Surprise Lake Loop is a 4.4 mile heavily trafficked loop trail located near West Milford, New Jersey that features a lake and is rated as moderate. The trail is primarily used for hiking, nature trips, and bird watching and is accessible year-round. Dogs are also able to use this trail but must be kept on leash.
Great hike with some scramble and rocky areas and awesome views of Greenwood Lake.
February 14, 2021January 31, 2021lots of scramble so much fun
January 30, 2021January 17, 2021Fun time! Plenty of great views that are worth the work!
January 17, 2021Awesome trail, lots of fun scrambles, great views, well marked. Definitely recommend!
January 17, 2021Great hike! More challenging than I was expecting. Many points where you have to be mindful of footing. Lots of climbing up and down rocks. Would say it is not recommended for a beginner hiker.
January 17, 2021This was a fun moderate hike with pretty great views! Well-marked and good variety in terrain, with rock slabs, small river crossings, and scrambling sections. Like others have mentioned, I would recommend extending the loop a bit to see the NJ/NY divide, that was pretty neat. Parking wasn’t an issue on a weekend morning in January but there were a decent number of people on the trail. Measured 4.12 miles, 1,249 ft elevation gain, 1:50 moving time on my watch.
January 16, 2021Amazing..
January 13, 2021great hike & great views! definitely recommend
January 11, 2021Was a little trickery the day we went because of lots of ice. Beside that this is a magical trail. Beautiful lakes and views as well as really rich colorful glens. Really good!
January 6, 2021Nice views good hike
December 30, 2020great varied terrain &
December 30, 2020Excellent views, probably a moderate “plus” with respect to difficulty. Not easy with dogs at a couple of points on the loop...but overall a great hike. Bundle up very windy from the viewpoints.
December 29, 2020Wonderful trip ! We had a great day ...
December 28, 2020Such a fun hike! We did blue and stayed blue at the fork then it went yellow - yellow green - yellow and back to blue. Ignore the pink and lime if you’re doing the loop. Should have brought a head light as we started at 230ish but it was fine! Slippery in spots and was happy to have my trekking poles. Also easy to pass the entrance, but well marked trail! Will do it again
December 24, 2020Challenging in snow. Crampons were helpful. Still a great trail
December 19, 2020December 14, 2020Initial climb was steep but then we went from blue to white to yellow and it wasn’t bad. There were a lot of scrambles and different terrain that made it a really fun hike! Plus gorgeous views. Note that it was a little slippery so be sure you have strong shoes.
December 13, 2020Fantastic hike! Slippery when wet so step carefully. Beautiful views for moderate effort. I recommend adding on the extra spur on the Appalachian trail to the viewpoint with the flag. Kudos to those who marked the trail! It is very easy to follow.
December 12, 2020This has to be the best marked trail I've ever hiked. Quite fun and full of character. I wonder what makes this a moderate and others hard, this is certainly borderline hard, but great! Slippery when wet
December 12, 2020
