I found this hike on the New York-New Jersey Trail Conference website, here. I did this hike in August 2013 and again in June 2015 and really enjoyed it! There's so much interesting terrain and so many interesting things to see. I'd printed out the description from the NYNJTC website and brought it with me, and I found a few things confusing, so I've taken the liberty of adding some notes to the description which will hopefully be helpful to other people who want to do this hike.
If the NYNJTC website would like to incorporate any of my notes into their page, they are welcome to do so. I don't require any credit, and you can edit them however you like. If the NYNJTC would like for me to remove this content from my website I'm happy to do so, please e-mail me (at manning@manningkrull.com) and just say the word.
Here is the description of the Iron Mines Loop #3 (Northwest/Lemon Squeezer) hike with my notes, which are [bracketed and green]...
Towards the southern end of the parking area [note: parking here costs $8 as of June 2015], you'll notice a triple blue blaze, which marks the start of the Lake Tiorati Trail. Proceed uphill on this trail to the ridge of Fingerboard Mountain, following the old route of Arden Valley Road for part of the way. At the top, turn left on the joint Appalachian Trail (A.T.) (white)/Ramapo-Dunderberg (R-D) Trail (red dot on white), which follows a woods road past a [bright blue] concrete water tower and continues to climb along the ridge of Fingerboard Mountain on a footpath. You'll reach a few false summits, one of which features an interesting balanced boulder. When the leaves are down, Lake Tiorati may be seen through the trees on the left.
About a mile from the start, you'll reach a junction marked by wooden signs. Here, the blue-blazed Hurst Trail begins to the left. This trail leads down a few hundred feet to the stone Fingerboard Shelter, built in 1928. You may wish to take a short detour to check out this shelter, at which overnight camping is permitted. [Note: You don't need to take the blue trail at all, unless you want to see the shelter. You'll be continuing straight ahead from the wooden sign post on the joint A.T./R-D.]
Continue south on the joint A.T./R-D, which soon reaches another intersection. Here, the Appalachian Trail turns right, but you should follow the red-on-white blazes of the R-D Trail, which continues ahead along the ridge. [I'll add some detail here to help prevent some confusion that I had. Pretty soon after the wooden sign post that you just passed, you'll descend a steep, stair-like rock formation. You'll then walk through a very narrow path with fern-like plants (in warm weather) on either side, then climb up onto a low ridge that turns sharply to the left.] The R-D Trail passes through attractive thickets of mountain laurel and hemlock. After reaching an open area [a high, flat, open rocky area, with spraypainted arrows on the rock indicating that the trail goes to the left], the trail descends rather steeply. At the base of the descent, watch carefully for the crossing of the Bottle Cap Trail, with its unique blazes – white bottle caps nailed to the trees. [We passed several descents and wondered if the Bottle Cap Trail was coming up, and we were worried a few times that we'd missed it. It turns out the "steep descent" you're looking for is VERY steep, and you can't miss it. It's steep enough that you'll probably have to sit and lower yourself down one bit of rock that's about three or four feet high. So that's the steep descent you're looking for that leads to the Bottle Cap Trail right after it. You'll soon have to duck under a fallen tree, and immediately after the Bottle Cap Trail starts, but it's pretty hard to find the first bottle cap! There are a number of fallen/cut trees in this area and I suspect the first trees with bottle caps may no longer be standing. So, look for that tree you have to duck under, then immediately look for an area that looks like a trail going left and right. You want to go right, but you may not see any bottle caps yet; just head down that path to the right a bit and you should find your first bottle cap. Some of them are very small and very dark and hard to see! Find that first bottle cap and you know you're going the right way.]
Turn right onto the little-used Bottle Cap Trail, which traverses interesting terrain. Soon, you'll notice a water-filled pit to the right of the trail, with a pile of mine tailings (discarded pieces of rock) just beyond. These are remnants of the Surebridge Mine, which was active during the Civil War. A short distance beyond, you'll notice the remains of a banked stone structure to the left. More mine pits may be found to the south. For more information on this and other mines in the area, consult Ed Lenik's book Iron Mine Trails.
The Bottle Cap Trail descends to cross the unmarked Surebridge Mine Road (the intersection is marked by a cairn) and, just beyond, Surebridge Brook. [Something strange here; we found a cairn several meters before this road. And at that point the bottle caps disappeared. Then we found a tree right beyond this cairn with two round dents where the bottle caps had fallen off! These dents indicated that the path turned right, so we went right. Then we crossed the aforementioned brook, and then found the aforementioned woods road with the aforementioned cairn — the second cairn in a very short span of time. Then the bottle caps started up normally again.] This crossing can be a little tricky if the water is high, and you may have to go a short distance upstream or downstream to find a good place to cross. [We were able to cross easily right there, but I'm sure the water levels can change a lot.] After climbing steeply to the ridge of Surebridge Mountain, the trail bears left and overlooks the Surebridge Swamp, with Hogencamp Mountain visible In the distance beyond.
[A general note about the Bottle Cap Trail - sometimes it's really tough to spot the next bottlecap. We often had to scout ahead in a couple different directions to find the next one. Fortunately, we were always able to find the next one, but it was a little time-consuming sometimes. There was one place where we couldn't see the next one because some fallen trees were hiding it. It took a bit of wandering and guessing to stay on this trail, but we always managed to eventually find the next one and know we were going the right way. Challenging but interesting.]
