New Jersey trails · Yellow Trail
Yellow Trail
A 1.8-mile out-and-back in New Jersey, with 187 ft of climbing. Reaches Great Notch Reservoir and other lake/viewpoint destinations. Managed by New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.
Elevation profile
The climbing leans toward the final third: 51% of the ascent falls between mile 1.2 and mile 1.8. It gives back about 149 ft along the way, so it rolls rather than climbing steadily.
3-D terrain
USGS 3DEP ELEVATION × ESRI WORLD IMAGERY · VERTICAL ×1.5
Reaches
- Great Notch Reservoir (lake)
- Mountain Top View (viewpoint)
- Reservoir View (viewpoint)
Getting there
Unblazed Yellow Trail (Bypass) access. About 10 min drive (4 mi) from Paterson. 40.87986, -74.18582 · directions
Daylight at the trailhead
On October 14, 2026 — the day this page was generated — first light reaches this trailhead at 6:39 a.m., the sun rises at 7:06 a.m. and sets at 6:18 p.m., and the last usable light fades about 6:45 p.m. (EDT) — 11 h 12 min of daylight. At about 2.7 mph plus 30 minutes per 1,000 feet of climbing, the 3.7-mile round trip takes roughly 1 h 33 min, so leaving the trailhead at sunrise puts you back around 8:39 a.m. — 9 h 39 min before sunset.
Loop options
- Green Trail + Yellow Trail + Yellow Trail (Cheesequake State Park) — 2.0 mi loop, 168 ft gain
- Green Trail + Yellow Trail + Yellow Trail (Cheesequake State Park) — 2.9 mi loop, 340 ft gain
- Yellow Trail + Green Trail — 1.1 mi loop, 112 ft gain
Nearby trails
- Lenape — 7.8 mi
- Long Path — 11.9 mi
- Schuber — 12.2 mi
- Liberty - Water Gap — 13.5 mi