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

Hike details found on the Thompson Park page.

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. Read more…

NJ Hiking Other Central NJ, Easy Hike, Lake, Monmouth

I’d read that Cheesequake State Park had taken a decent hit from Irene. So after spending our prior weekend getting our basement back in order, and spending the weekend before that bailing it out by hand when the power was out for days… it was time to get out for a quick hike.

There were lots of down trees visible throughout, but the park staff had already done a terrific job cleaning up the trails. In fact, it looked like many had been raked clear because there was so much debris that the trail would be hard to follow otherwise.

One large section of boardwalk was totally moved to the side, but the area itself wasn’t wet (it usually is). And other areas that are soggy on a good day, were no problem to pass. A lot of sand had been washed into these areas, and it had the effect of actually making the areas easier to cross. We had expected to see flooded areas and destroyed boardwalks/bridges, but even the normally wet areas around Hooks Creek Lake were fine.

5-ish miles, roughly… we didn’t take the GPS as we’ve been there soooo many times.

Route: YELLOW – walk around Hooks Creek Lake (not blazed) – walk across beach/playground to crabbing bridge -  Perrine Road (a dirt woods road) – BLUE around Perrine Pond – BLUE/Perrine Road – RIGHT on GREEN – GREEN back to lot

Read more…

NJ Hiking NJ General Easy Hike

The Columbia Trail is a 15 mile long rail trail that runs from High Bridge in Hunterdon County to Bartley in Morris County. The trail goes through scenic Ken Lockwood Gorge and along the Raritan River, running through woods, behind houses, and through some small towns along the way.

It’s also mostly in shade, so that is where we headed on another hot day. The multi-use trail (walk/bike/horse) is easy, mostly level  (slightly uphill going from High Bridge) and covered in crushed gravel. We prefer it for biking, but it would be good for easy hiking as well.

30 miles. We started at High Bridge and did the entire trail to Bartley, then back.  A nice shorter route would be High Bridge to Califon, and back, at about 10.2 miles roundtrip. Read more…

NJ Hiking NJ Biking Easy Hike, Hunterdon, Morris

Our spring hiking so far was getting tripped up by weather, weekend obligations, and a vacation spent tooling around the Yucatan in Mexico (where the vast, flat expanses of trees reminded us of Jersey’s Pinelands!).

Finally we got some time free, and with some recent rain decided on two hikes with plenty of waterfall action. First up, a quick 2.0 miles at Tillman Ravine, followed by Millbrook – Van Campens Glen.

Tillman Ravine is flat out gorgeous and is an easy, short hike with a rushing stream, and plenty of water cascades. Read more…

NJ Hiking High Point/Stokes Cemetery, Easy Hike, North NJ, Waterfall