The Bottle Cap Trail descends through a dense hemlock forest, joins a woods road and ends at a junction with the joint aqua-blazed Long Path and red-triangle-on-white-blazed Arden-Surebridge (A-SB) Trail. Continue ahead on the woods road, now following the joint route of these two trails. In 300 feet, after crossing a wet area on rocks, the White Bar Trail leaves to the left. Just beyond, both the A-SB Trail and the Long Path turn right, leaving the woods road, and diverge. Continue on the A-SB Trail (red triangle on white), which takes the left fork.
Soon, you'll notice a dramatic cleft at the edge of a cliff [Look for a HUGE rock with a cave-like recess in the middle] and reach a junction with the white-blazed Appalachian Trail (A.T.). Turn right, leaving the A-SB Trail, and follow the white A.T. blazes, which lead under an overhanging rock and into a fascinating rock formation, known as the Lemon Squeezer. [You can go through the middle part of the huge rock, past the cave-like structure, OR to the right of the rock through a narrow corridor; they both go to the same place.] The trail climbs through a very narrow cleft in the rocks at the base of the cliff and then goes up a steep rock face, where you will need to use both your hands and your feet. Those who are physically able to negotiate these challenges will find them to be a highlight of the hike. But if the climb is too difficult, it is possible to bypass the Lemon Squeezer by following a path to the left. [This part was fantastic! Very challenging on a damp day, as the rocks can be very slippery. Do be careful. If you want to go the easier route, there are signs that say "Easy way" with an arrow; the easier way only adds a few extra meters to your walk.]
After reaching the top of the Lemon Squeezer, the A.T. continues on a more moderate grade to the summit of Island Pond Mountain. The stone ruins just north of the summit are the remains of a cabin built by Edward Harriman about 100 years ago. This is a good place to stop and take a break. [This was easy to find; a square arrangement of rocks that used to be the base of the cabin's walls.]
The A.T. descends from the summit and enters an attractive hemlock grove. After winding through the hemlocks, you'll reach a junction with the aqua-blazed Long Path, marked by a wooden signpost. Continue ahead on the A.T., which soon parallels a stream, crosses it, then turns right and again climbs over the ridge of Surebridge Mountain. [We easily found the sign post, the stream, and the stream crossing, and then things got a little confusing...]
[Something that sounds simple but is important to note is that you'll be following the A.T. for a good mile or so here before you get to the next step in the directions. We kept wondering if we'd missed Surebridge Mine Road and the water-filled mine pit, because we'd missed the previous pits. Just stay on the A.T. and you'll eventually reach these things. You won't miss them.]
At the base of the descent [which ends in a somewhat steep, non-rocky descent], the A.T. crosses Surebridge Brook and turns left onto Surebridge Mine Road. [Here you'll notice big piles of mine tailings ahead of you. Cross the Brook to continue.] In a few hundred feet, you'll notice a 100-foot-long water-filled mine pit on the right side of the trail [ending in what looks like a water-filled cave], with a huge pile of tailings on the left side. These are the remains of the Greenwood Mine, opened in 1838 and last worked in 1880. At the north end of the mine pit, you can see a drill mark in the rock face [just above the water-filled cave opening], and several rusted pipes are visible just north of the pit. [These are huge and laying on the ground.] You'll want to take a break here to examine these interesting historical features.
[I noticed one other cool artifact. If you put yourself on the road so that the mine and the pipes are on your right, you'll see a couple large piles of mine tailings on the left. In between these piles I found a large iron object half-buried in the ground. It was vaguely shaped like a door, with rectangular panels with interesting molding like an old sign or picture frame. No idea what this could be — maybe even an old mining cart? — but if you know I'd love to hear!]
Just beyond, where the A.T. turns right, leaving Surebridge Mine Road, you should bear left, continuing ahead on the unmarked mine road. You'll recross Surebridge Brook but hardly notice it, as the brook goes through the rocks far below the surface of the road! [We actually saw water running through the rocks here, so this may be something that changes seasonally.] Continue to follow the mine road past a marsh to the right [easy to spot because it's full of tall reed-like plants], and look carefully for a huge boulder on the left, with a large tree growing against it. [This was funny; we thought every boulder we saw must be the boulder we were looking for. They all have trees relatively close by. But when you find the right one you'll definitely know it; it really is huge and the large tree has grown up right next to it so they're merged together.] This feature marks the crossing of the aqua-blazed Long Path, which can otherwise be easily missed. [We were able to clearly see the freshly-painted aqua blaze on the boulder, but I can see how it could be mistaken for a lichen if it were a little faded. There was also a small cairn on the opposite side of the path, basically pointing out the direction you want to go.]
Turn sharply right, leaving Surebridge Mine Road, and follow the Long Path, which once again crosses Surebridge Brook – this time, on a plank bridge [weirdly, we didn't see a plank bridge, and we followed the aqua blazes of the Long Path very closely; no problem, we crossed over on the rocks. Maybe the bridge is gone, or they've moved the blazed trail away from it.] – and gently ascends a rise. Continue along the Long Path for another mile, crossing several intermittent streams and boulder fields, until you reach the paved Arden Valley Road, which is closed to vehicular traffic in the winter. The Long Path bears left here, but you should turn right and follow the paved road up to the crest of Fingerboard Mountain and then down to the Tiorati parking area where the hike began. [We found the road easily, and a funny thing happened. By turning right, you're walking uphill on the road. At the very beginning of this hike, you walked uphill on the road as well. This can make you wonder if you're walking the wrong way; shouldn't we be walking downhill to the parking area? But no worries, you come up over a hill, and then start going downward, and you'll see the blue water tower on your right. Keep going and you'll be back at the parking area soon.]
[Enjoy! --Manning Leonard Krull.]
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