Category: NJ State Parks

Park Site

Trail Map

Hike Distance: 5.97 miles

Trails:  Sweetwater (orange), Swordens Pond (yellow), Clear Brook (purple), Mill Pond(red)

My Map:

There wasn’t a cloud in the sky.  It was cold though, which is ironic because it was in the 60s for the past week.  I had planned on going up north but the trails I wanted to hike were closed for the winter.  And since this park was relatively close to  the house, I decided to check it out.

Double Trouble State Park encompasses an old town and is the site of an ex logging operation and at one time the biggest cranberry bog in the state.  There are numerous Atlantic Cedar groves in the park and many of the trails circumvent the numerous cranberry bogs.  Much of the water in the creeks is stained red due to the cedars.

Most trails are on wide sandy roads

At one point the Sweetwater trail abuts the Garden State Parkway.

For the most part, the trails are flat; there is almost no elevation gain.  My total for the day was 75 feet.

The first body of water I came to on the Sweetwater trail was the Cedar Creek.  After checking it out from the bridge, I climbed down some stairs to get a closer look.

There were plenty of smaller creeks undoubtedly used for moving water from the larger creeks.

The first large body of water I came to was the Sweetwater Reservoir.  It was much colder on the southern side of bodies of water, as the wind was really howling.

At the top of the Sweetwater Reservoir I made a left onto the Swordens Pond trail.  This was more of a “trail” then sand roads.

After walking by the southern end of Platt Reservoir, the Swordens Pond trail makes a loop.  I chose to do the loop clockwise.  And the trail type changed.  Instead of walking on a trail, I was in a ditch.  It was as if they made a fire break out of the trail.  And, I caught a whiff of what I thought was a campfire.

After walking a few minutes, the smell of campfire became more prolific.  It became obvious what I had come across.  All around me were the results of fire.  It was if someone swept out the forest, clearing the ground of leaves, pine needles, brambles, twigs, etc.  It wasn’t until I got home and looked it up, the area had a prescribed burn four days ago.

Half way around the loop I came to Swordens Pond.

The evidence of fire was all around.  However, the fire is good.  It cleans the forest.  All of the sticks, leaves and pine needs add acid to the ground, which would promote the growth of oak trees.  This area would be the Oak Barrens if fire didn’t clean the sandy soil every so often.

I came to area where fire did not cross the fire break.  Here’s what it looked like on the un-burned side.

Back on the Sweetwater, I continued north.  Where the Nature Trail junctioned, the trail went off into a Cedar Grove.

Here’s a shot of the water in Platt Reservoir.

At a large junction there was a sign describing how a large cedar grove was damaged by Hurricane Sandy.  Efforts are underway to reclaim the land and repopulate it with Cedar trees.

I took the Clear Brook trail up to where it ends at Cedar Creek.  The Clear Brook parallels the trail, but here is what the end of the trail looks like.

At the junction of the Mill Pond trail, there are historic buildings from the town of Double Trouble.  Next to me is the packing plant.

I took the Mill Pond Trail up to the Mill Pond Reservoir.  At times the return path was twenty feet next to me, across a small creek.

The middle of the trail had great views of the reservoir but were very cold due to the wind.

As I was heading back to where I parked using the Mill Pond trail, I noticed some obviously man made stones off the trail.  A short spur trail took me to the Crabbe Family Cemetery which was established in 1938.  There were some stones with dates going back to the late 1800s on them.  And there was a stone with a 2001 date.

Commodore Edward Crabbe purchased the Double Trouble tract in 1903 and established the Double Trouble Company in 1909. His heirs sold the property to the state in 1964.

Just before I reached the car, I looked at some of the other buildings of the town.

Blazes:

Hiked: 2/18/2023

 

Park Site

Trail Map

Hike Distance: 14 Miles

Trails:  Cushetunk (red), Campground (yellow on the map, but I never saw a blaze.)

My map:

A note on my map.  You can see at the top left, the recording stopped.  I don’t know if that was due to my phone (likely) or AllTrails (also likely.)  This is the second time this has happened where I’ve had an incomplete map.

I had decided to take the Cushetunk trail as far as I could to my campsite, 73, then take the Campground trail back to the Cushetunk to hike out.  There were a couple of spots where I questioned life’s decisions; one going up Cushetunk mountain.  It didn’t stop going up – and it was only 833 feet.  The other spot was the return trip, there are some stairs by the construction work at the dam.  It wasn’t that bad, it’s just that it was 90, and I had done 11 or so miles at that point.

After a half mile into the hike there is a great overlook of the reservoir, right across from the ranger station.

All of the trails were lined with Wineberries.  I didn’t know at the time that they are edible (they are) but I should have known when I saw people at the beginning of the trail picking bags full of them.  They were all over the place.  I should have sampled.  I didn’t see bears this weekend, but bears could have gotten fat on the amount of wineberries I saw.

