New Jersey trails · Highlands; Lake Hopatcong Trail
Highlands; Lake Hopatcong Trail
A 7.1-mile out-and-back in New Jersey, with 294 ft of climbing. Reaches Bear Pond and other lake destinations. Managed by New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.
Elevation profile
The climbing leans toward the final third: 48% of the ascent falls between mile 4.7 and mile 7.1. It gives back about 777 ft along the way, so it rolls rather than climbing steadily.
3-D terrain
USGS 3DEP ELEVATION × ESRI WORLD IMAGERY · VERTICAL ×1.5
Reaches
- Bear Pond (lake)
- Lake Hopatcong (lake)
Getting there
Highlands; Lake Hopatcong Trail access. 40.97838, -74.62246 · directions
Daylight at the trailhead
On August 31, 2026 — the day this page was generated — first light reaches this trailhead at 5:55 a.m., the sun rises at 6:23 a.m. and sets at 7:33 p.m., and the last usable light fades about 8:01 p.m. (EDT) — 13 h 09 min of daylight. At about 2.7 mph plus 30 minutes per 1,000 feet of climbing, the 14.1-mile round trip takes roughly 5 h 32 min, so leaving the trailhead at sunrise puts you back around 11:55 a.m. — 7 h 37 min before sunset.
Loop options
- Highlands; Lake Hopatcong Trail + LHT Spur (Firehouse to HT) + LHT Spur (Firehouse) — 2.5 mi loop, 445 ft gain
- Highlands Side Trail; Lake Hopatcong Spur + Highlands; Lake Hopatcong Trail + Lake Hopatcong Trail — 2.2 mi loop, 410 ft gain
Nearby trails
- West Morris Greenway (Main Line) — 5.4 mi
- Highlands Trail — 6.2 mi
- Lehigh and Hudson Trail — 6.2 mi
- Edison — 6.4 mi