At the southern edge of the South Mountain Reservation in Millburn, fairies have taken over the woods, creating a little fairy village.
Over the past decade, teeny, tiny houses have cropped up in tree branches and tucked into roots along the white-blazed Rahway Trail near Glen Avenue and Lackawanna Place. The houses, located on “Lower Under-Cliff Lane, Fairy Heights and Rahway Rambles,” are furnished with twig, stone and moss accessories created with love and comfort.
The Fairy Trail starts on the left side of the parking lot, a little more than half-way down, at a large wooden sign (…which we managed to forget to take a pic of). Begin following Rahway (WHITE).
There are houses at the very start of the trail, such as this “Round House”. The houses are very detailed and cleverly use natural materials like logs, bark, vines, sticks, and stones.
The trail generally has a flat, easy surface. A low rope fence lines the trail to protect the delicate vegetation from being trampled.
The houses are along the trail and within the roped path. This half of a hollow log features a door and a little bed inside (the fairy was probably out enjoying Sunday brunch).
Treehouse nestled in a curved branch with a sturdy ladder leading up to it.
No fairy home would be complete without chairs, tables, and couches.
Tall, rounded, bark-covered tower just barely balanced on the tip of a branch.
Stone steps leading up to a mysterious door.
The trail splits in two (both soon meet up). One side goes down by the river where many families were hanging out. This may be good point to loop around and head back – though there are a few more houses here and there.
The trail gets a bit harder after this – the surface has more roots and it’s slightly uphill in this direction.
We didn’t spot many houses along here but in a few minutes there were a couple more.
The “And a Swinging Hot spot” sign seemed to be pretty much the last of the fairy trail. This could change at any time however (and this sign may or may not be here when you go!). The park’s trail map does show the fairy trail continuing to the intersection with Sunset woods road.
Turn around when ready and follow Rahway (WHITE) back to the parking lot. Alternately, there are other trails in the area that also will loop back to the lot.
