Corduroy Road near Atco Dragway?

[SuperChooch]

I was talking with my dad the other day and we got talking about a corduroy road he once found. He thought it was somewhere in the area of Atco Dragway but it has been 20 plus years since he has been there. We had talked about going out and trying to find it together again but wanted to see if anyone might know the one he is talking about and could give me a general idea where it might be to save us some time in our hunt. Anyone familiar?

 

[Teegate]

If only he could narrow that down somewhat.

 

[c1nj]

Well it has been at least 20 years for me too but I think the road your father is talking about is on the east side of the the drag strip across the powerline. You can see it on the satellite images. The corduroy section is where it travels through the cedar swamp.

 

[Teegate]

There is a possibility the current power line road 20 years ago was corduroy but I would suspect the stones that are there now were always there to allow the huge vehicles needed to get into that area and build the towers. There is a possibility that the corduroy road he visited may have been the original road that crossed the river. If he drove up onto the dune and headed toward the swamp he would have found the original road.


The original road in 1940.

In 1956

In 1965

In 1995 about the time he would have been there.

This road would have had to either had a bridge or pipes, or have been corduroy in the area my arrow is pointing to. The water flow would have been the same as there is now crossing the power line road. There is no way that original road could have just been driven through without some sort of way across the water. It looks like a large road built for logging. It would be interesting to walk that route one day and find out for sure.

 

[NJSRR]

I remember an old corduroy road in that area from when I rode motorcycles back in the 70's. But it was on the opposite side of Jackson Rd. somewhere between the river and the dragway. As I remember it, it ran from Jackson back towards Goshen

 

[c1nj]

It was either the late 80s or early 90s but I remember it was the first real corduroy road I ever encountered. I know it was in that area and I believe it is right where your arrow is.

 

[SuperChooch]

Thanks all. Lots of ideas to check out. I'll let you know if we find it.

 

[ace21]

I was just out there today and yesterday. Based on the topography and tell-tale construction (small "curbs" and "ditches" on either side) it was a Plank / Puncheon / Corduroy road. Many of these were in eastern NC when I lived there and their are many similarities. I didn't see any planks, but there were some cut logs on the side of the trail and in the mud that could have been original and didn't appear to be tree roots. You'll definitely need waterproof boots for the trek. Thanks for the post! It would be interesting to find out hold old it is and where it went

 

[Boyd]

The LIDAR imagery shows this, but it's so flat there's not much detail.

https://boydsmaps.com/#17.00/39.784375/-74.824390/lidar2021bw/0.00/0.00

The 1980's aerials also show it pretty well

https://boydsmaps.com/#17.00/39.784375/-74.824390/njgin1980/0.00/0.00

 

[Mikeofthewoods]

i came across a small section of corduroy road on a trail off Darmstadt ave. It goes for about 50' across a wet area. No idea how old it is.

Any other noteworthy sections of corduroy road out there?

Here is the spot where it is at https://online.boydsmaps.com/#18/39.57671/-74.63015/njgin2007

 

[Teegate]

That road was built sometime between 1931 and 1951 for logging. That area was extensively logged during the following years judging by the aerials. I see a few things that look interesting that Jessica and I may check out in the coming weeks.

 

[Mikeofthewoods]

That road was built sometime between 1931 and 1951 for logging. That area was extensively logged during the following years judging by the aerials. I see a few things that look interesting that Jessica and I may check out in the coming weeks.

thanks for the info. What areas are you interested in checking out? That area is part of my regular hiking grounds

 

[Teegate]

Various area's on the east side of the road and further into the woods along the corduroy road.

And this exact spot looks promising for something. Maybe nothing, but it is along a road and easy to get to it appears, and it is owned by the state.

NJPineBarrens Maps

 

[Mikeofthewoods]

Various area's on the east side of the road and further into the woods along the corduroy road.

And this exact spot looks promising for something. Maybe nothing, but it is along a road and easy to get to it appears, and it is owned by the state.

NJPineBarrens Maps

View attachment 15155

I've gotten to that area walking in from the west - it is quite overgrown coming from that side, but overall wasn't too bad. I'm not sure how clear it is coming in from Phila Ave. Let me know what you find!

 

[pinelandpaddler]

Various area's on the east side of the road and further into the woods along the corduroy road.

And this exact spot looks promising for something. Maybe nothing, but it is along a road and easy to get to it appears, and it is owned by the state.

NJPineBarrens Maps

View attachment 15155

Check out historic aerials. There was a least a house and several other buildings (possibly other houses). Looks like a compound of sorts.

 

[Mikeofthewoods]

Various area's on the east side of the road and further into the woods along the corduroy road.

And this exact spot looks promising for something. Maybe nothing, but it is along a road and easy to get to it appears, and it is owned by the state.

NJPineBarrens Maps

View attachment 15155

also do you mind explaining why this spot interests you on LIDAR? I'm trying to figure out what to look for on these maps. Are you looking for straight edges? There are so many spots back in the woods that look odd on LIDAR. Do trees/hills make all these indentations? For example this spot - what sort of natural thing can make that? https://online.boydsmaps.com/#19/39.58399/-74.60304/lidar2021bw

 

[Teegate]

also do you mind explaining why this spot interests you on LIDAR? I'm trying to figure out what to look for on these maps. Are you looking for straight edges? There are so many spots back in the woods that look odd on LIDAR. Do trees/hills make all these indentations? For example this spot - what sort of natural thing can make that? https://online.boydsmaps.com/#19/39.58399/-74.60304/lidar2021bw

That is most likely a charcoal pit. Most of the time unless you know it is there nothing will really stick out.

 

[Teegate]

Check out historic aerials. There was a least a house and several other buildings (possibly other houses). Looks like a compound of sorts.

I did, and what I saw interested me.

 

[Boyd]

Check out historic aerials. There was a least a house and several other buildings (possibly other houses). Looks like a compound of sorts.

The USGS 24k topo shows two buildings there too:

https://boydsmaps.com/#16.00/39.581789/-74.600010/pines1999/0.00/0.00

 

[Teegate]

We went to the property with the house and found two ruin sites and most likely the well location. There was evidence of other disturbance as well.

NJPineBarrens Maps

We also went to the corduroy road off of Darmstadt road and traveled the road to the end of the line looking for a possible sawmill. The Lidar shows some disturbance that looked similar to sawmill locations, but it turned out to not be there. It appears it was a dugout dirt loading dock used to load the logs on trucks.

​