The Cushetunk trail diverts around ongoing construction around the dam.  The trail comes across Hannon – Saurland pond.  There are tons of signs telling you not to swim.  EVEN with the heat of the hike, you couldn’t pay me to jump in this pond.

The reservoir, sure, I jumped in that.

There’s a stretch of the Cushetunk trail that follows a rock wall.

Eventually I came to a gate on the Cushetunk trail, and I had to jump on the Campground trail; which was my plan to get to the campsite.

Before setting up camp, I took a walk down to the water.

As usual, since I haven’t figured out panoramas, or how to stitch the pictures together, you’ll have to make do.  The three pictures are left-to-right, of the reservoir.

Here’s the “trail” back to the campsite.

There was plenty of shade, and a constant breeze which kept the temperatures down.

My view of the reservoir from camp.

Before bed, I walked down to the reservoir to see the sun set.  Other campers did as well.  I could have stayed longer to capture the red sky, but I wanted to make sure I could get back to camp.

I woke up cold, it was 69 in the morning, with the breeze blowing.

I decided to start hiking back while the sun was not yet over the ridge.  Here’s a shot of the Campground trail.

Eventually, though, the sun would come out blazing.  It was already 90 when I got back to my car just after 10 in the morning.

This was a lot of fun, there were a lot of lessons learned.  I would definitely do it again, though I wouldn’t take the full Cushetunk trail, and I would get a camp site early on the Campground trail.

Ticks: 0

Lantern Flies:  5 (all dead – I saw more, but they fly fast.)

Blazes:

Hiked:  7/23-24/2022

Park Site

Trail Map

Hike Distance – 6 miles

Trails – Company Street (black), Hollow (yellowish), Brookside (orange), Highlands (teal), Vista (pink), Solar System (purple), Hill Acres (blue)

My Map –

Note:  Part of the Solar System trail is missing from my map.  It had just finished pouring…my phone was wonky.

The lesson for today is to embrace being wet. I had signed up for another trip today but that trip got canceled.  The last time that happened to me the day was great.  Having not gone out the last two weekends, I created a Plan B last night and picked Voorhees State Park as my backup.

Voorhees State Park is another park that hosted and (at one time) had Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) presence.  It’s evident at various points of the park, with signs and ruins visible.  I started out on Company Street, which contained two signs detailing the Corps’ presence.

Going down the trail, on both sides, you will find evidence of the old buildings that were used by the CCC.

The weather was dreary and most everything was either gray or brown.  Anything with color immediately stood out.

I walked around the Brookside section before taking off on the Highlands Trail.  What is nice about the Brookside section is you can hear Willoughby Brook for almost the entire time.  You will cross it a couple of times.  One section, to the northeast was through fields.  Today, that section essentially was under water from all the rains we had over the last couple of days.  I felt my feet get wet once or twice, but once back on the dirt trail, they dried off pretty quickly.  It was the type of ground where when you boot landed, it sunk another inch or two.

Here’s a shot of the brook.  The water was really moving due to the recent rains.

Going uphill at all became interesting as there were many sections where water just ran down the trail, creating its own stream.  For the most part, this wasn’t too bad.  There were a couple of sections that needed some bushwacking as the water on the trail was too deep.

The hardwoods do not have their leaves yet so there is not much color.  However, there is plenty of American Beech to make up for it, and those trees mostly had their leaves.

The Highlands Trail skirted many stone walls and contained a few stream crossings.  And all crossings were trickier due to the recent rains.  I suspect in the summer, some may even be dry.  There was one nice spot where the trail had streams, and cascades on both side of it.  At one point, the trail meanders through one of the stone walls.

And yes, this crossing was trickier than it needed to be.

Of course, with rain, there’s lots of fungi.

This would be the last relatively dry picture.  I had just cut through the power cut and was making my way to the  Vista Trail and entered a pine grove.

I saw one hiker coming against me on the Vista Trail, and she mentioned that rain was coming.  She was right.  I had felt a few drops, but it wasn’t anything to worry about – heck, I was traipsing through mud and little streams of water, what was a little rain?

Except, turning a corner I could hear it.  The skies opened up and a downpour started.  I had no time to get my jacket or pack cover out, I was soaked in an instant.  It might not have been too bad if the trees had their full canopies, alas, that was not the case.  From this point, I booked it up the Vista Trail, and the hill, towards the observatory.  Getting to the top of the hill, I found George’s Thrones, but it was raining too hard to sit for a minute.  On any other day, these seats would  have made an awesome rest stop after climbing the hill.

At the observatory I waited out the downpour from a porch.  The temperature dropped so I finally got my jacket out, and while I was at it, I got my pack cover out and put that on.  I think the moral of the story is to pack both in easier to reach areas when rain has a high potential.

At some point I would like to come back and use the telescopes  It looked really neat.  And despite that Open sign….it was closed.  They probably wouldn’t have let me in anyway.

After the rain slowed to a sprinkle, I took a quick walk down the Solar System trail which has markers for the planets, marked out to scale.  At the end of the trail is a viewpoint that (should) overlook Round Valley; however I was in a cloud, and it was still raining.  It might be good at this time of year if it’s not raining because the trees do not have leaves.

