Detailed hike info and directions on our Woods of Wenonah page.

We decided to check out this small park as part of our South Jersey Sampler – we were in the area for some post-holiday gatherings, so we had hiked Estelle Manor the day before, spent the night in Williamstown, and hit Wenonah on the way to the Turnpike.

The Woods of Wenonah is a U-shaped wooded area that surrounds the town of Wenonah. It has several short trails, with access paths that lead off into neighborhoods. It’s not remote by any means, as houses are visible along most of the route. It’s a nice little park though, and we felt the Comey’s Lake area was the prettiest part. Read more…

NJ Hiking NJ General Moderate, South NJ

Detailed hike info and directions on our Estelle Manor Park page.

The weekend after New Years we found ourselves in southern Jersey for post-holiday gatherings two nights in a row, and took advantage of hotel stays to check out some smaller parks we wouldn’t normally drive down to: Estelle Manor Park and then Wenonah Woods the next day. We even lucked out with a gorgeous upper-50s day.

We hit Estelle Manor Park on our way out of Atlantic City. Trails here are super easy – flat, level, packed sand typical of Jersey’s Pine Barrens. This park is more of a ‘hey let’s go for a walk or have a picnic” kinda park and not a remote hiking destination but it’s worth a visit. A big highlight of this park is the long section of boardwalk called the Pine Swamp Trail. Read more…

NJ Hiking Pine Barrens Easy Hike, Historical

For our annual New Years Day hike we ended up at Mahlon Dickerson Reservation. Many people had the same idea, whether it was to take advantage of the unusually mild (low-50s) winter day or maybe getting an early start on a New Years resolution to exercise more.

We chose Mahlon because we wanted a moderate loop that we’d mostly done before so we didn’t have to think too hard after having our annual ‘wine-n-cheesies’ the night before. Mahlon’s trails are very scenic, plus there is Headley overlook and another viewpoint. (Both viewpoints are a little drab this time of year however)

We planned on parking at the Saffin Dam lot. While I knew that there was a Highlands Trail re-route on the one side of the dam, I didn’t know the entire Saffin Pond parking lot was roped-off and closed (and porta-john removed). There were several cars parked along the road but we decided to head further down the road to another parking lot and start our route from there.

Saffin Pond is really pretty, but if you are heading just to the park just to see it – hold off. It’s not-so-scenic while they are working on the dam. The water is very low, and there is construction equipment at the dam. The trails in the park are fine and worth hiking though!

>>>For more info, trail maps, and other hikes in Mahlon, check out Headley Overlook or the Beaver Brook Trail. Read more…

NJ Hiking Morris County Parks Lake, Morris, Viewpoint

Detailed hike info on our Hartshorne Woods page.

We took a little time off around the holidays so of course we needed to get some hikes in. Since it was a weekday we wanted a park that was no-hunting (though it is closed a few days in December) plus we didn’t feel like driving far so we decided to hit up Hartshorne Woods Park in Middletown.

It was also forecast to be very cold (like in the mid-30s brr) so we wanted a park we could bail on if we had enough. Of course, the forecast for the next day changed from rain to the 50s as we were heading out the door. Ah, well.

We knew it was a long time since we’d been to this park, but until I couldn’t find an entry in our Trail Blog (which goes back to 2006) I didn’t realize how long. I had to root through our photos to discover we’d last been in 2003. Yikes.

It’s a very nice park but we had found the multi-use trails a nuisance – not that the bike riders were anything but polite – we just prefer to hike without the possibility of a bike whizzing ’round the corner, so we had put the park on a back burner. Even on a chilly Thursday we saw a handful of bike riders, so imagine on a warm weekend. Read more…

NJ Hiking NJ General Central NJ, Historical, Moderate, Viewpoint

Complete hike details found on the South Mountain Reservation page.

With mild weather in the forecast for Jersey – in the mid-50′s in December! – we had to go hiking. Sometimes, you just need to ditch things and go for a hike.

Our compromise was heading to a park under an hour away, where we could get a moderate hike in while leaving the rest of the afternoon open to attempt to be mildly productive. We’d been saving South Mountain Reservation for just such a situation.

This park is similar to Watchung Reservation and northern Jersey terrain, moderate, somewhat rocky trails. It’s also surrounded closely by development and has some traffic noise so it does not have the remote feeling that many of northwestern NJ’s trails do. It is unfortunately marred by graffiti on some rocks near streams as well as around Hemlock Falls.

Read more…

NJ Hiking NJ General Essex, Historical, Moderate, Waterfall