Short Loop Hike to the Top of the Tourne
Directions to trailhead
Take Interstate Route 80 to Exit 43 (Mahwah/Morristown/I-287), then take Exit 43B onto Interstate Route 287 North. Take the first exit, Exit 43 (Intervale Road), and turn left at the top of the ramp. Cross over Route 287 and turn right at the traffic light onto Fanny Road. At a stop sign, reached in 0.9 mile, continue ahead, following the sign to “West Main Street,” then bear left at the next fork, following the sign for County Route 618. In 0.2 mile, turn left onto McCaffrey Lane and proceed for 0.3 mile to a large parking area for Tourne County Park on the right side of the road.
Hike Description
The 547-acre Tourne County Park is the only remaining undeveloped fragment of the Great Boonton Tract, purchased by David Ogden, Colonial Attorney-General of New Jersey, in 1739. The highlight of the park is the 897-foot-high Tourne, which is reached by the DeCamp Trail, a wide gravel road built over a century ago by Clarence Addington DeCamp, who owned much of the land now preserved as a park. Although the hike gains 300 feet in elevation in 0.6 mile, the grades are moderate (about 10% on average), and there are no steep climbs. It's a great destination for a short hike with the entire family.
From the parking area, continue downhill along the paved McCaffrey Lane for about 500 feet. Just beyond a bridge over a stream, you'll notice a four-space parking area on the right side of the road. (You could actually drive to this point, but the very small parking area is often full). Turn right and pass through a gate in a chain-link fence (erected to protect the wildflowers from deer) and enter the Wildflower Trail area, maintained by volunteers from the Rockaway Valley Garden Club. Just beyond the gate, turn right onto the Brookside Trail, which crosses Tourne Brook on a wooden bridge, parallels it for a short distance, then recrosses it on another bridge. Numbers on posts along the trail refer to descriptions in a self-guided trail booklet, and small signs identify many of the wildflowers and other plants and trees.
At a Y-intersection with the Fern Walk, bear right onto the Swamp Trail. Soon, you'll pass Denture Rock (marked as #7) - a rock with "teeth" formed of large quartz crystals - on the left. At the next intersection, turn right onto the Trillium Trail, bear right again at the junction with the Hepatica Loop, and climb to a junction with the Overlook Trail - a wide gravel road..
Turn right onto the gravel road, soon exiting the Wildflower Trail area via a gate in the fence. Just beyond, you'll reach a four-way junction. The road on the right will be your return route but, for now, continue ahead, now following yellow blazes along the gravel road, which begins a moderate climb. Soon, a path leads downhill to the left, but you should continue ahead on the gravel road, passing interesting boulders on the hillside to the right.
At the next intersection, the Yellow Dot Trail continues ahead, but you should bear right, following a sign to "Top of the Tourne." You're now on the yellow-blazed DeCamp Trail, which continues to climb on a moderate grade, with many rock outcrops to the right. Near the top of the climb, the trail levels off.
A grassy clearing with picnic tables to the right (with a huge, nearly flat rock outcrop beyond) marks the high point of the Tourne, with a limited west-facing view. Continue ahead on the gravel road, which descends slightly to reach a memorial to the tragic 9/11/01 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, which was visible from this point. Unfortunately, the view has now grown in.
Continue ahead on the wide gravel road, which now begins a steady descent. Follow the road downhill for about half a mile to a four-way junction at the base of the descent, where you should turn left, go through the gate in the fence and enter the Wildflower Trail area, but when you reach junctions with the Trillium Trail and Hepatica Loop, which begin on the left, continue ahead on the wide Overlook Trail. After exiting the Wildflower Trail area, you'll come to the four-space parking area with the kiosk. If you've parked in the main parking area on the top of the hill, turn left and follow the paved road back to your car.