Goat Hill Preserve: Family Hike

A Revolutionary Observation

(Revised September 2021) Note: This review deals with the best-maintained trails in the park, which provide an easy, family walk.  A second review describes some of the exploration opportunities on Goat Hill)

Goat Hill towers 400 feet above the Delaware River, and provides spectacular views of New Hope, Lambertville, and Bucks/Hunterdon counties.  I first went on a rainy October afternoon and the views were still astonishing.  On clear days, they are other-worldly.

Local legend has it that Washington visited the site with the Marquis de Lafayette and dined on an outcropping, known today as “dining rock” in honor of the event.  This version of the story is certainly not true, since Lafayette didn’t arrive in the US until June of 1777 and the critical events of Washington’s crossing took place in December of 1776.  Nevertheless, the thought that Washington (and the Continental Army) used Goat Hill to scout the crossing is entirely plausible when you visit the site.  (Click on the image of dining rock below to enlarge).  It’s possible Washington and Lafayette did dine on the rock in 1778, around the time of the Battle of Monmouth, or in 1781 on their march to end the war at Yorktown.

The area was closed to the general public for years, until it was finally acquired by the State of NJ in late 2009.  For many years, until the 1970s, it had been a Boy Scout camp. Today It is being managed as a satellite of Washington Crossing State Park, which is just down the road. 

The Preserve’s entrance isn’t well marked.  George Washington Road makes a sharp right turn after about 2/10 of a mile, but to enter the park,  you want to continue straight through the open wooden gates.  There are state forest signs on the gates themselves (but if they’re open, they’re hard to see).  The parking area is a few hundred yards up on the left, and is obvious.

From the parking lot, continuing on the gravel road you drove in on, it’s half a mile and 75 vertical feet to the “Goat Hill Overlook”, making it accessible to even very young children or healthy, sedentary adults.  Dining Rock (aka “Washington Overlook” is even closer:  as the road makes a sharp bend, you’ll see a well worn, red-blazed path heading towards the bluff.  If you walk straight, you’ll come right to the rock.  A word of caution:  the bluffs here are VERY steep and there are no guard rails.  If you’re visiting with children, you’ll want to keep a close eye on them.  Currently, there are no facilities for disabled visitors.

Beginner hikers can continue along the white blazed Quarry trail as far as the Old Mill Overlook, then return the same way. Intermediate or advanced hikers can explore the rest of the trail system (and some interesting unmarked trails) further south. These are described here.