Decided to try our luck with the snow in South Jersey, as I’d checked the snow depth map online and it appeared this area didn’t get as much. Turns out that Brendan Bryne was not the smart choice.
Rt 206 South to Rt. 70 E. (Red Lion Circle). At 4 Mile Circle, take Rt. 72. Park entrance is on the left, not too far, big sign. Follow the signs to the main park office, or to the Pakim Pond lot where we started from.
There were maps in a kiosk at the main park office. Note on the building said the office is closed weekends until April 1st. We drove to the Pakim Pond parking lot a few miles down the park road. The composting toilet was unlocked (yay!). There is also a larger bathroom building there, which is seasonal. Another composting toilet was along the Orange trail later in the hike.
We headed to the Mt Misery trail (WHITE) from the lot, which is reached from the Batona (PINK) as it crosses over Pakim Pond. (near the gazebo) Read more…
Complete hike details, photos, and video on our Ramapo Valley page.
7.2 miles – Moderate trail surface, some hills, rocky sections. A little snow on the trail, mostly muddy from snowmelt. The path near the pond, and a large section of trail near the reservoir was totally slick ice from all the foot travel compacting it. Crossing the pipeline later was also very icy, once false move and you would have starting sliding down the huge hill of the pipeline cut.
Rt. 287N, exit 58 to 202N in Mahwah. Large lot is on the left.
Our route: Silver to Green (Halifax) to Blue (Shore) to Red-Silver to Orange to Silver. Lots more options, connect to Ringwood and Ramapo Mountain to make longer loops; or do a short 2-mile roundtrip to Hawk Rokck viewpoint…
Located in Somerset County, off of Rt 27, our hike info here.
11.7 miles, moderate… but you can certainly do shorter loops.
It was supposed to be bitter cold so we wanted to do a short hike, nearby. We hadn’t been to Six Mile Run in quite awhile, after doing the short BLUE there trail years ago and didn’t think that much of it, as it skirted a lot of fields and such.
Just wasn’t that much of a hiking-thru-the-forest type of hike, when you compare it to North Jersey, but we came to realize that a lot of central hikes are like that. (With central Jersey being so developed, you often find yourself skirting backyards and fields, crossing streets… which can still be fun of course)
I had just read that JORBA (jersey off road biking association) had been developing trails there, and found a new map on their site that listed more trails so we gave it a shot. It turned out to be a nice sunny day and we ended up doing 11.7 miles, all of the park but the Blue trail… Read more…
For detailed hike directions, maps, and photos, visit our Wells Mills page.
We hike on New Years Day every year – it’s a great way to kick off the new year. Weather was cloudy when we started out but not windy. The sun came out around noon and it got up in the mid-40s and was very comfortable.
Located in Ocean County, super easy access – right off the Parkway at exit 69, left onto 532 W, entrance is about 2.5 miles down, on the left. This is a no-hunting park. Get the trail map here.
This was our first time here and we wished we’d check out this park sooner, it’s just really nice with well maintained facilities and trails. It’s also a great intro to the terrain of the Pine Barrens. Right at the start of the hike you walk through an Atlantic white cedar swamp which was just really neat – and pretty.
The terrain switches to just pine barren with areas of cedar swamp sprinkled throughout. There are many narrow boardwalks over wet areas or streams which can get slippery when wet or icy… Read more…
For detailed hike directions, maps, photos and GPS coordinates, visit our Helyar Woods page.
With a ton of snow predicted and it already flurrying, we headed for a short hike at Helyar Woods, a small parcel of woods adjacent to Rutgers Gardens, in New Brunswick.
2.5 miles; very easy, little elevation gain. This is a very short, easy hike at a piece of woods mainly used for dog walking and light walking. Some of the trails are marked, others not, in a seemingly haphazard way… but it’s not a large or confusing park. There may be a trail map available but nothing was open the day we were there, and I’ve located nothing online.
