The West Essex Trail is a former railroad track bed of the Erie Lackawanna Railroad Caldwell Branch[1] now hiking trail located mostly in Essex County, New Jersey in the United States,[2] with a small section in Passaic County, New Jersey.
The northern trailhead is located where the Erie Lackawanna Caldwell Branch rail line split from the still active Montclair Branch.[3] Proceeding south the trail crosses County Route 612 in Little Falls at 0.2 miles.[4] One mile from the trailhead, the trail merges with the Lenape Trail before crossing Bowden Road. At 1.5 miles the trail crosses the Peckman River on the old railroad bridge before crossing Pompton Avenue (Route 23), where there are remnants[5] of the old Erie Railroad Cedar Grove Station[6] on the south side of the tracks[7] and stairs leading down to Pompton Avenue. The trail crosses Keeney Street in Verona at 2.4 miles. Just north of Keeney St was the Erie Railroad Overbrook Station.[8] Lastly the trail crosses Durrell Street in Verona, New Jersey at 2.7 miles before terminating at the southern trailhead located on Fairview Ave in Verona. The rail bed continues through Verona passing under Bloomfield Avenue (the tunnel has since been filled in), Essex Fells and Roseland before rejoining active rail lines in Roseland at Interstate 280.[9] The trail is mixed use and available for walking, hiking, biking, and jogging. Along the trail one can find remnants of the old railroad line including mile markers, railroad ties, power lines, and signal boxes.
