Hiking Trip Out Of State
- Thread starter virgos
- Start date
I'll second the Delaware Water Gap. But if you must go out of state I really enjoyed Ricketts Glenn in PA. If you go bring a camera and hike the "Falls Trail." Have fun regardless.
Stay in jersey and contact Mike
This is a guy who runs awesome hikes all over NJ and PA..If you have myspace look for the group harcore hikes..
Hi everybody!
I'm just finished off looking over the route for this Sunday's hike, a scouting hike for possible future routes of the Highlands Trail as it makes it's way to the Pennsylvania border on it's way west.
We will be meeting at the Tower Hill Reserve, though I want to leave some of the cars at Jugtown Mountain Preserve nearby. Meeting time at Tower Hill is going to be 9 am. To get there, get on Interstate 78. Take 78 to exit 7, Bloomsbury. From Bloomsbury, follow Rt 173 southeast for a few miles, and after you ascend a steep hill, turn left on Mine Road. Continue on Mine Road, passing Jugtown Mountain Nature Preserve on the left. The road turns right sharply, and at the intersection of Mountain View Road and Mine Road, you will see the parking area for Tower Hill Reserve within view on Mountain View Road.
If you are coming from the east (NYC and metro area), or if you miss the Bloomsbury exit, you can take exit 11 off 78 to access Rt 173 northwest back to Mine Road. It's not too far out of the way.
This hike will be more difficult than last weeks because a lot of it will be off trail, and there will be road walking as well where land is not available to hike. Still, there will be lots of trails and plenty to see. Last week's hike ended up being about 18.5 miles according to Maptech. Fred, Jean, and Jude took a more direct route for 16.1 miles.
Here's a description of what we're in for this Sunday:
After meeting at Tower Hill, we will shuttle as few cars as possible to Milford where I know of a parking area (thanks to Ron P!). We'll make our way briefly along Rt 519 to an access road to NJ State DEP land. We can follow this to the Nature Conservancy's Milford Bluffs Preserve which will undouptably have some views. These cliffs host a mini desert climate, amazingly, because they get a lot of sun. In contrast, the PA side, Nockamixon Cliffs, hosts a mini arctic climate!
We'll continue on clifftop to Spring Garden Road and walk shortly to a village called Spring Mills where it looks like there's a store for food and such. We'll then try to follow a creekside north and briefly west to Shire Road. There is a confuence so we'll have to wade across a small stream, so be prepared to take your shoes off and go barefoot across.
When we reach Shire Road, depending on the time and group mood, we'll either continue to Vollendam Windmill on Adamic Hill Road, or continue on Shire Road and cut into the woods toward Musconetcong Gorge Preserve. At first off trail, we will soon reach a blazed and complete section of the Highlands Trail for a couple miles. We will follow this, with some incomplete trail, out to Staats Road. From here, we'll make our way to Schaaf Road, following it to Rt 579, then onto Turkey Hill Road. On this road, we can get to Audubon Society Land, using it to get to Tunnel Hill Road. We'll continue into West Portal, another village, where we pick up the next section of complete trail up hill into Jugtown Mountain Nature Preserve. This trail comes out on Mine Hill Road, and we may leave a few vehicles there for those not wanting to continue. From here, we may follow an easement to Tower Hill, depending on the mood of the group, or we may just finish here a couple miles early. I wanted to be sure we had this option in case everyone's hurting too much, as some parts will get tough!
In checking out these areas, I see a lot of opportunites for future trips, so more to come! If you have any questions contact me via e mail or on my cell at 908 343 8374
Write Up:
Date: Sunday, 4/29
Location: Hunterdon County Highlands
Hike Rating: 3D19
Trip Description: Hike point to point to scout the Highlands Trail route and future route.
Requirements: PLENTY of water, weather appropriate clothing
For any information including directions to meeting place and time, contact Mike Helbing at sneezehorse@hotmail.com or at (908) 343-8374, or Aol Instant Messenger users my find me while on line using my screen name, sneezehorse.
Best Regards, all!
