Allamuchy Mountain State Park Northern Section - 04/17/2011

[Daniela Wagstaff]

Although there is nothing overly spectacular about this hike, I thoroughly enjoyed it.  The highlights are a view of the Delaware Water Gap and Kittatinny Mountains and two NJ1K high peaks - Allamuchy Mountain and Allamuchy Mountain North, all reachable via unmarked trails.  The park map is not good at all and shows no unmarked trails.  The NY/NJ Trail Conference will have this park included in their new map set coming out the end of this month.  But I found an excellent "unofficial" map on JORBA's web site which shows the unmarked trails so I was able to navigate through the maze without getting lost.  They ask for a voluntary donation for using the map and I was happy to do that - the map was awesome! Maybe that was what made the hike more fun and challenging, figuring out the unmarked trails, and the fact that I almost had the place almost to myself.  A couple of groups of mountain bikers passed but that was about it.  One biker commented that they never see hikers on the trails and he was glad to see me there making use of them.  I am sure once the NY/NJ Trail Conference maps come out more hikers will take advantage of the trails but it's a big place and it's great for solitude.  It's kind of a shock to the system when you come down off of the trails on to the Sussex Branch Trail (a rail trail) because that is like Grand Central Station and would explain the packed parking lot.  Click here for details of my hike route.

Some flooding on the trails after heavy storms the night before:

[Bob Workman]

Glad you found the JORBA maps helpful!  And thanks for the donation.  Will keep an eye out for you and your dog and say hellpo if we come across each other in the future!

 

Bob W.