After a short walk across the parking lot, I took the Hill Acres trail back to my car.  This trail is essentially a woods road, that leads to group campsites.  The road was a little tricky today, with a couple of sections fully flooded out.

I really liked the park, especially when it wasn’t raining.  My only suggestion would be to cut runoffs into the downhill sections of some of the trails so the water has some place to go other than down the trail.  There is something for everyone here and well worth another visit.

Ticks: 0

Noah’s Ark:  Maybe?  There was enough water.

Blazes:

Hiked:  4/9/2022

Park Site

Trail Map

Hike Distance – 5.97 miles

Trails – Red Trail, Farms Trail (and a whole bunch more)

My Map:

This was two hikes…I started at the Visitor’s Center (the eye of the rabbit in the picture above) and finished by hiking trails from the Perrin Hill trailhead.  When I left my house, it was 21 degrees out, it was 30 degrees upon leaving the visitor’s center.  The area received a dusting of snow the night before, but by the time I left after hiking the northern section, much of the snow had melted.  The good thing about the low temperature is that any moist or flooded sections were frozen solid.

A note on trails.  For the southern section, my plan was to do the Red Trail as a loop in a counter clockwise direction.  The printed map shows the trail circling the visitor’s center.  However, when I got to the rabbit’s belly (in my map above) the Red Trail stops.  I tried to follow what the map shows, and after road walking for a bit, I picked up blue blazes.  Blue isn’t shown on the map in this location.  When I finished, I drove to the Perrin Hill trailhead where my plan was to take the Farms trail all around the fields.  I never once saw a green marker or blaze.  I ended up taking a trail across the field and cutting off a large part of my hike.  I didn’t see (m)any markers in this section of the park.  Most of my track was by intuition, and think I did a good enough job.  At this point, I was really looking for historical markers, and less concerned with my initial plan as blazes were out the window.

What follow will be more a mind dump and less of a trail report.

I started just off the visitor’s center at the sign describing the Continental artillery positions.

Trails were super wide, all dirt, with no rocks.  In the morning, there was a dusting of snow covering the trails.  Even though the temperatures were frigid, someone hasn’t told the daffodils to wait.

A good portion of the southern section is in the woods.  Towards the ends, around Combs Farm there are more fields.

When the Red Trail “ends” follow the road straight.  You’ll be able to see where a trail picks up in front of you.  Don’t bother turning right to follow the road.  I did that, and it leads to a maintenance building.  Stay straight.

Too much snow covered the polypore to really see what it was.

And there was a giant polypore way up a tree just off the trail.  I had to zoom in, because I couldn’t really reach it.

Unfortunately, the visitor’s center wasn’t open, even though the hours stated 9-3.  It looked like there were some interesting displays worthy of checking out.

I drove up to the northern section, and parked at the Perrin Hill trailhead parking lot.  There were many more interpretive signs in this section, but with the wind blowing in the field, it was COLD.

Since I missed the turn that would have taken me around the big loop, I tried to reach many of the interpretive signs.

The battle of Monmouth (or Monmouth Courthouse) was not a significant battle in the Revolutionary War.  There were not significant prisoners taken.  Strategically, it did not have much bearing on the war.  The British would still be able to retreat to Sandy Hook and sneak off to New York City.  Most historians consider the battle a draw.  However, the action gave the Continental Army a boost in morale and proved that they could force the British to retreat.  And, it would be the first battlefield that Washington would hold after the day’s action.

This section of the park is extremely exposed.  On June 27-28 in 1778, this area was boiling hot – most agree that more men died due to the heat than the actual fighting.  I don’t think I would hike hear in late June, or July, or August.  It would be brutal without shade.

It is here though that the legend/myth of Molly Pitcher is born.  Mary Hayes (Molly Pitcher) was a woman who (supposedly) helped man her husband’s gun (cannon) when he went down in the fighting.  The popular myth is that she helped fire the gun on the British Highlanders down the hill.  Likely, she was a camp follower who helped schlep water to the troops from the spring.  There are ample signs detailing her life all around this section.  This picture is taken from the spot where her husband’s cannon was stationed.

Beyond the tree and down the hill is where the British Highlanders were sitting.  And, the gun positions and directions were laid out by the Battlefield Restoration and Archaeological Volunteer Organization.  (I couldn’t find their site.)  Volunteers searched the fields back in the 90s to find the remnants of munitions.  Those findings, along with detailed journals and maps, allowed the archaeologists to identify exactly (as best as possible) where the guns were and in what direction they fired.

To my left, and in the woods, is the spring that Molly supposedly drew water from and brought to the heat stricken soldiers.

This final picture is of Tennant Church, and part of the graveyard associated with the church.  Tennant Church was a meeting place where the Continental Army marched by.  After the fighting, it was used as field station to aid wounded soldiers.  Supposedly, it’s very haunted.  It may be worth a trip here in October.

