NJ Hiking: Connect

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All Blog Posts (324)

Rutgers Ecological Preserve - 7/4/15

Small parcel of old growth forest with a network of easy, scenic trails near Rutgers New Brunswick campus.

3.8 miles, compact red clay / shale, roots. Somewhat hilly with a few somewhat steep ones. Well maintained trails.

  • Shorter: Do only an individual loop like YEL, RED, BLUE, etc
  • Longer: Overlap in a YEL or WHT loop or…
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Added by njHiking.com on July 9, 2015 at 5:06pm — No Comments

Mountain Laurel or Rhododendron?

A photo guide and suggested New Jersey hikes.

Mountain laurel and rhododendron add beauty to any hike when in bloom, and the dense “tunnels" they often create are especially interesting to hike through.

Though somewhat similar in appearance with overlapping bloom times, there are a few key distinguishing features...…

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Added by njHiking.com on June 17, 2015 at 4:00pm — No Comments

Wawayanda State Park – Old Coal Trail - 5/24/15

Pleasant, easy route that follows woods roads, passes Lookout Lake, skirts Wawayanda Lake, and goes to Wawayanda Furnace.

Mileage: 10.9 miles, mostly easy surface.

Wawayanda’s trails are mostly level, woods roads so the hiking here isn’t as rocky or rugged as is usual in the Highlands, or in the Kittatinny range in NW Jersey. The elevation change isn't too bad,…

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Added by njHiking.com on June 17, 2015 at 3:30pm — No Comments

Washington Crossing State Park - 4/12/15

Hike with history at a scenic park near the site of Washington’s crossing of the Delaware River and the Continental Army’s route to Trenton in 1776.

7.2 miles (by combining the major trails within the park). Surface is dirt/roots, not that many rocks. Some minor hills.

Our two cents: Scenic, historic park that is more suited for easy or…

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Added by njHiking.com on May 28, 2015 at 5:30pm — No Comments

Cattus Island Park - 4/4/15

Hike through pine lands, around marshes, and along beaches while looking for Osprey in nesting platforms.

Easy surface of sand, pine needles, wood chips, boardwalks. Level, no elevation change.

  • 6.9 miles: this route, combining all trails in the park
  • Shorter: RED Loop (1.7), YELLOW (1.5), BLUE (2.2)
  • Combine 2 loops for a 3-4 mile…
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Added by njHiking.com on April 14, 2015 at 4:30pm — No Comments

Franklin Parker Preserve - Yellow/White - 3/29/15

Hike around old cranberry bogs through a beautiful section of NJ’s Pine Barrens, and look for wildlife from an observation platform.

Easy, flat, no elevation changes. Soft, pine needle or sand surface. Potentially wet areas and crossings. A section of the YELLOW trail was completely impassable the day we hiked, and we couldn’t complete the loop.

  • 6.6…
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Added by njHiking.com on April 8, 2015 at 4:52pm — No Comments

Nothing beats a good day at Round Valley

Except when you get back to your car and have a $71 ticket for parking there after the park closed! URGH! I was literally carrying out beer bottles and garbage I picked up on the quick 6 miler (office to campsite #7 and back) on the Cushetunk and told that cop that I was glad he ticketed us while I was out there cleaning up the park! He didn't appreciate my trail maintenance apparently! I just assumed the park was open till dusk, but it's only open until 6pm in March. Lesson learned I guess.…

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Added by TJ Karakowski on March 29, 2015 at 9:17pm — 2 Comments

Six Mile Run Reservoir – Red Trail - 3/7/15

Trails pass through forests, pines, open fields and along Six Mile Run river in this small multi-use park in Somerset County.

4.4 miles. Easy to moderate trail surface, some small hills.

  • Longer: 6 miles: Keep on RED to where BLUE starts, then turnaround and retrace your steps.
  • Even Longer: 11.7 miles: RED to…
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Added by njHiking.com on March 16, 2015 at 4:05pm — No Comments

Griggstown Native Grassland Preserve

An interesting combo of forest, fields, and grasslands.

5.3 miles. Easy trail through forest and along fields and grasslands; minor hills.

  • Shorter: Blue (.9), Red (1.1) - both loops start from the parking lot
  • Medium: Add in parts of Orange (.7), Yellow (.8) and Brown (.9) trails
  • Longer: The Brown trail…
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Added by njHiking.com on March 9, 2015 at 3:30pm — No Comments

Clayton Park - Monmouth County

Hike over rolling forested hills and along Doctor’s Creek in a small park surrounded by Jersey farmlands.

4.5 miles. Hilly, packed dirt, roots but not a lot of rocks.

