Van Slyke Castle NJ 07465

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Yugvf Meow

We drove 1.5 hours here from long island on a hot summer day. The gps map and reviews made it look super easy. But the Gps brings you to a road that says no public traffic turn around. Because of this our walk got super super harder. I had no idea where else to go. I parked at the upper parking lot on the road. Idk what psychopath wrote this is an easy trail for kids, maybe from some other parking lot that I don't know about(?), but we got there at 1pm and hiked about 5 miles of partial paved road for the first 1/3 and then 2/3 is mossy wet boulders and weeds that you have to climb. I went through 3 water bottles between me My bf and my dog we finished the water 1/2 on the walk back and I didn't think we would survive. There's a lot of trees and bushes and thorns and bugs around the castle. The trails that are within 100 feet of the castle are extremely overgrown and thorny. Lots of glass. The signs for directions are awful we had to ask for directions. No service up there either. The last 1/3 of the hike is directly climbing boulders and even a wooden ladder I carried my 55 lbs Aussie dog up ? My boyfriend was dying. The park ranger sits in his little cart and doesn't help you. We hike sometimes but this was very very hard for us and our dog. My boyfriend numerous times was dizzy and had to sit down and I thought he was going to pass out. The trail randomly disappears too which is ridiculous. The parking lot was packed. The porta potty was filled to the brim and had no toilet paper. There are random houses in the middle of this hike which is insane that no one would help us. I would never do this again. It was awful. The ruins were nice but not worth the hike. It was 90 degrees and extremely challenging and we got lost a few times and it's all uphill. Also there are bears. I would not ever recommend this with children or small dogs or people with low stamina. This is a 3+ water bottle and snacks kind of walk. 3+ hours 5 + miles with the lake and Castle ruins. Very confusing trails. Bring a compass. We arrived around 1pm. We got back to the car around 530pm. We went left at the 1st fork and went to the castle ruins and then the lake and then couldn't figure out which was back to the car so went towards the houses and no one answered us. Followed the road Saw the park ranger and he just ignored us saying we were weak and sickly and out of water on the 90 degrees day. Literally ignored us. Just looked straight forward. Messed up Great views and the castle ruins are cool. Lots of trees and bushes blocking the majority of the castle which is sad.

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Marcelle Alvernaz

What amazing ruins. The hike is rocky in areas so some scrambling involved. The water tower, castle and old swimming pool is great to check out. The graffiti thou sucks. We did hear a bear coming through but it avoided us. After the castle there’s a ladder but it’s a little vertical. My dog had no issue but I watched another dog struggling. Make sure to use all trails so you know where to go and don’t get lost. The parking lot fills up quickly even during the week. There is a port a potty but you can’t even close the door and it’s full of trash. I would say give the trail a moderate rating just because of the scrambling.

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Costa Rodis

Extensive ruins of a huge stone mansion built at the turn of the 20th century (and burned down in the 40s) accessible only by hiking trails in the Ramapo Reservation. Very impressive, with great views, particularly in October.