Issue #23 — Wednesday, October 21, 2026
One family-friendly hike within a 2-hour drive of Hoboken — plus where to take the kids to eat in the city and NJ. Hike it or skip it; either way your weekend's sorted.
A mile or so into the woods off Boonton Avenue, the trail dead-ends at a boulder the size of a delivery van, balanced on just three smaller rocks like it's standing on tiptoes. Tripod Rock weighs an estimated 180 tons, and it's been perched there since a retreating glacier set it down roughly 15,000 years ago and then melted away. Nobody engineered it — the ice just happened to leave it resting on exactly three contact points, and it hasn't budged since. Keep walking and you'll find its smaller cousin, Whale Head Rock, shaped like exactly what the name says.
A boulder older than the Great Pyramids, defying gravity for free, 45 minutes from the Lincoln Tunnel. That's the bar for this newsletter.Park at the Pyramid Mountain visitor center lot off Boonton Avenue (Rt 511). Pick up the blue-blazed Mennen Trail at the kiosk, cross a narrow wooden footbridge, and settle in — the footing turns rocky and rooty almost immediately, even though the climbing itself stays gentle. You'll pass a junction with the yellow trail on the right; keep straight on blue.
At around 1.3 miles, bear onto the white-blazed trail, where the ground turns into an honest boulder field — this is the hard part, more scrambling than striding, and where sturdy shoes earn their keep despite the modest elevation gain. Tripod Rock itself appears without much warning, looming over a clearing of laurel and stone. This makes a natural turnaround for younger kids who've had enough climbing — it's roughly the hike's midpoint.
For the full loop, continue past Tripod Rock to pick up Whale Head Rock on the return leg before looping back to the yellow and blue trails toward the lot. Total distance comes to about 4.3 miles. The descent is easier underfoot than the approach, but still watch footing on the rock slabs near the summit area.
Boonton is a walkable old mill town on the Morris Canal, ten minutes from the trailhead, with a Main Street built for a post-hike wander. Some easy hits:
Water (1L per person), sturdy sneakers or hiking shoes, a light layer for the chilly start, snacks, sunscreen, and a phone with the trail map downloaded offline (cell service is patchy past the visitor center).
Not feeling the drive this week? Here's where to take the kids instead — in the city and across the river. (No connection to this week's hike.)