Jockey Hollow Trail Map (click to enlarge)

Be sure to pick up a trail map at either the Jockey Hollow Visitor Center or the Washington’s Headquarters Museum. There is a small fee for the map. You can also download a PDF version on the Park Map web page here on National Park Planner.

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Length: 1.5-mile loop
Time: 1 hour
Difficulty: Easy with a few minor hills

Start of the Green Trail

The Green Trail at Morristown National Historical Park is accessed at the Trail Center parking lot located on Jockey Hollow Road, about halfway between its intersection with Grand Parade Road and the Jockey Hollow Visitor Center. This parking lot is not on the main park map, but it is shown on the park’s trail map. From here you can pick up any trail in the park except for the White Trail.

There is a trail guide that goes along with the hike, and you can get one from a brochure box attached to the Trail Center bulletin board. The guide gives information about plants, geological features, and historical sites found at eighteen stops along the trail that are marked by posts with letters engraved into them (stops range from A to R). Without this guide you will most likely walk right past these points of interest as I did—I didn’t notice the brochure box until after I hiked the trail.

Pick up a trail brochure in the box on the bulletin board

The Green Trail—aka the Aqueduct Trail—gets its name from an actual aqueduct system built in the late 1890s that carried water from the freshwater springs in the area to Morristown. Four miles of trenches were dug and many miles of pipe were laid by the Morris Aqueduct Company, New Jersey’s first water company. It remained in business until the early 1930s. Nothing much remains of the system, but there are a few remnants that are pointed out by the trail guide. (Note: trail signs refer to the trail as the Aqueduct Trail, not the Green Trail).

The trail begins and ends at two different spots in the parking lot. I took the eastern trailhead, which is located just to the right of the bulletin board. This is a hikers-only section, and it sets you off hiking in a counterclockwise direction around the loop. If you want to start off on the western side of the trail, which allows horseback riding, take a left at the bulletin board and walk to the end of the parking area. Here you will find a trail that leads to a bridge where the Yellow, Orange, and Green trails intersect; a sign points out each one. If you plan to use the trail guide, the Green Trail is actually meant to be hiked in this direction, for the stops progress in ascending order from A to R. However, it’s not like you have to read the information for Stop A in order to understand R, so regardless of which way you proceed, you’ll still learn something about the area.

When hiking in the counterclockwise direction, the Green Trails starts off by following a small creek called Primrose Brook. The trail crosses the creek twice right off the bat, both times over wooden footbridges. You can actually see one bridge from the other.

First bridge over Primrose Brook

Just before you get to the second bridge, the Orange Trail comes in from the left and temporarily merges with the Green Trail. You will see both orange and green blazes painted on the trees. Blazes serve as Hansel and Gretel breadcrumbs for you to follow, with the colors corresponding to particular trails.

Second bridge over Primrose Brook

You will also see the Patriot’s Path logo on the trees. The Patriots’ Path is a trail managed by the Morris County Park System that runs from north of Morristown at Speedwell Lake to the southern end of Morristown National Historical Park near the New Jersey Brigade Encampment Site. For a short stretch, the Green Trail, the Orange Trail, and the Patriots’ Path are all the same.

Patriots’ Path logo

About five minutes after crossing the second footbridge is an intersection marked by a set of wooden steps. This is where the three trails split. You can clearly see an orange blaze and the Patriots’ Path logo on the trail that proceeds up the steps, but no green blaze. To find one, look on the tree next to the trail sign that is posted at the intersection. Two green blazes that stair-step to the left have been painted on it. A double blaze indicates a turn; a stair-step to the left indicates a left turn.

Section of the trail where the Green and Orange trails split

You’ll know that you are heading in the right direction because you’ll quickly come to Primrose Brook and another footbridge.

Third bridge over Primrose Brook

Not long after crossing the creek is another trail on your left. The Green Trail is a long and narrow finger-shaped loop trail, so when you get to the far end of the loop and begin the journey back to the starting point, you aren’t very far from where you were on the hike out. The trail you now see is the other side of the Green Trail loop. In fact, the two trails are so close together that there is an actual connector to the other side for people who want to cut the hike short and head back to the parking lot. Follow the sign that reads “Aqueduct Trail to Stop N” to avoid the shortcut.

Shortcut to other side of the loop

There are more creek crossings ahead, including one through an area so muddy that previous hikers have tossed sticks across the mud hole to have something stable to walk on.

Muddy crossing over Primrose Brook

Since the start of the hike, the terrain has been hilly, but nothing worth noting as far as difficulty goes. However, much of the trail surface is covered in rocks and roots, particularly anytime it runs close to Primrose Brook, so watch your step.

Typical terrain of the Green Trail when near Primrose Brook

When you arrive at a three-way intersection, not only are you at the far end of the loop, but you are also at the start of the section on which horses are allowed. If you continued straight you’d end up on the Yellow Trail, a hikers-only trail. A right leads over to Cemetery Road and eventually to the White Trail, which is for hikers and horseback riders. To stay on the Green Trail, take a sharp left. Directional signs point out the various destinations.

Three-way intersection

Being a horse trail, the path is now much wider and smoother.

Typical terrain on the western side of the Green Trail

You’ll eventually come back to the shortcut connector near Stop N, though this time around you don’t want to head towards Stop N. Take a right to continue.

Shortcut trail intersection—stay right

The terrain for the rest of the hike is fairly flat, just as it was on the way out at this point. In fact, you aren’t but fifty feet or so from where you were earlier.

Typical terrain along the final stretch of the Green Trail

There is one last bridge to cross before arriving back at Trail Center: the bridge mentioned earlier where the Green, Yellow, and Orange trails intersect. All three remain merged until reaching the parking lot just a short distance ahead.

Bridge leading back to the parking lot

When visiting history-themed parks such as Morristown National Historical Park, I usually prefer to hike trails that take me past historical sites so I can get a feel for the events that took place. However, I enjoyed the Green Trail because of the scenery. You are essentially hiking out on one side of Primrose Brook and back on the other side, so you are nearly always within sight of water. Had I the trail guide, I would have seen the remnants of the aqueduct, but as I said earlier, I didn’t notice the brochure box until completing the hike. If you did grab a trail guide and don’t need it, be sure to stick it back in the box.

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