I really liked Monmouth Battlefield State Park.  I had not been here in a long long time – probably the last time I was here I watched some of the re-enactment that takes place.  I would definitely come to see that again.  Definitely plan a trip here to see the Revolutionary War history.  If you are hiking, plan on adapting to trails without blazes.

Ticks: 0

Polar Bears: 0  (but it could have happened)

Blazes:  (such as I saw)

Hiked:  March 13, 2022

Park Site

Trail Map

Hike Distance – 8.07 miles

Trails – Parvin Lake (green), Long Trail (red), Nature (white), Black Oak (brown?), Lost (yellow), Flat (Pink)

My Map:

A note on my map, at the top left, I got off the Long Trail somehow, and ended up on the Black Oak trail, which is supposedly a horse trail.  When I realized I was on the “wrong” trail, I bushwhacked back to the Long trail, and pressed on.  I came to a connector trail, and because it was so nice, I decided to add miles and go back to the Black Oak trail.  Don’t follow my map….pick a saner route.

Last week it was 24.  Today:  54 at the trailhead, and 61 when I got back to the car.  There was no way I was NOT going today.  Especially since there is a chance of snow tonight.

All the trails were wide and flat, for the most part walking on sand and pine needles.  I walked almost all of the trails, and there is quite a bit of diversity around the park.  There is also quite a bit of history in the area, as it was developed by the Civilian Conservation Corps.  Many trails have interpretive signs along the way.

No blooms yet (it IS February) but the perriwinkle are out.

This one was a new one for me, and it was all over the beginning of the trail.

Just before the junction of the Long Trail, and the pavilion, a short spur trail dropped down to Muddy Run; which eventually feeds into Parvin Lake.

I had planned the entire time to take the short Nature Trail which branched off the Long Trail.  When I got to the junction, I found I had no choice anyway.

When the Nature trail joined back with the Long Trail, it was obvious that there was much storm damage.  Many of the boards had been moved away from the little creeks they crossed.  At least once I closed my eyes, jumped and prayed I made it across.  And more than once I almost got pretty wet.  This was the only section of the day with any significant mud and wet trails.

It’s hard to tell in this picture, but there are A LOT of leaves on the trail.

I had to cross Muddy Run again.  Muddy Run is pretty wide and deep, and at some spots appears to move pretty quickly.  This bridge would be the last time I crossed.  Though, the bridge was a little more rickety than I would have liked.  And if there was a troll underneath, that wouldn’t have surprised me either.

(Those boards near the top of the picture were not very secure.  This section of the trails needs a little work.)

After coming out of the wetlands, the trails reverted back to wide and flat.  And in the sun it was perfect.  It was easy walking, and after bushwhacking for a bit, I decided to add some more miles.  (That doesn’t always work out the best for me.  It was fine in this instance.)

There’s a nice campground in the middle of the park and right by the lake.  I stopped to have a snack at Jagger’s Point, which had a big fire ring.  The geese were making a tremendous racket here.

From Jagger’s Point it is a quick mile back to the parking area.  There’s a nice bridge that crosses right in front of the falls.

And from there it’s a short walk back to the offices.

I was the fourth or fifth car in the parking lot when I arrived just before 9:00 in the morning.  When I got back, the lot was mostly full.  I can imagine during the summer months it gets very crowded as the Day Use area has a large beachfront.

Ticks: 0

Blazes:

(A quick note on the blazes.  Oddly, all the blazes on trees were at about ten feet off the ground.  I’m used to seeing them about head high.  This is the only park I’ve been to where the blazes were that high.)

Hiked: 2/12/2022

Park Site

Trail Map – I didn’t see blazed trails – GPS is a must if you are unfamiliar with the area

Hike Distance – 5.75 miles

Trails – Woods roads, fire roads, prescribed burn cuts, Keith Line

My Map:

It had been two weeks.  I needed to get back out.  I looked forward to this hike because I had signed up with the State Forestry department; I think the hike technically was run out of the Bass River State Forest office.  Our guide was Eric – who had free snacks and lots of information for us before we trudged off.  Parking is at the intersection of Beaver Dam Road and Fire Tower Road (hence the picture at the top of the post.)  No trail kiosk.  No blazes.

I signed up for this hike as it was advertised to walk along the “historic Keith Line” which I had never heard of.  Also, we were to traverse the Pine Planes where we would encounter Pygmy Pines.  Again, I had no idea what they were either.  The chance to jump on a hike with a guide in an unfamiliar area and learn some history was one I was not going to pass up.

Right off the bat, before any hiking commenced, our guide gathered us to show us Broom Crowberry, a somewhat endangered plant that just happens to have a large population right where we parked.

After that, our large group of 25+ headed off.  All of the walking was on woods roads, fire roads, prescribed burn cuts, and the famous Keith Line; with the exception of one trail that cut through Little Pine Plains.  At our first “junction” where we stopped to gather everyone up, I took a picture of what “typical” Pine Barrens trees look like.

