West Essex Trail
The West Essex Trail is an Essex County park, situated on the former right-of-way of the Caldwell Branch of the old Erie-Lackawanna Railroad, in Verona, New Jersey, and Cedar Grove, New Jersey. Distinguishing features of this rail trail include a trestle bridge 20 feet above the Peckman River, and the abandoned Essex County Hospital Center.
Acquired in 1985 through Green Acre funding, the 2.84 mile trail runs from the Passaic County line near the Lenape Trail, southwest through the Cedar Grove Community Park by the Peckman River, across Route 23, across Durrell Street next to the former Bahr Lumber, across Fairview Avenue, past Verona High School, and ending at Arnold Way.
Public debate delayed the County acquisition long enough for the railroad company to sell off some intervening parcels, effectively preventing the county from extending the trail as far as Grover Cleveland Park in Caldwell, as originally planned.
The Lenape Indian Trail crosses the West Essex Trail near the Passaic/Essex County line.
