Monksville Reservoir Kayaking

Monksville Reservoir in Ringwood NJ is right in my backyard, but I’d never heard of it until the other day. Somebody saw my kayak on top of my car and struck up a conversation on paddling. When we were done discussing what we liked about our boats, we shifted to where we paddle and he said he always goes to Monksville.

Huh, really, where is that? I punched it into Apple Maps and realized I’d driven over it many times on my way to Mountain Creek Ski area. It looked like an cool spot so I went ahead and pencilled it into my list of stuff to do on my week off. So I looked up the stats.

As surprising to me as it’s proximity was the fact that it had been dammed relatively recently. Many of the places I paddle are artificially created but I’m used to seeing dates from the 1920s or 30s in my research. Monksville’s dam was built in 1987.

It seems that fifteen residences, one business and a cemetery with about 30 graves had to be moved or demolished to make room for the lake. It’s always odd to think I’m paddling over the site of an old town but for some reason, imagining somebody previously watching TV down there is weirder.

I picked Tuesday around noon to visit Monksville. I found a big concrete boat ramp in Long Pond Ironworks State Park. I took a moment to read the rules posted next to the ramp to confirm I wasn’t supposed to have a permit to paddle here. Then unloaded my kayak and scootched myself onto the water.

A couple guys were loading their motorboat onto a trailer and another guy was getting ready to launch an inflatable with his dog. There was a stiff breeze blowing from right to left so I turned right and paddled toward where a road crossed over the lake. The first thing I noticed was a big blue heron standing near the wooded shore, just looking at me.

I went under the bridge and continued into that side of the lake. The next thing I noticed was a long-dead stand of tree trunks sticking up out of the water to my left. There was an angler casting his line towards the deadwood. I kept on and made my way down to the far shore, passing a dock where another kayaker was in the process of launching.

I turned around at a marshy spot where some geese and a pair of swans were hanging out and started back along the other shore, passing a beaver lodge and some turtles sunning themselves on a log. I passed the guy in the fishing kayak again and steered myself toward the flooded stand of trees I’d seen earlier.

Paddling among the trunks was pretty cool. A few times I bumped against submerged stumps. What I found most intriguing though was a collection of bird house somebody had screwed to a number of the dead trees. I took some pics and made a note to do some more internet research when I got home (I did and couldn’t find anything on the birdhouses).

I paddled back under the road and past my starting point. Monksville reservoir is shaped like a big horseshoe. I paddled to the bend with the wind at my back, knowing I would be fighting it on my return but wanting to explore more. As I reached the big turn I was surprised to see a sailboat in the distance, tacking back and forth into the wind. Nice.

I paddled towards it. After we passed and I reach the other side of the horseshoe I turned again. This side of the lake was busier, with a handful of kayakers, a couple paddleboarders and one guy on a windsurfer sharing the water.

I paddled most of the way up to the dam that separates Monksville from the older Wanaque Reservoir below. I noticed another concrete boat ramp on this end of the lake as I turned around near the spillway. I decided to hug the shore as I began my return leg, mainly to mitigate the wind, but it made for a pleasant trip as well.

At one point, a big blue heron took off from the woods just in front of me, catching me by surprise. It flew a hundred yards or so ahead of me, then did a U-turn and passed low overhead in the other direction. It was an impressive sight.

I was back where I started in under two hours. My app on my phone said I had paddled 6.22 miles. Monksville Reservoir proved to be a solid choice, certainly a good alternative to the lakes in nearby Harriman State Park. It was a good day. The guy that tipped me off to the place said he never paddles anywhere else.

I’m not quite there. It’s not big enough to not be repetitive and I imagine it would be a lot more crowded on a weekend, based on the number of people I saw on a lazy Tuesday afternoon. That being said, it’s a cool spot that has earned a spot in the rotation.