A little further down, we turned onto a “trail” used for prescribed burns; where fires are deliberately set, in order to restore health and to build fire boundaries for the fires that start naturally.  You can see where the fire has occurred in the following picture.

Lots of Eastern Teaberry grows….all over, with the red berries easily found.

After a short walk, we turned off the sandy road and headed “into the woods.”  We were told to space out and not hold branches for the people behind, as they inevitably snapped back and whacked the person following pretty good.  The person in front of me did it often.  I learned to follow at a great distance.  This part of the trail was very narrow, and there were times I (deliberately) lost the person in front of me.  Fortunately, there was no place else to go, and the trail was easily identifiable.

In the morning I drove down to the trailhead in rain, and the forecast called for early morning rain.  Fortunately, the sun came out and it was pretty nice.  The wind howled at times, but in the trees, you really didn’t feel it.

As I understand it, Pygmy Pines are mature pine trees that do not grow tall like the pitch and scrub pines and oaks you see throughout the Pine Barrens.  Scientists do not know for certain what stunts the tree growth:  is it poor soil, insect damage, minerals in the soil?  There is no definitive answer.  But the trees are unique.  Many trees are not much taller than the people walking by.

I got the sense I was walking in a really big Charlie Brown Christmas Tree farm.

After coming out of the Little Pine Planes, we headed on the southeast leg of our loop; and this section would be on the Keith Line.  The Keith Line is a path that was created in 1686 by George Keith in an attempt to mark the official boundaries of East and West Jersey.  The Line starts in southern Ocean county, borders Ocean and Burlington County, then goes through Mercer County before continuing on the border of Somerset and Hunterdon counties.  It was succeeded by two other lines (Thornton and Lawrence) with the Lawrence Line becoming the more “official” boundary.  Parts of the Keith Line are actual roads, some of it is fire/hunting roads, and some of it is more like a trail.  Here’s a picture where we joined the Line to head southeast – the picture is looking northwest.

After about 100 yards, there was a good spot to see the difference between Pygmy pines and the normal pines that grow throughout the Pine Barrens.

Our guide did not have an answer to why there are islands of normal pines growing within the Plains of Pygmy pines.

After about a mile, we stopped at a junction, where we would take a small detour.  After walking down a woods road, we made a hard left into the trees.  Then headed UPHILL! I was not expecting this – and the hill was small (relatively,) but huge in the context of the Pine Barrens.  At the top was gorgeous overlook….with Little Pine Plains right in front of us, and the tall trees all around the plains.

I never expected a view like this.  And even with all the other interesting facets of the hike, this was probably my favorite part.

It would be a mile or so of a hike out, back to the cars.  The sun went behind the trees and it got colder.  Here’s one more shot of recent fire activity.

This was a really great hike.  I couldn’t duplicate it.  The early part had lots of turns that are not marked.  Maybe I could follow my previous track, but I wouldn’t want to get lost.  I’m pretty sure I could get back to the hill, as that was on main hunting/fire roads.

The hiking was not strenuous, relatively.  However, you’re walking on sugar sand, with minimal elevation changes.

I highly recommend this hike when it gets offered.  Bear in mind this is not done in the summer, the heat would be unbearable – along with the ticks or chiggers.  Also, when I registered, I was told this was a six mile hike.  Some people thought it was only 1 mile…..the brochure said “hike along 1 mile of the Keith Line.”  So there were some that definitely were not prepared.  Further, the hike was done twice – I opted for the early hike.  A second hike ran at 2:30….and I question if they finished before dark.  I wouldn’t want to do this at dark…..the Jersey Devil is out there.

Ticks – 0

Blazes:   bwahahahahahahahahahahaha

Park Site

Trail Map – I had the printed map…and AllTrails.  But there are a ton of extra bike trails and intersecting woods roads.

Hike Distance:  11.93 miles

Trails:  Ringwood Manor (blue), Crossover (white), Cooper Union (yellow)

My Map:

Note:  Ok, I know my version of 50 Hikes In New Jersey is old, I believe it is the second edition, published in 1997.  I know there is a new(er) edition, that has some different trails in the list (2020 I believe) – I get it, there have been trail modifications/reroutes, trails removed, new trails, new blazes, etc.  Heck, I’ve experienced it as I have worked through the list of trails (and I’ve almost got them all.)  However, I want to call out this week’s hike.  I tried to link hikes 8 and 10 (in my version of the book.)  In the book, the Ringwood Manor trail is listed as a mile and a half; my gps said 3.37.  And the book says their version of the Cooper Union trail was three and a half miles.  Obviously, my mileage was vastly different.  Either their pedometer was grossly off (for their hikes) or the trails have been substantially rerouted.  And I don’t think it was the latter.  Ok, rant over, no more chitchat, time to get on the trails.

