Wawayanda State Park

Wawayanda is the Lenni Lenape name meaning "winding water". The park is located in the Northern New Jersey town of West Milford. It is a large park with an area of 34,359 acres and 60 miles of scenic hiking trails. Of the 60 miles of hiking trails, 20 miles are part of the Appalachian which runs from Georgia to Maine.

Governor Murphy has declared all State Parks in New Jersey this year, 2022 to be free of admission costs. On this day I was interested in kayaking. You can bring your own kayak to the boat launch area or rent a kayak. The rental cost is $15 for a single or $25 for a double. You can keep the kayak for 2 hours. Canoes, row boats, electric powered boats and paddle boards are also available.

There is ample parking although it can fill-up to capacity during the summer months. They have e toile. changingt and shower pavilion on Lake Wawayanda.
The swimming area has beautifuk sand, the water is clear and during the summer months fairly warm for New Jersey. Outside the swimming area there is an abundance of lake plants. Life guards are on duty at selected hours. Aside from swimming there are hiking, picnicing with tales and grills, playgrounf for the kids, fishing, hunting, and wildlife and birding opportunitiies. In one part of the park you will find an 1843 iron furnance.

There are a number of trails to hike. A popular hike is the Lake Loop Hike. It is 6.7 miles long and can be hiked in 2.5 hours. For the most part the trails are well nlazed but as a precaution you can download an All Trails Map.

Beautiful park and lake. Entrance time is not the same on the site. Got there and waited for them to open the side entrance.

It seems like the other entrance is open on time but its a good distance from each other.

But there is plenty of space. Go equipped with EVERYTHING. Tent, cooking.

Swimming is great. Water is clean.

Wawayanda will be part of the visit, swim rotation every summer.

The beach was small and beautiful. Parking was close. There was a fully functional and clean bathhouse on premises. The boathouse offered kayak rentals at $15 per kayak for two hours which was incredible. The lake itself was amazing and the staff were beyond friendly and helpful. I would recommend!

Happy weekend my fellow Adventurers!

I got to camp out overnight here for the Ragnar (24 hour overnight race) relay over the fall and had a blast! The grounds themselves are beautiful, well kept, and great for hiking. We happened to be there at the perfect time for fall foliage while it was turning. The photos were spectacular and amazing to be in the wilderness. I would recommend going here during fall for nature and leaves overall. They have facilities on ground and trails that go for miles. The body of water is pretty cool from what we could see, since it was blocked off for the relay.

I lost my phone and photos so I can't add any photos but I think the other yelpers caught enough images for a good representation of this park.

This is a great place to go for a BBQ and a swim in the lake. There's plenty of beach area, lifeguards, public path rooms and a food truck with burgers, hot dogs, drinks and snacks. They have charcoal grilles for you to grill on your own as well. There's a boathouse for you to rent a canoe. Check out their website for specifics.

There's a lot of picnic areas, some camping areas and trails. The Appalachian trail runs through this park and there is a historical iron mill. There's some beautiful ponds in addition to the lake.

This is a great place to go for a hike or a bike ride, a swim or ride in the lake or a BBQ. If you're in the area, it's definitely worth checking out.

The only reason I'm giving this place three stars and not less is because the lake/ sand area is nice and clean. The grounds are also nice. Playground for the kids, grills available. It does get crowded so you want to be there by 8 am or before. No swimming until the lifeguards arrive at 10. Free admission. Bathrooms.... Now that was a different story. When arrived they were usable but towards the later afternoon, let's just say they were absolutely disgusting and turned me off and I was ready to leave! People can be real slobs and some advice to the park, would be to have cleaners cleaning them every couple hours. What I saw I definitely feel bad whoever had to clean them. If this was based solely on the bathrooms it would be Zero stars. But bc the lake area and rest of park were nice and clean i gave it more. Besides the restrooms it was a great time at the lake.

Great park. Park rangers are nice, lake is lovely and the woods are beautiful. Great place to hike.

Had a great day with our kids here. The 'beach' was very clean and the lifeguards were attentive. The volleyball court sand was pretty soft, well kept and the playground near the lake had small rubber chips like mulch that made everything pretty safe. The bathrooms were open and clean for a park in the woods. The only thing even remotely disappointing was the food truck being closed. Overall it was a great experience and we'll definitely be back.

Wawayanda State Park is a gorgeous park. While I haven't been here during the fall foliage season, I cannot wait to go back later this year and see the leaves turn here. They have plenty of parking at this park and you can drive right up to the lake where they have a little sanded beach area. I went when the lake was frozen over and just lived in my little winter wonderland. This state park is well kept, has facilities on the grounds and plenty of trails. I would definitely recommend stretching your legs out here and getting some fresh air (even during the pandemic, I haven't felt crowded or unsafe here).

Really lovely state park. Wish I got to stay longer but the locals here are very friendly and you can see they care about safety.

Didn't get to experience the trails but we went to the beach by here and they have lifeguards. The beach was so clean and not too deep. They set up buoys so you can't go too far off and close the waters at a certain time (6pm on a Saturday).

I was told there's people who sell food in the area too but only saw an icecream cart. Tons of people were camping with tents nearby as well.