  • Shorter: Glen loop: 0.7, Bridges loop: 1.8, other loops from combining trails
  • Longer: Not really, would have to loop back around to do the inner trails…
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Added by njHiking.com on January 22, 2015 at 4:22pm — No Comments

AT Sobo '14 - Rocksylvania

I filmed and edited this stuff on my iPhone 5c and posted when in towns. I lost my NJ hiking credentials to log on, along the trail, so I never updated here.  Sorry guys. 

The smartphone question I posted a year a half ago, was the start of an amazing relationship with my iPhone. 

Filmed, edited  and posted End Sept to Mid Oct 2014. PA, MD and…

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Added by TJ Karakowski on January 16, 2015 at 10:17pm — No Comments

Bunker Hill Natural Area - Somerset County

Short trails along fields and through forests, with a 30-foot cliff near Ten Mile Run.

3 miles, easy, mostly level. There are two rock-hop stream crossings over Ten Mile Run on the Brown trail, one is potentially tricky.

  • Shorter: Yellow loop (1.19) or portions of other trails.
  • Longer: continue further on…
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Added by njHiking.com on January 15, 2015 at 5:05pm — No Comments

AT SOBO 14 - Dirty Jerzy & Co.

Happy 2015 NJ Hikers! Now that I've left our amazing state for an extro-spective look, I can report back here that in fact, NJ is the best state. 

I completed my AT Sobo (FYI = Sobo means Southbound) thru hike on the Winter Solstice (12/21). In dismal Georgia. I plan on posting here all my thoughts about that experience over the months to come.. I'm working on my flickr, youtube and white blaze, but NJ Hiking here is my home base. If any one has questions, please ask. No parameters.…

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Added by TJ Karakowski on January 9, 2015 at 1:26pm — 2 Comments

Celebrate the New Year with “First Day Hikes” - 2015

A hike is a great way to kick off the New Year. There is nothing like fresh air and an invigorating hike on the first day of the year.

It's also not a bad way to shake off some holiday over-indulgence... although, in our opinion, leftover holiday cookies count as "trail mix".

For New Year's Day hike ideas, try our…

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Added by njHiking.com on December 31, 2014 at 10:30am — No Comments

Smart Phone/GPS Maps for Baldpate, Sourlands, etc

Hidden Trenton (which has extensive coverage of hiking) just published 3 geo-registered pdf maps of central NJ hiking areas (Baldpate, Sourlands, and Witherspoon Woods/Mt Lakes).  They're free for download here:

http://hiddentrenton.com/smartphone-trail-maps/

The webpage also provides detailed a description of how you load them into your smartphone using a free app called Avenza PDF Maps.…

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Added by Michael Goldstein on December 22, 2014 at 9:30am — 1 Comment

Butler Road Natural Area - 11/23/14

Three short loops that can be combined or hiked alone in this small park surrounding the Ten Mile Run Stream.

4.2 miles, easy; not a lot of rocks or major hills. Multiple rock-hop stream crossings might be tricky when the water level is up.



Our two cents: This has been on our list to check out for awhile and is a nice option…

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Added by njHiking.com on December 18, 2014 at 8:17pm — No Comments

Palisades - Alpine to Forest View - 11/9/14

Sweeping views of the huge cliffs of the Palisades and New York, a rocky hike along the shore, and the castle-like Women’s Federation Monument.

6.4 miles, surface ranges from easy path to rocky trail. Upper and lower portions are level but there is a very steep descent via old and potentially super slippery stone steps (consider reversing this route in wet or icy…

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Added by njHiking.com on December 11, 2014 at 3:09pm — No Comments

Torne Mountain/Osio Rock - 10/26/14

We'd been saving a redo of this route until fall foliage.

However, we couldn't get to it until late Oct. so we weren't sure if this area would be past peak or not but we decide to roll the foliage dice and came up a winner.

Check out the updated Torne…

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Added by njHiking.com on November 3, 2014 at 4:10pm — No Comments

Biking in the Huber Warbler Preserve

On a Saturday in October, I brought my mountain bike back to the Huber Warbler Preserve to see if I could finally reach the back trails. On all my hikes, I never got much farther than the creek crossing. The trails are not great for biking. The sand on the main roads doesn't give great tire traction, and on the smaller side trails, which don't get much use, you're mostly riding on close-cropped foliage stems.

Still, the leaves were pretty in the fall, and it was pleasant enough. A…

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Added by BobN on October 18, 2014 at 8:30pm — No Comments

High Point State Park - Appalachian and Monument Trails - 10/5/14

We hadn't hiked this route in over 5 years, so it was time to head back and try to spot a little foliage.

Why not quite at total peak, the color was quite good. The monument area was hopping with tons of people, bikes, motorcycles and a car club but we only saw a handful of people on the trail on a perfect fall day.

Check out the updated …

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Added by njHiking.com on October 9, 2014 at 3:16pm — No Comments

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