Hiking the Woods of Wenonah Trails: Wenonah Lake to Comey’s Lake Loop

The Woods of Wenonah Trail System is a network of easy, scenic trails in Wenonah, NJ, totaling just under 6 miles and maintained by the Wenonah Environmental Commission.

Trails are fairly easy to travel on, but some get muddy or swampy (there are planks in most of these areas).

Along the trails you can see Wenonah Lake, Comey’s Lake, Dilk’s Pond, Monongahela Brook, Mantua Creek, and a Tea House.

There are small loops of 1 mile or less around certain areas such as the lakes and Monongahela Brook, but the longer trails (Break Back Run Trail, Mantua Creek Trail, and Glen Trail) are more straight-through. By combining a few trails (plus a little street walking), I made a loop that began and ended at the parking lot for Wenonah Lake.

Wenonah Lake

Before I get to the trail, it’s worth pointing out that Wenonah Lake is a swimming lake that allows non-residents to purchase day passes. If you’re visiting for the hike, you might want to consider stopping for a dip either before or after your hike. At the time I wrote this, day passes were only $10 per person. You can view updated information at the Wenonah Lake site.

There were a couple of docks (one with a diving board), a lifeguard, kayaks and canoes, a picnic pavilion that can be rented, and I’m assuming restrooms. I didn’t actually stop into the lake, but it looked okay. The water was a bit murky, but about what you might expect for a small lake like this. There were a few people swimming and diving at the time.

Woods of Wenonah Trail Loop

At the back of Wenonah Lake’s parking lot you’ll find a kiosk with a map and the entrance to the trail on the left. There weren’t many good maps available online, so I took a picture. If you plan ahead you can obtain a Woods of Wenonah Trail Map from the Wenonah Environmental Commission for a small fee.

I decided to go unexpectedly on a weekend and just took a picture of the map. Unfortunately, the app I was using to track my hike quit tracking about halfway through, so I don’t have exact stats. My route took a little over 2 hours and was maybe about 4 miles (or a little more). I highlighted my route in yellow on the picture of the map I took with my cellphone. I basically took the loop around Wenonah Lake, followed the trails to Comey’s Lake, then took local streets back to the parking lot to make a loop. The town is nice, and I don’t like going back the same way I just came.

The trails aren’t very well marked, but they’re still fairly easy to follow. There are some stump markers (like the one above) that let you know to make a left to continue on the trail around Wenonah Lake.

Along the way there are also some other markers on trees, but they are few and far between. It would have been nice if there were standard trail blazes along the route. With GPS apps on smartphones it’s not a huge deal, but better markings would help. Some markings didn’t correspond with trail names on the map, which was a bit confusing.

There are plenty of spots to get close-up views of the lake as you loop around. Whenever I came across a fork in the trail, I stayed to the left to work my way around the lake. This area was pretty well marked.

The trail will eventually lead to the road. Cross over the dam, then across East Maple Street to continue on Break Back Run.

There are some hilly areas along Break Back Run Trail, as well as some tight spots that fall off slightly to one side, but they’re not very difficult. I saw a mountain biker exiting this part of the trail.

Much of the trail system has views of water, but even when you can’t see the water, the scenery is quite beautiful. I couldn’t hear much car traffic either.

The trails are generally in good shape and wide enough in most parts for two people to walk side by side. For the most part it’s dirt, but there are spots with gravel, along with planks and little footbridges.

Along Mantua Creek Trail you’re right up against the creek for much of the trail.

Shortly after this bent-over tree, things got a little more wet. I remember this tree because I read something about bent trees like this being used as trail markers by Indians. Not sure if that’s what the deal is with this tree, but I couldn’t see what might have caused it to bend like that.

Shortly after this picture I realized it only got worse, so I doubled back to take the fork toward West Cedar Street, followed that, and made a right on South West Ave to pick up the trail again.

I normally hate having to go back over an area I already passed, but there were some pretty nice views of Mantua Creek so I didn’t mind.

Back on the trail it’s fairly level. The trail runs along the train tracks, but it’s up a steep hill to the left and out of sight.

These passages (aqueducts?) allow, I think, Monongahela Brook to pass under the train tracks and continue into Mantua Creek.

Continuing along the trail eventually leads to a trestle bridge for the train. The trail loops back up around, with the train tracks now to your left.

Things got a little confusing again and it didn’t look like the trail was passable (or I wasn’t following the right trail). There was a little bridge over Monongahela Brook that led to East Pine Street. Following East Pine led to a trail that went around Comey Lake.

If you get confused, there is a trail map on the sign that will tell you where you are. We went left around Comey Lake. For most of this part of the hike the lake was pretty far away. There’s a small trail near the top of the lake that looks like it goes into someone’s backyard, but it leads to East Willow Street. From here we took the streets back to the Wenonah Lake parking lot.

The walk back is through a nice neighborhood with some interesting homes. This was the largest one we passed on East Mantua Ave.