I started with the Ringwood Manor trail, and I couldn’t really find the trailhead.  I wandered the Ringwood Manor grounds until I found blue blazes, and I eventually found the actual trailhead.  The first portion of the Ringwood Manor trail goes by Sally’s Pond on your left, though I think  that’s a local name, maps show it also as Ringwood Mill Pond.  I traveled clockwise on the loop, so if you keep it on your left, you’ll do just fine.

The first stop on the trail is to Erskine Cemetery.  The cemetery contained many more stones than I expected.  And, it was extremely quiet and peaceful here, I could have stayed for hours, just sitting on a bench overlooking the pond – extremely therapeutic.  However, heavy wind and rain was expected later in the afternoon, and I did not want to get caught in that. A note on the cemetery (and I’ll borrow from the book – or at least, paraphrase.)  Many of the names found in the cemetery are “titans” in the early mining industry of north Jersey that predate the Revolutionary War.  These names make up familiar and famous trails and parks in northern New Jersey:  Morris (Morris Road), Patterson (the city), (Robert) Erskine (a surveyor for Washington and manager of the mines) and Hewitt (Hewitt State Forest.)  Side history note (you had to expect this from a park like this):  Peter Cooper (Cooper Union trail – named after his railroad)  bought the property, then sold it to Abram Hewitt.  Erskine Hewitt donated the manor house and property to the state.  His nephew, Norvin Green (the state forest’s namesake) added more property.  Further donations included what would become Ramapo State Forest and Ramapo County Reservation.

Quiz next week.

There are lots of markers for children.

This headstone has a great example of the winged skull, a New Jersey “tradition(?)” at the time.  WeirdNJ has a great story on the evolution of the winged skulls.

The Hewitt markers:

I believe that is (or was) a sanctuary for the Order of Saint Francis across the pond.

Robert Erskine’s markers:

The grounds were well kept and easily walk-able.  You can see on my map a real spaghetti bowl of lines where I walked the cemetery grounds.  It was quite easy to walk around with plenty of room to be respectful of the actual graves.  In one spot I found a huge group of striped wintergreen growing.

Finally, as old and clear as some of these markers are, there are many many other markers that are just rocks standing up.  I’m sure the archaeologists have found the presence of graves – the markers either never existed or have been lost to time.

Onward.

I came across these bushes…and I would find them all along the hike.  It’s invasive.  And it was all over.

It created some really cool tunnels to walk through though.

And then I happened on this:

That kept my head on a swivel.  I never saw him, but I’m sure he was around nearby.

While walking along the back portion of the Ringwood Manor trail, I came across a tree and log where it looked like the Honey Mushrooms and Turkey Tail were locked in a fierce battle.

Just before finishing the Ringwood Manor trail I came across another one of those tunnels.

Now the fun began.  I planned on hiking Cooper Union.  I just had to figure out how to get to it.  I knew I needed the Crossover trail, but getting to that trail wasn’t clearly marked on ANY map.  Using GPS, I tried to figure it out – it entailed crossing water and the road.  And you can see my little wandering on my map, it’s that path in red that heads to 1:00 on the western side of Sloatsburg Road.  When I came to this bridge, I realized that there had to be a better way.

And really, I probably could have hopped the gate and crossed.  But I didn’t want to take a chance, there was at least one board missing.  Someone sitting at a picnic table mentioned to me that there was another bridge about 100 yards south and it would connect to the trail.  I didn’t see it on the way to this point, but I figured I would give it a whirl.

Well, it’s not quite that simple.  It is easier to walk from the parking lot, back to the entrance hut.  Walk to the Waterwheel, when you get to the Blacksmith shop on your right, turn left towards the carriage barn / art activity center.

Walk down the driveway (the carriage house is really cool) until you come to this sign:

Of course, enter, but IMMEDIATELY turn right and lo and behold, you’ll see:

My little (initial detour) added an extra mile and a half hour to what I was already doing.

Back on trail, it was easy to follow.  Another tunnel:

The Cooper Union trail crosses two roads.  In between Morris Road and Carletondale Road the Cooper Union trail contains many junctions with unmarked trails and woods roads, no doubt used by the cycling community.  I came across numerous bikes on this hike, only getting run over once.  Right after crossing Carletondale Road I came across these structures.

When I came to the loop portion of the Cooper Union trail, I headed left to complete the loop clockwise.  There’s a great view at the top, just below the summit.

That’s Windbeam Mountain across the Wanaque Reservoir.  Yep, been up there on the Stonetown Circular hike.  After sitting for a while, I looked at my map, and realized this was going to be significantly longer than the 5+ miles I thought it would be.  I sat a little longer.  It was breezy, and the colors are just starting to pop – you can sort of get a sense of it from the picture.  I won’t be here next week to see it in bloom, but I suspect it will be great.

After that, I climbed a short bit to the actual summit and started back.  Downhills looked like this:

Gorgeous.  But treacherous – the leaves covered rocks and roots, so footing became tricky.

Cutting through the pipeline cut, I found this guy:

The trip back was pretty uneventful.  I found another log covered with Turkey Tail, and I don’t know how I missed it on the trip out.

