Lots of snow so far this winter, so we've been doing some short snowy hikes. For the full blog post... check out
Winter Hikes: D&R Canal, Cheesequake… Continue
Added by njHiking.com on January 16, 2011 at 8:30pm —
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It was supposed to be about 7 degrees warmer in southern New Jersey so that is where I headed. I believe it was a bit windier there but surprisingly the trees held the wind back on the trails so with sufficient layers, hiking was very comfortable. I was amazed at how many people were camping in the campground in the cold but I had the trails all to myself - not another soul out hiking. The East Creek Trail part of this hike is in "50 Hikes in New Jersey" 2nd edition, page 232. Apparently that…
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Added by Daniela Wagstaff on December 6, 2010 at 10:42pm —
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We didn't have time for a long or far away hike this weekend so we decided to try out Merrill Creek Reservoir in Washington, NJ. It's about 50-60 minutes from central NJ (New Brunswich-ish area). It's a nice park with easy hiking, well marked trails, and a very nice visitor center. There are some ruins of farm buildings along the trails near the visitor center.
Directions: 287 to 78W to exit 4, then meander through back roads... Get the detailed directions on the…
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Added by njHiking.com on November 27, 2010 at 8:43pm —
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Decided to head over to Harriman on a gorgeous nice day (mid 60's, partly sunny in November!). Just picked a parking area and slapped together a route on the drive up; Harriman is great for that
. This route include Tom Jones Mountain, Parker Cabin Mountain, Claudius Smith Den, Sebago Lake and Skenonto Lake.
8.4 miles. Moderate-difficult with some steep rocky ups/downs along Ramapo-Dunderberg. Nice views along this section. After Claudius Smith Den the trail is more even,…
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Added by njHiking.com on November 16, 2010 at 2:30pm —
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This hike gives a different perspective with views into New Jersey from the "back door". Only 15 minutes west of the Delaware Water Gap on I-80, you will feel like you have arrived at the top of the world as you summit Camelback Mountain at 2,132 feet. There are unobstructed views of the Kittatinny Mountains where your eye can follow the horizon along miles and miles of the Appalachian Trail. Although I could not make out High Point monument, it is somewhere to the northeast. Mount Tammany,…
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Added by Daniela Wagstaff on November 15, 2010 at 2:46pm —
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I did the
same hike NJ Hiking did a few months ago but bumped it out a notch to the next parking area to the west to make it a 10 miler, which added another mountain to climb. The nice thing about adding on that part was there was nobody else there. The parking area is small - 2 maybe 3 cars - but I was the only one parked there all day. I ran into no other people while hiking across Pochuck Mountain both ways. The…
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Added by Daniela Wagstaff on November 11, 2010 at 6:46pm —
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Really enjoyed the trails at this park in West Milford, very pretty... overlooks, Butler Reservoir, waterfalls. We'd been saving this park for a Saturday during hunting season (no-hunting here). A longish route can't really be done, but the trails are typical Jersey Highlands (up-n-down-up-n-down) so they give you a workout anyway.
Directions and a park map can be found
here. There were no paper maps in the kiosk,…
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Added by njHiking.com on November 6, 2010 at 8:38pm —
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On Halloween we ended up hiking along the Black River, starting at the Cooper Mill lot in Chester. The foliage was still decent, but not as brilliant as we'd passed the week before on our way up to The Gap. We also wanted to hit this park on a Sunday, as they do allow hunting here.
We've hiked this beautiful area many times, but added in a spur we hadn't done before. I'd noticed in "Hiking New Jersey" that a side trail lead to "Kay's Summer Cottage Ruins, Grotto…
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Added by njHiking.com on November 6, 2010 at 8:00pm —
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This is supposed to be the most strenuous hike in New Jersey. The Stonetown Circular trail goes up and down four different mountains. Add to that a large amount of leaf drop that covered rocks on the trail and yes, very strenuous! Most of the hike is lovely with more views than you can count. The Wanaque Reservoir, however, was quite unattractive this time because the water level was very low - it looks much nicer when full. Ran into one other hiker around 5 miles then a few small groups on…
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Added by Daniela Wagstaff on November 1, 2010 at 12:53pm —
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We've done this hike a ton of times, but it never fails to disappoint... especially with peak fall foliage. This is a challenging loop that combines two of Jersey's best hikes - Mt. Tammany and Sunfish Pond - into one.
First, we headed steeply up to the summit of Mt. Tammany (RED DOT on WHITE), with views of the Delaware Water Gap and of Pennsylvania's Mt. Minsi.
