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.

If you are in the South Jersey, this is certainly worth a visit. It’s hillier than you usually get in southern Jersey, and it’s not in the Pine Barrens. For those in north Jersey with all the rugged hiking surrounding you… it’s probably not worth driving down to this park.

Oddly, we only ran into a handful of people on the trail. It was chillier this day than the warm weather we had the day before, so maybe that is why… but we’d assume this trail has to normally be full of joggers/walkers/dog-walkers. It has such great access for the people in the town to walk out their street and have a nice trail right there to use. Hey, all towns should have hiking trails attached to them, right?

The trails aren’t blazed, but marked with signposts at intersections. There are a few spots that it was a little difficult to figure where to go, so we recommend picking up or sending for the trail map.

Miles: 6.0 – [This is combining every trail, most individual trails are under 1 mile.]

Parking: N39 47.922 W75 09.138 [Wenonah Lake lot, which is not marked as parking on the trail map!?]

Route: Wenonah Lake Trail – Break Back Run Trail – Mantua Creek Trail – Monongahela Brook Trail – Eldridge Trail – Monongahela Brook Loop Trail – Eldridge Trail – Comey’s Lake Trail – Eldridge Trail – Monongahela Brook Trail – Mantua Creek Trail – Break Back Run Trail

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.

The trails are not really blazed, there are some directional signage at junctions… so it’s a bit vague. Make sure you print out a trail map or pick up one at the nature center.

There is also a nature center, playground, picnic areas, bike rentals, fields, etc. The trails are multi-use and the north section is a mountain bike trail. The easy trail surface here may make this a good choice when snow is on the ground.

Miles: 6.5 [actual miles: 7.4 due to a wrong a wrong turn in the mountain bike section]

Parking: N39 23.895 W74 44.565

Route: Pond Trail – Exercise Trail – Point Trail – Cribbers Road – Swamp Trail – Smokeless Powder Trail – Duck Farm Trail – North End Trail

Bombs Away!!!: This area was used as a munitions plant in WWI, check out some history and photos about the Bethlehem Loading Company.

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.

Miles: 8.7 miles

Parking: N41 00.776 W74 33.833 (picnic parking area)

Route: HIGHLANDS (Teal) – WHITE – BLUE DOT – BLUE – HIGHLANDS – [Saffin Pond] – YELLOW – Unmarked – HIGHLANDS

Snack Time: Clif Bar recently sent us this cute little box with some samples. On this hike we tried the last item we had left: Clif Shot Bloks, Citrus. They come 6 bite-sized pieces to a package, and it’s recommended to eat 3 to 6 pieces every hour. Well, we had one package so we split it.

Verdict: 2 thumbs up. We’d never tried any of the Clif Shots products before, as they’ve never appealed to us. We use energy bars as an easy, portable meal replacement while hiking – as opposed to some super performance thingy. (It’s not like we are running a marathon or a bike race.)

The texture is like a gummy-bear but not as chewy or sticky. The citrus taste was mild and pleasant, and not fakey or left an aftertaste like we expected.

As for actually giving us energy… we’d have to test them more to see.  Negatives: Not filling, so they wouldn’t work as a portable meal replacement. However, we would consider buying.

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.

The trails are not blazed but are marked with signposts at intersections, which mostly works ok – but make sure you pick up or print out a map. We managed to piece together a decent size route by combining the outer trails of the entire park, and checking out some of the battery/bunker buildings.

The Rocky Point end of the park was used as a military coastal defense position in WWII, and there are some bunkers to check out. There are also views of the Navesink River and the ocean.

Miles: 9.1 miles (8.7 if you skip the boring Command Loop like we should have done)

Parking: N40 24.064 W74 00.774 [Buttermilk Valley Entrance]
Roughly 35-40 min from central NJ, New Brunswick-ish area.

