Jenny Jump in Spring

We needed a moderate-yet-pretty trail to do with some friends who were getting back into hiking shape, so we headed over to Jenny Jump.

It had been just about two years exactly that we’d been to Jenny Jump in May.

There are several nice scenic viewpoints, including of the Delaware Water Gap.

The hike leads to Ghost Lake, which is a small but pretty lily-pond filled lake.

The trails are very lush and green, and some areas remind us of the Pacific Northwest.

Detailed hike info can be found on our main Best Hikes in NJ: Jenny Jump page.

We had nice weather after a week of rain, and while the forecast called for potential showers in the afternoon, they didn’t materialize until the drive home.

The mosquitoes, however, were unreal.

Since there had been a lot of rain and we’d run into bug issues here before, we covered ourselves in a fog of Deep Woods Off.

Even so, it was like Pigpen from the Peanuts cartoon – except trailing behind us was a cloud of mosquitoes rather than dirt…

At Ghost Lake there was just enough breeze to keep them at bay, and half-way through the hike back they finally did let up.

This is a really wonderful park so don’t let our bad luck with bugs prevent a visit – perhaps we keep hitting this park at the buggiest time of year or the mosquitoes at Jenny Jump just find us irresistible.

Miles: 5.7. Rocky with some hills – and the return from Ghost Lake is uphill.

Route: Summit Trail (Yellow) – Ghost Lake Trail; out-and-back.

Wildlife spotted: This must be the year of the Snake. We saw 4 on our last hike, and on this hike we saw 2 in under 6 miles.

Both were black snakes, and the 2nd had to have been the longest snake we have ever encountered outside of a zoo – It was easily 6′, probably closer to 7′.