Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest Loop

Dogs Leashed

Features River/Creek

This is a moderate trail only due to rocks and roots. Enjoy beautiful old growth trees with a short loop hike.

A restroom and picnic tables are located at the trailhead.

This forest is one of the nation’s most impressive remnants of old-growth forest. The forest contains magnificent examples of more than 100 tree species, many over 400-years-old, and some more than 20 feet in circumference and 100 feet tall.

This 3,800-acre forest was set aside in 1936 as a memorial to the author of the poem “Trees,” Joyce Kilmer, who was killed in action in France during World War I. Part of the Joyce Kilmer-Slick Rock Wilderness, the woods are maintained in their primitive state.

The only way to see this forest is on foot. A 2-mile trail leads to the Joyce Kilmer Memorial and loops through the giant trees.

Giant trees such as hemlocks, oaks and maples. Rhododendrons, mountain laurels and ferns. Many species of birds.