Route: Laurel Ridge – Grand Tour – Rocky Point – Battery Loop – Cuestra Ridge – Laurel Ridge

Snack Time: Clif Bar recently sent us this cute little box with some samples. On this hike we tried the White Chocolate Macadamia Mojo Bar and the Chocolate Peanut Butter Builder’s Bar.

White Chocolate Macadamia Mojo Bar Verdict: 2 thumbs sideways. While the bar tasted good, we probably wouldn’t purchase them. Mojos are usually salty-savory and we get them when we want a change from the usual energy bar, so we didn’t see a benefit to making it taste like a sweet bar.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Builder’s Bar Verdict: 1 thumbs up, 1 “eh”. The bar tastes good, with chocolate and peanut butter over a crisp rice layer. But bars with crisp layers can be on the hard side, especially in the cold, so I gave it an “eh”.

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.

But still, it’s a nice park and an easy getaway for a large portion of New Jersey. There is a viewpoint from Washington Rock (where a signal beacon warned the Army at Morristown of the British Army’s approach),  Hemlock Falls (a popular waterfall destination, though we had it to ourselves this morning) and a hike along the Rahway River. The other end of the park also contains Turtleback Zoo.

We kept to the hiking trails, but there are many easy, unmarked woods roads and that is mostly what people were using (lots of dog walkers and people out for a stroll on these wide, level trails). This route uses part of the 40-mile Lenape Trail.

*The park is non-hunting except for some days in Jan. and Feb. [haven't seen 2012 dates but in 2011 it was Tuesdays and Thursdays]

Miles: 6.1 miles

Parking: N40 43.699 W74 18.253 [Locust Grove Parking Area]
Under an hour from central NJ, New Brunswick-ish area.

Route: Lenape Trail (YELLOW) – Rahway (WHITE)

Holiday Bonus: There is an evergreen tree decorated with Christmas ornaments at the Washington Rock viewpoint.

Wildlife spotted: 5 deer bounding away over a hill.

Snack Time: Clif Bar recently sent us this cute little box with some samples (because somewhere along the way we subscribed to their newsletter or signed up for samples) We tried the White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Clif Bar. Verdict: 2 thumbs up; we’d buy it. It was slightly sweeter than some of their other flavors but had nice taste. And let’s face it… can you go wrong when combining white chocolate and macadamia nuts?

After a few weekend obligations and my nagging cold kept us from getting in any hikes other than a couple jaunts at Cheesequake, we were happy to get back out this weekend.

Since we were dog-sitting in south Jersey we took advantage of having lodging only about a half hour from Belleplain (normally would be about 2 hrs from central NJ). Bela is an avid hiker, but at age 15 with cranky joints is now retired from long hikes, so we couldn’t take her along (although she’d still try and hike all day if you let her!)

Belleplain State Forest is in the New Jersey Pine Barrens… so it’s all endless pine and Atlantic white cedar – quite different from the north part of NJ. South Jersey is also flat as a pancake so the hiking is easy.

We parked at the Interpretive Center by Lake Nummy and picked up the East Creek Trail from there. The trail is typical pine barrens but with several wet crossings to manage (even small sections of water are the distinctive tea-color of the area).

Other than Lake Nummy at the start/end of this hike, they are no views until East Creek Pond along Rt. 347, and again of the pond later as the trail finally skirts near the water… just once. It’s a nice hike still.

Miles: 7.2. Easy, flat, packed sand trails, negligible elevation changes. There are several long boardwalks over wet areas, but also a few deep wet areas without them that were tricky to cross.

Parking: N39 14.702 W74 51.468 (Lake Nummy trailhead parking area)

Route: East Creek Trail (WHITE)

Wildlife spotted: Nada. We weren’t lucky enough to spot any bald eagles this time.

Misc: In addition to the campground, the East Creek Cabin is a large rental unit with bunks, bathroom, kitchen etc that sits right on the pond. We’ve been to a couple gatherings there and it’s pretty fun. Many years ago we spotted our first bald eagle – ever – while canoeing on the pond.

