Back Beach Park is a small park located in Wanaque, New Jersey. While well known to local residents, this property is virtually unheard of outside the immediate area. The park is essentially split into two areas: the athletic fields and playground area and the “backcountry” area. Although it does not have an official trail network, there are miles of unmarked trails snaking through the property, plus a connection to Ramapo State Forest for those who prefer well-marked trails. The highlight of the park is easily the numerous ruins from when the area was home to a powder mill. Explorers will enjoy finding what feels like endless ruins throughout the property, including some large brick buildings and an old train trestle.

Basic Information

Pros and Cons

Points of Interest

• Laflin Rand Powder Works and DuPont Ruins
  • Numerous sets of large ruins on either side of the Wanaque River

Athletic Facilities and Playground

The athletic facilities are very nice and include baseball and soccer fields, tennis and basketball courts. Additionally, there is a smaller, modern playground. This area of the park is very well maintained.

Trails

There are no officially marked trails, other than the short Red and White Trail, which connects to Ramapo State Forest. Despite no marked trails, the park is covered in unmarked trails and roads. Unfortunately, many of these roads are frequently used by illegal off-road vehicle users. There are trails on both sides of the Wanaque River. While there are no maps, it is hard to get lost as the trails stay near the river most of the time.

Parking

There is only one parking area, at the end of 4th Ave, Haskell, NJ 07420. This parking area is large and serves its purpose.

Crowds

Hiker traffic on the trails is minimal, but you are very likely to run into a motorized vehicle on the trails. Unfortunately, many of the people riding on these trails do so at unsafe speeds. You will want to keep your ears peeled, especially around blind corners.

Maintenance

Maintenance near the playground and athletic areas is great, and the main park area is very well presented. However, this changes once you enter the woods, where maintenance is virtually non-existent. The trails are littered with trash, including areas with piles of hundreds of beer cans. Additionally, some locals have essentially claimed sections of the park as their own private hangout spots; for example, I saw a makeshift basketball hoop nailed to a tree next to a “Giants Fans Only” sign.

Additionally, the park’s borders are very unclear, which can become an issue downriver from the playground, especially past the I-287 underpass. There is a clear trail here, but it is not clear whether visitors can use it. According to property maps, a very popular section of the park is actually on NJDOT property, and other areas are on DuPont property. These areas should be signed (not just by the town, but also NJDOT and DuPont) for liability purposes.

Who is this park for?

Unfortunately, unless the town of Wanaque chooses to maintain the park, this area is best suited for locals, as they have basically moved in. The abundance of litter, ATVs, and dirt bikes, and the lack of trails make it hard to recommend this place to most people. The main area of the park is very nice with the playground and athletic fields, but nearly all towns have at least one park with these amenities, so again, you should not be going out of your way for these attractions.

The only group other than locals who may enjoy the place is those interested in urban exploring and/or abandoned locations. The numerous ruins throughout the place are legitimately interesting as long as you ignore all the litter.

Final Thoughts

Whenever I share positive posts about spots locals hold sacred, the comments inevitably fill with complaints blaming out-of-town visitors for leaving a mess, often with undertones bordering on racism and xenophobia. This park serves as my rebuttal: disrespecting public land isn’t only an “outsider” problem. Back Beach Park is basically known only to the immediate area, but it is a mess, and not from out-of-town visitors, but by locals.

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