Aserdaten area

[Teegate]

Ben,

Here is an aerial photo of the Aserdaten area. The circle on the left is Aserdaten and the one on the right is where you had circled that indicated a building was there in the past. Notice the large road cutting through there now. That all started in the late 70's when they started digging the area up. It was not like that in the early to mid 70's when I first visited the area.

When we visit Aserdaten we should walk down the road that intersects there. Or we may be able to drive directly down that road from the Forked River Mountains, or head to the Forked River Mountains from there.

 

[bobpbx]

Guy,

The large road is blocked off at all crossroads. The only way you can drive on the large road is to come in through the sand plant gate.

The state made them stop using it (I suppose it was the state). It was the sand plants access to 539.

 

[bobpbx]

BTW, the road that seems to head north from the road running between aserdaten and the large road takes you too a big hill, the view would be great from the top but trees have overrun it. There is an foundation of a gun club close to there too.

There is a pingo there too, or the remnants of one (I think it is anyway).

 

[Teegate]

Bob,

Thanks for that info. It was open when I was there last, not counting our outing. I have a few photo's of what they had done.

Guy

 

[Teegate]

BTW, the road that seems to head north from the road running between aserdaten and the large road takes you too a big hill, the view would be great from the top but trees have overrun it. There is an foundation of a gun club close to there too.

There is a pingo there too, or the remnants of one (I think it is anyway).

I mentioned that hill on the other post, thinking that it may be Doe Hill that Beck mentions they were climbing with Dolph Arens. That was mentioned right after he met him at the gun club, and saw the grave.

Guy

 

[Ben Ruset]

It all sounds good to me. Hopefully the sand plants haven't torn up too much historical stuff in the area.

 

[JeffD]

A year or so ago, I visited the Fork River mountains, at least one of them. I followed the directions you had given me, Guy, from route 539. At one point from the sand road I took from route 539, not far from the fire tower, and somewhere near the remains of an old fire tower, I beared to the right. After awhile, I came to some kind of building behind some kind of vehicle that leveled the sand road. I got directions on how to get to the mountain from the gentleman from the Forest Service who drove the vehicle. He told me that it's good I didn't take the left fork, as the road was bad and I'd probably get stuck. I followed him for a short while until he pulled off to the side to let me pass. The sand road took me out to, I believe it was 532, which took me towards Waretown and into Forked River. I forget exactly the rest of the directions (it may be on an old PBE post of mine). Off some road on the outskirts of Forked River Mountains (I think it was Lacey road) I took a left and drove on sand roads for awhile and at some point veered towards the left (I think) and it took me to the top of the mountain. One part of it was clear of trees, which I believe looked out towards the east. I remember a while lot of trash around there though. Such are the problems associated with public property and scurilous characters who visit areas such as this.

 

[Ben Ruset]

The top of the mountain is a "good" place to light a fire and hang out, so you'd see a lot of trash and stuff up there.

I think that's private property though. The guy who owns it is fairly tolerant of people going there though.

 

[Tricia6690]

Would it be possible for anyone to give me directions to the Forked River Mountain? I tried to get there on my own the other day without much success. I took Jones Road in from 532 and I think I made it to the road that heads east in Aserdatan. However there were signs there not to go on the road with motorized vehicles so I parked my jeep there and started to walk in. But i got concerned and bailed out before getting too far.

Is walking in from there the best way in or should I be trying to get there another way? Also is there a view when you eventually get there or is the mountain top all overgrown? Final question -- are people hunting there now?

Thanks for whatever help anyone can give.

P.S. Although I don't respond to a lot of the logs I really enjoy reading a lot of them and I often go off exploring based on what I read -- so thanks everyone for the info.

In fact, yesterday my husband and I used your directions to get to Bear Mountain Swamp and we saw the landing gear from the plane accident --which was quite amazing. Then on our way to Hampton Furnace (also using your directions) we saw a timber rattlesnake that was trying to keep warm by laying on the asphalt road near the Carranza Memorial. A good samaratan used a shovel to gently prod the snake off to the side of the road so it didn't get run over by a car. Then a few of us got out of our cars and took pictures of the snake as it was very lethargic and we all felt relatively safe. Although we all kept a respectful distance!

 

[Ben Ruset]

You actually can't get to the Mountain from the road that goes East at Aserdaten. Eventually that road is barricaded where the sand company built that huge road through the woods.

What you have to do is continue South past Aserdaten. Keep going South - you'll eventually cross the same sand company road (it's a really WIDE dirt road). Cross over and at the next intersection, make a left. You'll pass the old supports for the Cedar Bridge Fire tower on your left.

When the road comes to a fork, go left. Keep going straight for a while. The road will come to another fork - go right. You'll then start seeing blazes on the trees. Follow them to the top of the mountain.

I will try to get a map online for you in a little while.

Edit: Go to the next page for you map.

 

[Ben Ruset]

Here is your map.

http://forums.njpinebarrens.com/gallery/displayimage.php?album=lastup&cat=0&pos=0

You can click on the image for a full size picture.

 

[Tricia6690]

Thank you so much for the directions and the map. I really appreciate it! Sometimes it's fun to just drive aimlessly and see what you find but other times it's very nice to actually know how to get to a place. Thanks again!