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Description
Garret Mountain Reservation has woodlands, open fields and lawns, and a lake, all with easy access on foot from several convenient parking lots. In spring, 36 warbler species have been tallied, many of them common on good migration mornings. The full suite of eastern tyrannids, vireos, finches, tanagers, and passerellid sparrows is also present. Fall migration, in August and September, can be almost equally rewarding. Among the reliably located breeding specialties are Wood Duck, Eastern Screech-Owl, Pileated Woodpecker, and Wood Thrush. Winter may be quiet, though there are records of such locally scarce species as Varied Thrush and Common Redpoll.
Details
Access
Garret Mountain is a 20-minute drive from the George Washington Bridge. Take I-80 west and Highway 19 south to Valley Road in Paterson; follow Mountain Park Road or Weaseldrift Road into the reservation. From the Lincoln Tunnel, take Highway 3 west to Valley Road, then north to Weaseldrift Road or Mountain Avenue into the reservation. Public transit from NYC is slow and unreliable.
From New Jersey, take the Garden State Parkway north to the Highway 3 exit, then west to Valley Road and north to Weaseldrift Road or Mountain Avenue into the reservation. The drive from Princeton is 1:15, from Cape May 3:00, and from Newark 0:30. Public transit from anywhere in New Jersey is slow and unreliable.
Once in the reservation, wander the well-marked trails on foot, or explore from any of the several parking lots; favored starting points are the Auto Overlook (1), Lambert Tower (2), and the Boat House (3). Arriving shortly after sunrise, you should get an immediate sense of how many birds are present—if there has been a significant arrival, it is easy to spend the entire day here; if not, it is still worth checking a selection of habitats, including at least the lake, the traprock ridgeline, and one or the other of the woodland trails.