Winter Hikes: D&R Canal, Cheesequake S.P.

Lots of snow so far this winter (2010), so we’ve been doing some short snowy hikes, which I’ve put in this one post.

12/31/10 – On New Year’s Eve we did a short hike at the Delaware & Raritan Canal State Park, starting at Rocky Hill and headed south.

The towpath is very flat and great for snowshoe and cross-country, but the path was worn enough to get by with nothing, although I opted for a little traction help from YakTrax.

The snow got deeper the further we went, as people hadn’t gone that far. Without snowshoes, it was getting too difficult so we turned around.

1/1/11 – We always take a hike on New Year’s Day, it’s such a great way to start the new year.

We needed a hike that was nearby as we had something to do that night… so off to Cheesequake State Park we went…

There was probably 5-6″ of trampled snow.

I used traction aids, but they probably weren’t needed. It was fun to pick out all the different tracks in the snow: boots, boots with spikes, snowshow – both newer and old “tennis racket” type, and skis.

Those roads are good for cross country as well.

1/16/11 – Ended up at Cheesequake again.

Still a decent amount of snow on the ground here, the trail was pretty trampled but the snow was fluffy, not icy.

I used MICROspikes which just makes winter hiking a breeze. We walked toward the lake and on the woods roads this time, and in some areas it was still a little deep so we needed to follow the ski tracks.

The parking lot was amusing…. I was putting on microspikes, another couple was heading off on snowshoe, and then another pair were pulling skis out of the trunk…. a little something for everyone at Cheesequake.

And if you have a sled, there is a big hill by the lake where people were sledding… looked like a ton of fun.