74^o 25' 34.0" W

Water: Fresh

Water type: Lake

Launch area is: Beach

Launch area surface is: Dirt, stones, grass

Facilities: Porta potti, boat rentals

Launching considerations / restrictions:

During summer months there is a standard NJ Parks entrance fee which they collect from 8AM to 5 PM.

Parking situation:

Paved parking. Unload boat near putin, and park in lot. Leave room for vehicles with trailers to get by you on their way to boat ramp.

Comments:

The lake is located right on the NJ / NY state line between Passaic and Sussex County. This park gets really crowded during summer, especailly on weekends, and subject to closure if capacity reached. Spring and Autumn are particularly nice.

Approximately 1 mile long, a circumnavigation of the lake is about 3.8 miles. It is a great relaxing paddle. Winds may pick up at times, and you will notice this more so on the eastern side of lake. Monksville Reservoir is not far away, and a good site to visit if you want break up your day at two locations.

This lake was built in the early 1800's to supply water to work the bellows for the blast furnace located at the northeastern end of the lake. It's worth a walk down the hill from the dam to see this excellent specimen of local blast furnaces built around this time. You can also see the water channels built into rock leading from the dam to the top of the furnace. These furnaces smelted iron ore into Pig Iron and was shipped off to be refined into high quality steel used in the railroad industry. All the natural resources (iron ore, limestone, wood for charcoal, water power, etc.) were available nearby.

It's not unusual to see bears in this park.

Related Links:

Picture of sign at entrance to park. (pic.jpg 70k)

Picture of parking area. (pic.jpg 41k)

Picture of putin (to right of boat house). (pic.jpg 48k)

Picture of lake from boat. (pic.jpg 106k)

Wawayanda State Park

TopoZone Topo map

Mapquest street map

Last Update: 6/19/2005

Copyright © 2008 by Jersey Shore Sea Kayak Association - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No warranties are expressed or implied.