Abandoned Town Hiking

[Ami Menz]

Hi Everyone! I was wondering if anyone happens to know the access point to get to the trails that lead through the Pine Barrons (I believe near Shamong Forest near Wharton Forest) to get to the abandoned buildings. I heard it's quite interesting but haven't been able to get any directions to where to start. If anyone has any suggestions or GPS cords let me know. Thanks! Ami

[Linda Frank]

Hi, Ami.

While there's many abandoned towns & structures in The Barrens, some of the more known and visited are along The Batona Trail in Wharton State Forest.  I'm thinking the particular one you're referring to that's near Shamong might be the old town of Atsion.  You can read more about that town and many others like it here:  Pinelands Alliance

Click on as many links and maps as are on the page.  You can find there a wealth of info, maps, Google directions, GPS, etc.

Hope some of this helps and enjoy your hike(s).

Linda 

[Ami Menz]

Thank you so much Linda! I'm going to check it out now :)

[Brom Vermeulen]

Hello Ami,

Try to locate a copy of "Ghost Towns and other quirky places in the New Jersey pine barrens" by Barbara Solem-Stull. It's a fairly recent book (2006) and your local library may have it. It has maps and descriptions of ghost towns throughout South Jersey, with directions for hikers and kayakers.  The author lives in Shamong.

[Ami Menz]

Thanks Brom! The website Linda sent me too was great and I just ordered this book from Amazon so I think I see some hiking in the future :)

Brom Vermeulen said:

Hello Ami,

Try to locate a copy of "Ghost Towns and other quirky places in the New Jersey pine barrens" by Barbara Solem-Stull. It's a fairly recent book (2006) and your local library may have it. It has maps and descriptions of ghost towns throughout South Jersey, with directions for hikers and kayakers.  The author lives in Shamong.

[njHiking.com]

Hi Ami - another site you can check is the "Ghost Towns and Forgotten Places" forum on njpinebarrens.com.

--Dawn

[Ami Menz]

Awesome! Loads of info there!