Sourland Mountain Preserve

This place is the full outdoor package for me — bouldering, hiking, mountain biking. This is close to Rutgers University, where I work. I meet a lot of friendly people and dogs on the trails. The board walks are well maintained.

The trails are great .see lot wildlife on trails but don’t go there after rail trails are very slippery on rocks and muddy ., had use bathroom the Johnny on spot was so full poop was up to the seat very gross. the pond don’t bother fishing iv never caught anything. like I said trails are great.

This is my favorite place to hike and train for ultra marathons and obstacle course races. I’ve been going here for years! Well-​kept trails, some pretty challenging. I usually take the ridge trail up and sometimes use hills on the line for hill repeats.

Who knew that pretty decent hiking trails were so close to home? Sourland Mountain Preserve is a great place to get away and get in touch with nature. Siri took us some weird way but after pulling out an old school map we were able to find the park entrance.
Once in the park there are maps showing the different trails one can take. The maps say to factor in about 35 minutes to walk a mile. The trails range from 2 – 5 miles. I took the 5 mile trail today and it was enough. The trails itself are a little rocky to very rocky. There are areas with big boulders and quiet streams. I really enjoyed the peaceful atmosphere and listening to the songbirds while hiking.
Some tips to help you enjoy your trip.
— Wear comfortable sneakers
— Bring water and hiking snacks
— Bug spray
— Good company, or solo if that’s your thing

It was ok, kinda boring even with my kids, but in a nice are of New Jersey. Probably won’t go back.

Trying to start off 2015 on the right foot (so to speak) a group of friends & I did a New Year’s Day hike in the Sourlands, and had a great time doing so. What might surprise you about this park is the elevation change along with the amount of big rocks you’ll encounter. This park is not for people who like a casual stroll on flat ground, and forget about strollers or very little children unless you wish to carry them.
You can mountain bike on some of the trails, but check the map because there are lots of places where you’ll be walking it most of the time (again, due to the rocks).
We did a fast-​paced six mile hike here, and despite the number of cars in the parking lot (lots of New Years resolutions to get in shape I suppose) we never felt crowded by other hikers. The Roaring Rocks area is an ideal spot for a picnic or quick snack break. There is a porta-​john in the parking lot, but no other real «services» here. Most of the hiking here is through mature hardwood forest, although when you come out on the pipeline clearing, be prepared for some very nice vistas. If you got a new full-​suspension mountain bike for Christmas, this would be a good place to try it out, but don’t forget your helmet because soft landings are few & far between. If you like fairly challenging hiking/​biking trails, this is a good place for you. I would not recommend this park for cross-​country skiing (too rocky) or for very little kids (unless they are hearty hikers).

gorgeous hiking grounds.
rocks to climb.
field to frolick in.
bugs to cringe at and run away from.
trees to shade the way.
go with someone who has a good sense of direction or you might get lost.

trail cross country running paradise by new jersey standards: very rocky trails, fording of babbling brooks, slogging through mud in wet lower land sections, extensive segments of boardwalk, areas if scrambling over very large boulders, relatively steep uphill and downhill segments, and a nice little pond and grassy area at the bottom, this has it all. i used to do a lot of trail running in the mountains of new mexico, although this «mountain» is like a miniature scale model of a new mexico mountain, i really enjoy my time here, in part because of the variety encountered. medium sized park (4000 acres or 12 km2) occupies a small but very rocky «mountain» ridge. there is a 5 mile loop trail called the Ridge Trail which has some very rocky and steep sections including some climbing over boulders in a ridge top boulder field area called Devil’s Half Acre and is thus not suitable for some. in addition there are some quite short loops starting from the parking lot with white circular (pond trail) and white triangular (maple flats) blazes and a few connector trails, a somewhat confusing selection so be sure to take one of the loaner trail maps with you and be careful not to go up too close to sundown because this is thick forest and surprisingly serene and removed from signs of «civilization» for NJ. there are 2 large boulder fields accessible, one is on land which is actually owned by 3M corporation but accessible via the Roaring Brook trail spur and the «red trail» and another which is in the park on the Ridge Trail. if you are into bouldering /​scrambling around on big rocks then both of the boulder fields along the main ridge, which is igneous rock, are good destinations for that and will provide you with loads of entertainment. the Roaring Brook boulder field, which is the one on 3M land, is really fantastic. there is almost complete silence here except for the sounds of the gurgling brooks and the birds and other wildlife. if you are a mountain biker i think these trails would be considered to be rather difficult.
i was really very pleasantly surprised to find a place like this in Central Jersey. the ridge is completely forested and not very high, so there are no views to be had, but still a very nice place, although some parts of the trail are quite muddy, which can be rather annoying. probably not a destination of interest to most folks who don’t live in central Jersey, but for those who do, this is the closest place with this sort of environment.

I came to here with 3 friend to do a hike around the white square trail. The trail is well maintained and there are some interesting things along the way. There are a lot of switchbacks and sometimes you do feel that the trail is artificially extended by them. There were instances where I could have just cut through instead of going through a few switch backs on flat terrain.
The blazes are pretty decently spread, sometimes you have to take a second to look for the next one, and a few times we had to look behind us to see a blaze to make sure we were going the right way, but It shouldn’t be a problem.
Overall it’s a nice hike, and I would come here again. The Red trail is pretty nice and adds a bit to the hike if you’re interested in a longer one.

Super-​challenging mountain biking here, starting with some lengthy, steep uphills and tree roots aplenty! My husband claimed that this was an «intermediate-​level» course. It was probably the most difficult round of mountain biking I’ve done. You will find yourself stopping once in a while to walk up some of the more challenging portions of the trails here, as well as over the edge of some of the boardwalks. The downhills are a thrill, though.
The mountain biker we saw with the elbow and knee pads had the right idea. Though we were fortunate to not have any crazy falls out there, the trail is rough enough that you might want that extra protection. High downhill speeds + rocks and lots of tree roots = potential disaster if you were to lose control of your ride and end up in the brambles. Save yourself the worry: Come out when you have plenty of daylight/​time for exploring, and BE SAFE.
On our way out near sundown, we saw a couple start off toward the trail on their mountain bikes. One of them had no helmet. Tsk tsk.

The Sourland preserve is a smallish park in Hillsborough that’s well maintained. Take the Ridge trail for 5 miles of shady walking, mild to medium grade with plenty of rocks and a few boardwalks. Kids will enjoy jumping across rocks! No playground tho.
The street address is close but not perfect, just continue on East Mountain road and you will see the entrance to the park, it’s well marked.