Kayaking the Excellent Monksville Reservoir

Monksville Reservoir is a large reservoir home to some of the best paddling in New Jersey. Located in Passaic County in West Milford and Ringwood Townships, Monksville Reservoir is a 505-acre horseshoe-shaped lake popular with recreational kayaking, paddleboarding, team rowing, and fishing. Despite being one of the most popular places to kayak in New Jersey, you can find solitude by exploring the many small coves and the outer perimeter of the lake away from the boat launches. Continue reading to learn more about this excellent paddling location.

The Reservoir

Monksville Reservoir is a 505-acre reservoir holding 7 billion gallons of water in Ringwood and West Milford. The reservoir is essentially a reserve for the much larger 2,310-acre Wanaque Reservoir, which supplies water for much of northeastern New Jersey. The reservoir was completed in 1987 by damming the Wanaque River. Its construction followed many years of drought in the 1980s.

Monksville Reservoir is named for the community of Monksville, which was flooded by the reservoir’s construction. The community was located near where the dam is today. Stonetown Road once went through the community of Monksville before being relocated to its current route over the dam. The old road to the community can still be seen today, across from Ricker Road on the south side of the dam.

Unlike the neighboring Wanaque Reservoir, which the North Jersey District Water Supply Commission also manages, public access is permitted in Monksville Reservoir. This is because the State of New Jersey already owned a significant portion of the current reservoir site, with plans to construct a park. As a result, fishing, boating and hiking are all permitted on and around the reservoir.

Paddling the Reservoir

Monksville Reservoir is uniquely horseshoe-shaped around Monks Mountain. The reservoir has three different boat launches: one on the south side of Monks Mountain, one on the north side of the mountain, and one on Beech Road. Each of these launches access vastly different sections of the reservoir. A breakdown of the three launches is provided below:

	Rentals	Cartop Launch	Trailer Launch	Characteristics
South Launch	X	X	X	The widest and deepest section of the reservoir, near the dam, near a large cove
North Launch		X	X	The thinnest section of the reservoir with many small coves
Beech Road		X		Access to the flooded trees, the most wildlife, quietest section

My personal favorite location to launch from is the North Launch. This is because it features a convenient ramp to drop the boats off that cannot be found at the Beech Road Launch, and it close to what I consider the most interesting sections of the reservoir.

The South Launch is arguably the most popular section to launch from, as it is also the location for the rentals. This part is also the most akin to a typical lake, as the reservoir is by far the widest here. This section also feels the most artificial, as you have clear views of the dam from the launch site and for most of the surrounding area.

The lack of trees caused by the dam, unfortunately, makes this section extremely bright in the morning and early afternoon. If you are sensitive to the sun, I recommend launching elsewhere or coming in the late afternoon once the sun is further west and blocked by Monks Mountain.

The section around Monks Mountain between the South and North Launches is significantly thinner. Some sections even resemble a wide river more than a lake.

My personal favorite area is in the far northern section of the lake, adjacent to the Long Pond Historic District. This section features a section of dead trees that were flooded when the Wanaque River was dammed. You can paddle through the trees in a very unique section of the reservoir. I recommend only visiting this area in hard boats, and I would advise against going on a paddleboard altogether. This is because the area is full of underwater tree stumps that can be hard to see until you are right on top of them. You will very likely accidentally run over one of these stumps at some point.

The trees are also the section of the reservoir where you are most likely to see wildlife. Many of the trees have small birdhouses installed on them, and larger birds like to rest on some of the exposed stumps. Some of the trees have fallen, providing a popular spot for turtles to bask.

Overall, Monksville Reservoir is one of the best places to kayak in New Jersey, and the available rentals make it accessible for everyone.