We then followed the fire road (unmarked) along the ridge, where the…
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Added by njHiking.com on October 29, 2010 at 3:29pm —
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We did the Wanaque Ridge trail back in March on a brisk, overcast day, and wanted to come back on a nicer day to get better photos. We did a similar route this time but added in a loop to Van Slyke Castle, and instead of the YELLOW trail we walked back along the unmarked woods road along Ramapo Lake.…
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Added by njHiking.com on October 17, 2010 at 7:00pm —
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(5.1 miles) I had decided that today would be a good day to go somewhere hiking since the weather was finally perfect. I chose to go to the Edwin B Forsythe NWR since it is about 15 mins. from my house. I think it is still a little early for migratory birds, as I did not see many at all. I set out on the 5.1 mile hike by leaving the parking area and heading on the path through the picnic area. After turning on to the woods road, I noticed that some trees are starting to…
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Added by William and Marieann Bannan on October 13, 2010 at 4:34pm —
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My original plan was to go to Fair Hill NRMA outside of Elkton MD for a full day of hiking (anyone been there?) , but considering it was suppose to be 85 and humid in Elkton, decided to stay closer to home and go to Batsto Village in Wharton State Park. I decided to do the Batona Trail/ White Trail Loop which is 4 miles. All trails leave from the back of the parking lot by the picnic area.…
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Added by William and Marieann Bannan on September 23, 2010 at 5:48pm —
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Ended up doing two small hikes at Great Swamp as we had a busy weekend and only had time for a short hike, need one under an hour away.
7.25 miles total (approx., our GPS decided to drop us at end of hike #2) 1st hike: 2 miles, 2nd hike: 5.25...probably. Terrain is level, very easy to easy.
We first stopped at the Wildlife Observation Center and walked the 2 miles of boardwalks through th swamp. There are several observation blinds to check out…
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Added by njHiking.com on September 22, 2010 at 3:30pm —
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The Cliff Park trails are mostly woods roads, some actually very pleasant, others not so pleasant, but the great views you get from along the cliffs come very easily for the little amount of work involved in this hike. After hiking the cliffs I switched to sneakers and did the part of the McDade Multi-use Trail I knew was completed and runs along the valley at the foot of the cliffs. Only ran into two people on bikes, one other hiker and two groups of HUNTERS! Yes, apparently it is crow season…
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Added by Daniela Wagstaff on September 19, 2010 at 6:21pm —
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We decided to wander around Wawayanda on a fine September day - pleasant and in the mid 70s. As usual, we just slung together a route as we went.
12 miles - terrain is easy to moderate; distance challenging. Plenty of options for smaller loops here. Wawayanda terrain is less rocky and pretty level (most are old woods roads), and quite pleasant compared to what's usual in North Jersey.
It's also a very pretty park, and the trails are full of mountain laurel…
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Added by njHiking.com on September 16, 2010 at 2:00pm —
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We wanted to do this hike over the summer, but it was way too hot to do this hike so we waited. We lucked out with a gorgeous Labor Day weekend.
We did this loop in
Nov. 2008 and the Split Rock Trail blue markers were frustratingly hard to find; they still are. After that experience, and reading…
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Added by njHiking.com on September 10, 2010 at 5:30pm —
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This is a very easy way to hike to Sunrise Mountain for about 7 miles total out and back. The parking lot off of Deckertown Turnpike holds about 8 cars but does not seem to be heavily used. The parking lot is already at a high elevation so other than some minor ups and downs along the way, the trail is pretty level along a ridge. Some limited views to the west and north early on, probably better views when the leaves are down. I tried to incorporate the Lusscroft Farm trails into the hike but…
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Added by Daniela Wagstaff on September 7, 2010 at 1:22pm —
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Opted for a bike ride since it was going to be mid-90s and sunny, and we hadn't been for a ride in awhile. We headed over to our favorite bike route... the Delaware and Raritan Canal towpath. We prefer to bike the towpath, but it would make for easy hiking as well (more like walking really).
The trail surface is level packed dirt or fine crushed stone, basically a rail trail. It is mostly shaded, and runs along the canal and river. …
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Added by njHiking.com on August 30, 2010 at 2:29pm —
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I hadn't hiked this part of the A.T. yet so I wanted to see what was there. The views early on are marred by power lines and towers. Views along the rest of the trail are limited. I think with the leaves down, there would be a lot more to see as the A.T. follows a ridge for a good part of this hike and there should be views to both the east and west. One of the advantages of this hike is it starts up high so elevation changes are minimal if you don't feel like a long climb up to reach the A.T.…
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Added by Daniela Wagstaff on August 22, 2010 at 11:56am —
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