Stonetown Circular Madness

The Stonetown Circular is a great hike in northern NJ that traverses 5 hills over 10 miles. There are some views of NYC and many of the surrounding hills. It's a challenging and fun hike, so fun that we will hike it twice - sort of. We'll do the first 8 miles and then turn around to repeat the hills from the other direction. All told we will cover approximately 16 miles and around 4500+ feet of gain. We will move quickly, aiming for an average pace of 3 mph. This means we will be moving at 3.3-3.5mph on flats and slightly slower on the hills. This is not a beginner hike and is geared towards those of you who regularly hike or run hills and want a bit of a challenge. There will be minimal stops apart from a short lunch break, so plan to eat and drink on the go.
We will meet in the parking lot of the Stonetown Recreation Center. There are not bathrooms there, but there are a few places to stop about 10 minutes from the parking lot as you are driving in.
Note: This is a strenuous hike due to the distance and speed, but not overly technical. You should be able to hike 10+ miles without any trouble or need to regularly stop.

What to bring:

• water, electrolytes - at least 2 liters (I will likely bring 4 since there is limited water along the route
• Food/snacks
• layers, depending on the weather
• headlamp
• phone with map of the area or paper map (there is cell coverage on most of the hike, but not all)
• trekking poles, if you’d like
• a smile and great attitude

This is Doug Copeland's second co-lead on the way to becoming an AMC hike leader.

You must register for this hike using this link: https://activities.outdoors.org/s/oc-activity/a5UUN000001wqSH2AY/act00017372

Exact meeting location will be sent to trip participants.