"On a cool/cold, overcast and damp late morning, I drove with Petey over to a fairly large gravel lot on Westbrook Road in Wanaque. From the lot, we took the turquoise highlands trail which starts along Westbrook for 150 feet before turning left up Townsend Road. After 500 feet or so, turquoise blazes and signs for the Highlands trail can be found on the right. The well blazed trail gradually ascends up a ridge where we found the orange blazed Roomy Mine trail on our right. I passed the trail intersection and continued on the Highlands trail a few hundred feet because I a saw a high point on that first ridge that I wanted to check out. That high point, at 610 ft. offered a decent view of the Wanaque Reservoir to the Southeast. We then backtracked to the orange trail which led us though a nicely blazed valley, and eventually ascended up the side of Ball Mountain. We made a right on the yellow blazed mine trail which after a hundred feet or so, leads right over the high point of Ball Mt. Three massive boulders sit atop the mountain’s summit. The reservoir could barely be seen from that spot due to distanc..." — michaelzandonella • Jan 13, 2025