Just before crossing the road back to the parking lot, I found these mushrooms all growing in a line.

I really enjoyed Ringwood State Park.  The manor house wasn’t open for tours (of course I would have) because work was being performed on the roof.  The grounds were really nice, and it explained a lot of the history I’ve been wondering around for the last little bit.

Ticks: 0

Bears:  almost

Blazes:

Hiked:  10/16/2021

Park Site

Trail Map – note:  I brought the linked map.  And All Trails.  You will need them as there are many biking, unblazed, and unmarked woods roads.  I really would like the NJ / NY Trail conference maps, but the new edition isn’t out yet.

Hike Distance:  11.85 Miles

Trails:  Ringwood – Ramapo (red,) Five Ponds (pink,) Halifax (green,) Hoeferlin Memorial (yellow,) a light blue blazed connector

Mountains:  Mount Defiant, Ilgenstein Rock

My map:

Cloudy skies, mid 60s temperatures, no humidity, a slight breeze, rain forecasted for much later.  This calls for one thing.  A football game!  Go Green!  Who are we kidding?  This is perfect weather for a hike.

I tried to connect two hikes in my version of 50 Hikes In  New Jersey, and I did – though I probably bit off a little more than I could chew.  This was longer than anticipated.  The two hikes I connected were the Hoeferlin Memorial hike with the Skylands Manor hike.  I had done the first half of the Hoeferlin hike last week, and with the trails I took for this, I connected the Halifax trail to right where I left it last week.  Also, I walked right to the area where I saw the bear last week, so believe me, I kept my head on a swivel.

I parked at the Shepherd Lake recreation area parking lot, and was the second car there in the morning.  There were a bunch of cars parked in the boating area with bicycles.  I had heard there were bikes in the park, and I only saw a few.  Some of the trails seemed designed specifically for bikes.

From the dock I caught this great picture of the lake.

Then, it was on to the Ringwood – Ramapo trail, which ultimately winds its way into Ramapo State Forest.

Right off the bat, there’s a steep climb up onto the ridge.  I started out with a fleece on, but by the time I reached the ridge, the fleece would be off.  Temperatures still hovered in the middle 60s, but with the ups and downs, the fleece would stay off.  Right where I took off the fleece:

Some of the pictures are very fairy-tale-like, as the birch tree leaves covered the ground.  In some locations, there were yellow leaves on the ground and in the canopy, and green leaves in the middle.

I took the Ringwood – Ramapo trail to the Five Ponds Loop trail, and made a left.  If you follow the Five Ponds Loop trail, you will go by five ponds  by the completion of the loop.  At this section, I went by one:  Glasmere Ponds.  Yes, plural.  The body of water is bisected by a small strip of land, and this area saw heavy mountain bike use.  Leaves are just starting to change, probably next week and the week following will be peak.  You can get a good idea of where we’re at in this picture of Glasmere Pond (north).

I took the Five Ponds Loop trail to where it junctioned with the Halifax trail.  And this I would take all the way to where I left it last week.  There was a sizable uphill, and while stepping onto a log, I almost stepped on this guy.

He/She stands no chance if the mountain bikes come shooting down this trail.

I made a right on the Hoeferlin Memorial trail and took this all the way to Ilgenstein Rock which had absolutely great views even though it was cloudy.  This was the highest elevation of the hike.

I had the rock to myself so I could enjoy the solitude for a little while.  It was a bit cloudy, but the New York City skyline was visible.  While sitting, it started to get chilly, so I headed off; turning on a light blue blazed trail.  I couldn’t find a name for the trail.  I was on this for about a mile before it connected with the Ringwood – Ramapo trail; which I would take north back to the Five Ponds Loop.

The leaves really gave the park a serene feeling to it.

I think I have found my new favorite polypore:

While still on the Ringwood – Ramapo trail, I came to this stream crossing, and I’m extremely grateful for the trail builders for this massive slab they used to cross the stream.  I don’t mind a good rock hop….and all I could wonder is how the heck they got this slab here.  It is huge.

Further on up the trail is Warm Puppy Rock.

And yes, you will go to the top.  The trail meanders around the right side, then climbs up the back of the rock on a narrow stone trail.  It was here that I was almost run down by a mountain bike.  So much for right of way.  The view on the top would be so much better a) in the winter with the leaves off the trees, and b) in the sunlight.

I junctioned with the Five Ponds Loop trail for the last bit in the woods.  While heading towards the Gardens and the Manor the sun came out for about ten minutes.

Once I got to the road, I probably could have taken the Crossover trail back to Shepherd Lake.  Instead I cut through the Botanical Gardens, which were nice, and worthy of a trip in itself, and wandered across the grounds of Skylands Manor.  The manor was being set up for a wedding reception – I saw the happy couple getting pictures taken in the gardens.  What a photobomb I would make.

I road walked it back to the car, I was beat.  I could have followed the Crossover trail back to the Ringwood – Ramapo trail, but that would have added an extra mile and a half, and I new rain was coming.

