Winter hiking presents some amazing opportunities. The deep freeze in our area sent its chilly blast through the woods and created fun winter playlands to explore.
The South Mountain Reservation is a 2,000+ acre preserved natural area close to Macaroni Kid Summit Short Hills SoMa readers.
With some extra time on our hands during the winter and holiday break, we decided to head out on a hike and were happy not to have to travel far.
But which of the trails in the Reservation? Luckily I had just heard someone describe how recent weather conditions created amazing ice formations at Hemlock Falls.
Before heading out for a hike, always conduct a preparedness check. This article on "11 Tips for Hiking With Toddlers" offers great tips to be prepared and how to keep the hike fun and engaging for little ones.
Hemlock Falls is accessible by a few trails, but we parked at Tulip Springs off of Cherry Lane to start our short hike.
At Tulip Springs parking area you will find a Trail Map posted by the South Mountain Conservancy just across from the trail entrance.
To reach Hemlock Falls, we followed the blazes for the Lenape Trail, also known as the Yellow Trail.
In case you are not sure how to read trail blazes (painted markings on trees), check out this explanatory video to get comfortable.
The Lenape Trail follows the historical footpaths of the indigenous peoples of our area and takes you through the White Pine Grove, across South Orange Avenue, past smaller Hobble Falls to Hemlock Falls.
Most of the hike is on broad, well-travelled trails making this a very manageable hike with young children.
If the kids are no longer standing in awe of the 25 foot frozen wall of water, you might find them trying to "ice skate" on slick puddles, crushing slabs of ice or searching for the most threatening icicle to pull from the rocks.
The best thing is that the falls will shrink, grow and shape shift throughout the winter and you will never face the same frozen falls twice!
As much as Hemlock Falls was the headline event, the cascades just beyond them turned out to be the most satisfying find of the day.
My little narwhal enjoyed collecting icicles, crinkle-crunching the glass-icle shards of ice and getting oh-so-close to the ice sheet and hear the hidden running water.