History Stuff: The Civilian Conservation Corps
When reading up on parks in NJ, the Civilian Conservation Corps is often mentioned as having built this structure or planted this grove of trees etc.

Many of New Jersey’s parks and forests benefited from this depression-era New Deal program that combined unemployment-relief with conservation efforts. In a nutshell, unemployed young men joined work camps around the country and were paid $30 a month (with $25 of that going back to help their family at home).

The results of their hard work is still enjoyed today. In Belleplain, for example, CCC workers turned a cranberry bog into Lake Nummy, built many of the park’s structures and roads, and improved the forest. For a little more info about the CCC check out:

• The Civilian Conservation Corps: A Legacy Lives On In New Jersey’s State Parks – nice 2-page summary on NJ CCC
• Brief History of the CCC
• High Point State Park and the Civilian Conservation Corps (NJ) - Images of America book
• My CCC Days – memoir of day-to-day CCC life by Frank C. Davis

We were looking for a hike that was relatively nearby and not too long, as we were going to be out late the night before. Thompson Park (not to be confused with Thompson Park in Middlesex County) was on our list of ‘short hikes to check out’.

I’d always thought this park was just a take-a-stroll, play-some-soccer kind of park until I stumbled upon it’s trail map online. The longest trail on the park map listed was the Reservoir Loop, described as a 4.8 mile loop around the reservoir and lake, so we opted for that.

Overall, this hike was the right choice for a nearby park we could still get some miles in… but it traveled a lot more through fields and on grass than we care for. It was also very sparsely marked, BLUE marker posts were only at some junctions. We could mostly tell where we were by looking at the map, but it required many stops to double check.

Also – no matter how I looked at our GPS data vs the park map  – this trail is longer than the stated 4.8 miles. And we cut it shorter and took the paved park path to avoid backtracking. Maybe we are missing something here, and it wasn’t a big deal to us…. but 1.6 extra miles could be a bit of a surprise for someone.

Miles: 6.4. Trail surface mostly easy: forested areas have some roots, and some grassy areas were quite wet. Mostly flat, no big elevation changes.

Parking: N40 19.822 W74 08.388 (Old Orchard lot)

Route: Reservoir Loop (BLUE) and Paved Trail

Wildlife Spotted: About a dozen or so turtles, and two Eastern Garter Snakes.

We ended up at Morristown National Park for Veteran’s Day Weekend, hiking Jockey Hollow and a bit into the adjacent Lewis Morris Park. It had been over two years since we’d done the Grand Loop and Mt Kemble Loop trails.

As soon as we drove into the park, it was apparent that Snowtober had taken it’s toll with many toppled trees, trees snapped in half, and many downed branches. Of course it was more of the same on the trails themselves.

Even though all the trails had been cleared, we passed so many blowdowns… many still with full fall foliage on them. Foliage was well past it’s prime at the park and the trail was covered with a thick carpet of leaves, but there still was the occasional tree in full on yellow or golds.

We had decided to just go for a hike and not lug around the SLR or the video camera for a change, figuring that the park would be on the brown side… and it was. This is a beautiful park regardless, but there aren’t many overlooks and w/o green or fall foliage, there wasn’t enough for us to warrant hauling the gear. Sometimes you just want to hike.

We usually do the Grand Loop and Mt Tremble trail, but this time we added a little loop into Lewis Morris too. The Patriot Path connects the trail systems of both parks, allowing for the creation of long routes.

The trails here are easy and this route is moderate only due to length. There are a few hills but a lot of this park is flat, and it’s also not rocky like northern NJ tends to be.

Note: Lewis Morris allows hunting and there was a sign posting the days it would be closed for that – check the park site before heading out.

Jockey Hollow info.