Finally, just before the car, I stopped over to see St. Luke’s Chapel.

In the northern sections of the park, you can hear shooting from Thunder Mountain Skeet Range.  I was not about to investigate for fear of appearing on the wrong side of the property.

I  hope to come back to hike the eastern section of the park in the coming weeks, though I will not be doing quite the mileage.  As I reached the lot there were many people picnicking by the lake – one large group had a barbecue going and it smelled great.

Ticks: 0

Blazes:

Hiked:  10/9/2021

Park Site

Trail Map – “official”, and “modified”

Hike Distance:  8.26 miles

Trails:  Laurel Pond (yellow), Cherry Ridge (black and white), Lookout (white), Old Coal (red), Cherry Ridge, Pines (green), Cedar Swamp (blue), Double Pond (yellow)

My Map:

A gorgeous day to start; 69 degrees, warming up to the mid 70s.  It was mostly sunny for most of the hike.  I had wanted to do this clockwise, however the first junction was where two yellow-blazed trails met.  I chose incorrectly.  However, going counter-clockwise left me with the Cedar Swamp trail for the end, a nice way to end a brutal day.

Note:  What really marred this hike was the sheer number of mosquitoes, and I don’t mean a few here and there.  It was brutal.  For the entire hike (except by the beach at Wawayanda Lake where a breeze existed) I was walking in a cloud of mosquitoes.  And if I stopped to take a picture….the swarm landed on me.  It was real bad.  I applied mosquito repellent…twice.  That only afforded a little respite.  If some pictures are a little out of focus, well, that’s because I was fighting being carried off.

And, this could have been a great hike, with minimal elevation gain and lots to see.  The mosquitoes really killed it.  And, a mountain bike race took place on some of the trails.  Nothing like being run off the trails a couple of times.  And to top it off, on two trails I encountered motor bikes; so much for the silence.

Bring a map; there are multiple unmarked side-trails.

First stop was to the furnace, which is all that is really left of the ironworks that existed at one time on the property.

Across the street from the furnace was a pretty quick moving stream.

Still no mosquitoes.  But that would end shortly.  After choosing wrong, I headed into the woods.  The trails at this point were nice and wide, with nice soft footing, and not too many rocks.

But that’s where the assault would come.  You can tell by the focus on this mushroom.

Same with this one.

I had to drop the poles, whip out the camera, compose and focus as best I could – then take the picture and get out.

Once I got on the Lookout trail, I lost the nice wide soft trails in favor of something a little more rugged.  Still mosquitoes though.  I stopped by Lake Lookout to grab this picture.

This is a little blurry, but not due to mosquitoes.  A whole bunch of bikes raced by, and I was trying not to end up IN the lake; though it might have felt good.  This would have been a great place to stop and have something to eat.  But, you just could.  not.  stop.  Or, you would have been fodder for the mosquitoes.

One of the signs I looked forward to seeing is below.

The point of the sign is to tell the riders that their course was not down this trail.  Seeing the sign meant I would have a few minutes of peace and quiet, only to swat mosquitoes.  I wouldn’t be constantly dodging bikes.

If they were red…I could have asked Mario to power me up.  Alas.

Towards the end of the day I made my way to the Cedar Swamp trail.  This trail is almost one and half miles of a rhododendron tunnel.  Here’s a picture of the beginning.

The picture doesn’t do it justice.  There were sections where the rhododendrons fully went over you in true tunnel fashion.  A couple of wet sections exist that you will cross on rocks with frogs scattering in all directions.  I ran into two other hikers coming against me, one with full mosquito netting.

And of course

In the middle of the swamp, the water gets pretty deep and boardwalks are available to walk across.  Make no mistake though, the boards are extremely slippery, even WITH roofing shingles attached to try and give you some traction.  If you slipped off, you fell into water that would easily be six inches or more deep.

I tried to get a picture of the cedar-infused water.

Just before coming to the campsites (and how people could sit without being savagely attacked in their sites,) I came across a boardwalk that crossed parts of a pond.  There were a couple of spots where the water flooded the boardwalks, and I thought I was going to get wet.  The boots held, and I emerged dry.  I wanted a picture, but I knew I was near the end, and I was really tired of the bites.

The mosquitoes and the bikes really marred this one for me.  And I’m not sure who junctions two trails of the same color – but that’s partly on me for not being more astute.  I’d probably come back, but not until the winter or much colder weather.  I arrived at the parking area before the access gate was open, and when I returned, the lots were fairly full.  I could see this being packed in the summer between Memorial Day and Labor Day.

I talked with a ranger on my way out, and she confirmed that the mosquitoes have been the worst lately.  I didn’t see any Lantern Flies, and when I asked about the Emerald Ash Borers, the ranger responded that had cut down almost all of the Ash trees to help stop the spread.

Ticks: 0

Mosquitoes:  1,357,209  (a pretty exact number, I might have missed one or two.)

Blazes:

Hiked:  9/18/2021