West Essex Rail Trail

This isnt a hiking trail. this is really just a path in a strip of preserve woods going through Verona and Cedar Grove. You're never out of sight of a backyard. but it's a nice walk if you're in the town and want a tiny bit of nature.

Nice, easy trail that’s dog and kid friendly. The recent storm and flooding has done a decent amount of damage to the path though. As for local trails around the Cedar Grove, Verona, and Montclair area... I prefer this tenfold over Mills Reservation.

Great local trail! Should be resurfaced for running (rocky).

Exactly as described--out and back--not much to see but sometimes I don't want to have to look at a map or wonder where I am...this trail serves that purpose. I did have a hard time finding the trail head. The directions point you to the tennis court parking lot but the trail start is on Fairview Avenue. I used 199 Fairview Avenue, Verona, NJ for my GPS.

Good 10K run out-and-back on a decent, but not great trail. It's not maintained very well, but it's fine for a run, walk or easy mountain bike ride. Not great for serious hiking as West Essex is essentially a suburban wooded Path. You're not likely to encounter any wildlife that you wouldn't find in your own backyard. The nicest spot on the trail is where the trail (former trestle) crosses the Peckman River.

Plenty of easy parking on Fairview Ave. No portable toilets. Seemingly quite safe due to proximity to houses. Two other trails intersect the West Essex rail trail.

Pretty hike! Loads of trees and shade, so it's great for a super sunny day for those of you'll who don't like the sun very much

great place

You can always see building around you.

Easy, well groomed trail that runs from Verona to Cedar Grove. Plenty of parking on the street near the trail ahead or 0.1 mile away at Verona High. Trail is mostly packed gravel with a few sections of wash out where you need to pay a little more attention to footing. Great for running - might be a little boring for mountain bikers.

This trail is just amazing, my favorite place to ride so far. The main trail is fairly long, flat and hard packed dirt with a couple of small gravel and loose rocky areas. I'm going to be honest, it's pretty boaring. It gets really interesting when you get off the main trail, there is a lot of nice tight and single track type trails with hard turns and natural obstacles. There is a pretty cool waterfall fairly close to the beginning where a lot of people jump off the 20 foot or so cliffs, very refreshing after a nice ride. Unfortunately all the ramps, burms and wooden obstacles you see in some of the pics are gone but it's still a great place to ride and has something for everyone if you look for it.

easy and nice scenery. ran into a garden snake at the end though

Good local trail to hike or bike

Awesome family trail

I walked this trail with my husband and it was an oasis in the city! The trail was a bit hard to find from the Verona High area, but once you get onto it its like stepping into a hidden world. The trail has diverse views that range from back yards to fresh water streams. the wildlife is very active; we saw deer, chipmunk and tons of birds. Great hike if you live in the area and just want to get away for an hour or three.

Very easy trail. Quiet , no heavy traffic. Nice views , a lot of deers

Great trail for walking, hiking with family,please keep dogs on leashes it is illegal to have dogs run loose in the trails, have consideration for others, I don't want your dog jumping all over me or invading my space, or I will use my pepper spray if I have too.and slow down bikers......cause you might just tip off your bike

Had a wonderful walk today with the fam, nice clean, lots of wild life, very shady and cool .

Very nice trails with some obstacles made up. We couldn't find it initially but with the suggestion from one of the reviews we ended up in the parking lot of the Cedar Grove Community Park. You just have to make sure that when you go up on this little path you see up on the right you don't cross the street on the top!! You can make a hard right onto a trail next to the one you are coming in and this will take you to a lot more trails latter on. It starts with an easy flat ride for a while but then it gets into the mountain and hills and it gets very nice! Definitely have to come back.

Nice trail with a few cutoffs to some small side trails

I could find the trail in Little Falls...

A rail trail is a rail trail, mostly easy. But as I wrote about on my profile I found an entrance to Hilltop Reservation in Verona across the street from the south end of the trail (through the entrance of a senior living community) that brought me up to a surprise network of challenging single track trails! I recommend parking in the Cedar Grove Community Park parking lot. If you don't want to drive an hour to Jungle or other popular places this may be a great local alternative to check out and explore. The West Essex Trail proves to be a great warm-up to an interesting place to explore.

I rode this on my bike while caching along the trail. Well maintained and active.