The Greater Mountain Lakes Open Space Area is made up of over 400 acres of preserved land, most of it open to the public, just north of the center of Princeton. Included are Community Park North with its lake and Pettoranello Gardens, Mountain Lakes Preserve with two adjoining lakes and Mountain Lakes House, Coventry Farm, the Tusculum fields and John Witherspoon Woods. For hikers looking for a 3-4 mile trip through a variety of beautiful scenery, without trying to decide among nine miles of interconnected paths, this suggested loop through the Greater Mountain Lakes Area takes in the best of each section. Included are pine forests, open fields, historic homesteads, woodland streams, rock walls, boulder fields and lakes.
MOUNTAIN LAKES TRAIL CLOSURE
Beginning July 1, 2010 for an indefinite period of up to a year, certain trails will be closed due to the construction of new dams and dredging of the lakes. In particular, the main driveway and any trail segments connecting with it will be closed to allow for the passage of heavy trucks and other equipment. However, many trails around the periphery will remain open, including all the trails in Tusculum and John Witherspoon Woods. All access points to the area will remain open with the exception of the driveway, which will be replaced by a new trail somewhat to the west that enters from Mountain Avenue.
Directions for Mountain Lakes Sampler: Park in the Community Park North parking lot off Mountain Ave. in Princeton (refer to Directions and Trail Map). Facing away from Mountain Ave., look for the paved bike path to your right that goes by the signboard and the Peteronello Gardens sign. Follow this path for a short distance toward the pond in Community Park North. Just before reaching the pond, go left on a wood chip trail that crosses a footbridge over the outlet stream, and then keep to your left on a fainter trail that leads to another footbridge. After crossing the second bridge, go straight across the grassy right-of-way and look for a narrow entrance into the pine woods. Watch for orange trail markers and stay on the faint trail as it climbs through the forest. Go straight at the intersection with an east-west trail. After a gradual descent, the trail comes to the northern edge of the forest, takes a sharp left, and forks immediately. At the fork, go right on a trail with green markers. This will take you to a small stream that is crossed on stepping stones. At this point, you have crossed into the public portion of historic Tusculum, the ancestral home of John Witherspoon.
After climbing the far bank of the stream, you will enter an open field surrounding the estate. Take the trail that goes straight ahead along the hedgerow on your left. Halfway across the field you can leave the route briefly to catch a glimpse of the estate: take the loop that goes right at the marker post, cuts through an evergreen tree line, and then returns to the main trail as it goes left into the woods (be sure to observe the Private Property signs.) Enter the woods, and, at the junction, turn right and walk downhill to cross another small stream, and then one more. Follow the trail along the far bank, past a pretty little cataract (dry in late summer/fall), until it turns uphill and comes to a slope covered with slate and shale. At this point you can again leave the loop for a few minutes; take the right fork to the mowed path and go right for another 100 yards through a field to where it ends at two more private property markers; a bench is planned for this spot, which overlooks a pond and, when the leaves are gone, a large, historic barn. Follow the path back along the left side of the field, past the point where you joined it, until it enters the woods at the far end.
After entering the woods you will come, almost immediately, to a north-south trail with yellow markers that runs from the main trailhead and Mountain Lakes House to John Witherspoon Woods. Go to the right and follow the trail through a mostly pine forest to another junction, just before a stone wall. Both forks lead to the JW Woods, but take the lesser-used trail to the left, which is more scenic. This trail crosses the wall a short time later and proceeds down a wooded hill to the bank of a larger stream coming from the JW Woods. Follow the trail along the bank on stepping stones, and cross the entering tributary. After walking between the two streams for a short distance you will come to the open pipeline right-of-way; the trail may be quite faint here, so look for a marker on the far side, which will lead you back into the woods. In a short distance you will arrive at a T-intersection with the loop trail through JW Woods, which crosses a stream on stepping stones in either direction. Look at the waterfall to your left, then cross the stream on the right and climb the hill to the junction with the other branch of the trail from the trailhead. Go left, and shortly thereafter enter JW Woods, an old hardwood forest with many boulders and stone walls.
The trail comes to an intermittent stream, full of skunk cabbage in the spring, and follows the right bank, eventually crossing over and leading uphill through scattered boulders and then turning west. As it levels off, a trail enters from the right after passing through some large boulders on the way from a small parking lot on Cherry Hill Rd. (You might want to go partway up this trail to get a closer look at the boulders.) Beyond this point, the trail forks: the left fork descends into a major boulder field and picks its way between and over the rocks. Take the right fork, which climbs past some very large boulders and a formation known as Devil's Cave. Beyond the cave, descend to an intersection with a very rough trail through the boulders coming in on the right from Stuart Rd. Go left, then straight through the junction with the lower fork, and follow the trail through an open beech forest to several more stream crossings, the last one being larger and quite pretty. The trail climbs a small hill and then follows the right bank of the stream, until it comes to a junction at a stone wall. The JW Woods loop continues straight ahead, but take a right (sign says “Mtn. Lakes North”) and walk through more open forest; you will eventually start going downhill, coming at the bottom to a large stream, which is easily crossed on a natural rock ledge, except after a heavy rain.
Another trail (blue markers) comes in from the right at this point; going that way will take you across private land (please stay on the trail!) belonging to Stuart C.D. School. The trail leads to The Great Rd., and across it to a trail running through Princeton Day School land to Woodfield Reservation, and another set of trails. Instead, keep to your left and follow a narrow path which recrosses the pipeline and then becomes a maintenance lane as it passes through an open fenceline into Mountain Lakes Preserve (also blue markers). In a short distance, you will come to another junction; the trail to the left leads back across a footbridge to Mountain Lakes House. Take the smaller trail to the right, which starts out by climbing some stone steps up a steep hill and then levels out follows the fence line between Mountain Lakes and historic Coventry Farm. The trail runs along the fence for almost half a mile, providing some lovely views of the farm and beyond. After dropping for quite a while, it crosses a hike and bike trail running from The Great Road across the southern end of the farm to the Mountain Lakes driveway; much of the distance is traveled on a boardwalk through a large area of wetlands. (A short side trip to the right produces some rewarding views.)
Go almost straight ahead on a narrow trail that soon comes to the outlet stream from the lakes (a bridge is planned for this spot), and goes left along the bank for a way before reaching the southern end of the maintenance lane mentioned above. Turn left, and pass the first intersection you come to. Take the second, narrower path to the right, where there is a panel describing some of the history of the lakes, placed there by Princeton Historic Preservation Commission. The path runs along the earthen dam (to be replaced in 2010) at the southern edge of the lower lake. This is arguably the prettiest view of the lake, especially in the fall, and there is a bench on the trail for more relaxed viewing. In a short distance you will come to the rock dam and drop down to join the larger lane, which immediately crosses the outlet stream on a concrete bridge. After the bridge, you could go to your left along the lake to look at two more history panels, or all the way to Mountain Lakes House; but turn, instead, to the right and follow a gradually narrowing trail that passes some old ice house foundations and crosses another stream on an old stone bridge before running uphill toward Mountain Ave. Eventually, this path comes to the Mountain Lakes driveway. Go almost straight across, and you will be back in the parking lot where you started, 3-1/2 miles earlier.
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