Lewis Morris park info

Lewis Morris Trail Map

Parking: N40 46.345 W74 31.672 (This is the parking in the center of the park with bathrooms)

Route: BLUE – WHITE (Grand Loop) – BLUE (Patriots Path) into Lewis Morris – ORANGE – GREEN – GREEN/YELLOW – BLUE (Patriots Path) out of Lewis Morris – WHITE (Grand Loop) – BLUE

Wildlife spotted: 4 deer and the briefest glimpse of a Pileated Woodpecker as it flew away.

Complete hike details found on the Green Lane Park page.

Decided on Green Lane Park in southeastern Pennsylvania in an attempt to find some fall foliage, and it ended up being a good choice. While open areas like the highways on the way or around the water were past peak or had mostly leaf drop, in the forest on the trails themselves the leaves were gorgeous.

We’d never been to this park before, so we decided to follow a book (AMC’s Best Day Hikes Near Philadelphia) instead of trying to whip up our own route.

We did end up modifying the route on the fly, and if we went here again I think we’d start at another lot around the reservoir instead of the Snyder Lane parking lot. We didn’t care for walking through the general use area to get to the trails, plus it was somewhat confusing.

This park is multi-use and allows horses. There was some manure and the trails were torn up a bit with deep mud in spots. Hikers have many more options than equestrians do for trails, and we really didn’t find it to be a big deal. But it’s worth a mention as I’d read some negative comments online in regards to that. We saw just two horses all day, but in summer surely there are more.

Green Lane Park Site

Green Lane Park Trail Map

The fall foliage maps pointed to the Bearfort Mountain region being at peak color. They were right. The last time we hiked to Surprise Lake there weren’t many leaves on the trees, so we wanted to come back to get photos during autumn.

This hike has tons of views of Greenwood Lake and the surrounding NJ/NY area, a nice lake, and multiple rock scrambles. Most people probably just do the 4.1 mile loop around the lake, but we added on two viewpoints along the Appalachian Trail in NY. This section was much nicer than when we went south last time. Another option is to make a larger loop by using the Bearfort Ridge and Quail Trails, and of course you can go for a very long way on the AT.

There were a lot of hikers and hiking groups there, and they all were going around the loop opposite than what we do. We like to hit the view over Greenwood Lake and arrive at Surprise Lake early and have them to ourselves, which also allow us to tack on the AT out and back at the end… but you can do the loop the other way. Some scrambles on Ernest Walker may be easier that direction.

Note: There is a ladder to the a viewpoint on the AT north. It’s more like climbing up skinny steps than a ladder… but if you hike with a dog that doesn’t do well with scrambling, check out the photo of it in the gallery.

Parking: N41 11.146 W74 19.918 – 287N to exit 55, Rt 511 towards Wanaque. Follow 511 as it makes a right (Lakeside Rd) and hugs the west side of Greenwood Lake. Take it all the way to just before the NY border (if you hit the border, you went too far). The parking is tough to spot, it’s on the left across from a marina. Go straight back on a rutted dirt road (we managed in a car) to the trail sign. Very limited parking.

Restrooms: None. There was a gas station as you turned onto Lakeside Rd., and before that there are ones on 511.

Miles: 7.2 – Rocky trail, steep right in the beginning, multiple elevation changes. Even though it’s not a long hike, we’d rate it challenging due to the rock scrambles.

Route: State Line (BLUE on WHITE) – Ernest Walker (YELLOW) – Appalachian Trail North (WHITE) then retrace route back – State Line (BLUE on WHITE)

Map: You can get by with this basic Abram S. Hewitt State Forest map... but really you should just have the North Jersey Trails Map Set

Books: This hike minus the side trip on the AT can be found in “Hiking the Jersey Highlands”. Surprise Lake via Bearfort/Quail trails can be found in “Hiking New Jersey”

Randomness: The Greenwood Lake Air Show was going on. Some bi-planes flew past, and we could see acrobatic planes from the viewpoints. Always something a little different when hiking in Jersey.