M'ke
This is a guy who runs awesome hikes all over NJ and PA..If you have myspace look for the group harcore hikes..
Hi everybody!
I'm just finished off looking over the route for this Sunday's hike, a scouting hike for possible future routes of the Highlands Trail as it makes it's way to the Pennsylvania border on it's way west.
We will be meeting at the Tower Hill Reserve, though I want to leave some of the cars at Jugtown Mountain Preserve nearby. Meeting time at Tower Hill is going to be 9 am. To get there, get on Interstate 78. Take 78 to exit 7, Bloomsbury. From Bloomsbury, follow Rt 173 southeast for a few miles, and after you ascend a steep hill, turn left on Mine Road. Continue on Mine Road, passing Jugtown Mountain Nature Preserve on the left. The road turns right sharply, and at the intersection of Mountain View Road and Mine Road, you will see the parking area for Tower Hill Reserve within view on Mountain View Road.
If you are coming from the east (NYC and metro area), or if you miss the Bloomsbury exit, you can take exit 11 off 78 to access Rt 173 northwest back to Mine Road. It's not too far out of the way.
This hike will be more difficult than last weeks because a lot of it will be off trail, and there will be road walking as well where land is not available to hike. Still, there will be lots of trails and plenty to see. Last week's hike ended up being about 18.5 miles according to Maptech. Fred, Jean, and Jude took a more direct route for 16.1 miles.
Here's a description of what we're in for this Sunday:
After meeting at Tower Hill, we will shuttle as few cars as possible to Milford where I know of a parking area (thanks to Ron P!). We'll make our way briefly along Rt 519 to an access road to NJ State DEP land. We can follow this to the Nature Conservancy's Milford Bluffs Preserve which will undouptably have some views. These cliffs host a mini desert climate, amazingly, because they get a lot of sun. In contrast, the PA side, Nockamixon Cliffs, hosts a mini arctic climate!
We'll continue on clifftop to Spring Garden Road and walk shortly to a village called Spring Mills where it looks like there's a store for food and such. We'll then try to follow a creekside north and briefly west to Shire Road. There is a confuence so we'll have to wade across a small stream, so be prepared to take your shoes off and go barefoot across.
When we reach Shire Road, depending on the time and group mood, we'll either continue to Vollendam Windmill on Adamic Hill Road, or continue on Shire Road and cut into the woods toward Musconetcong Gorge Preserve. At first off trail, we will soon reach a blazed and complete section of the Highlands Trail for a couple miles. We will follow this, with some incomplete trail, out to Staats Road. From here, we'll make our way to Schaaf Road, following it to Rt 579, then onto Turkey Hill Road. On this road, we can get to Audubon Society Land, using it to get to Tunnel Hill Road. We'll continue into West Portal, another village, where we pick up the next section of complete trail up hill into Jugtown Mountain Nature Preserve. This trail comes out on Mine Hill Road, and we may leave a few vehicles there for those not wanting to continue. From here, we may follow an easement to Tower Hill, depending on the mood of the group, or we may just finish here a couple miles early. I wanted to be sure we had this option in case everyone's hurting too much, as some parts will get tough!
In checking out these areas, I see a lot of opportunites for future trips, so more to come! If you have any questions contact me via e mail or on my cell at 908 343 8374
Write Up:
Date: Sunday, 4/29
Location: Hunterdon County Highlands
Hike Rating: 3D19
Trip Description: Hike point to point to scout the Highlands Trail route and future route.
Requirements: PLENTY of water, weather appropriate clothing
For any information including directions to meeting place and time, contact Mike Helbing at sneezehorse@hotmail.com or at (908) 343-8374, or Aol Instant Messenger users my find me while on line using my screen name, sneezehorse.
Best Regards, all!
M'ke
Wawayanda is also a really nice park in upstate NJ. I saw a bear while hiking around there a couple years ago: http://www.state.nj.us/dep/parksandforests/parks/wawayanda.html
my favorite trail for vistas is the black forest trail.might be a little further than four hours away though.
My favorite place in pa.is the cherry springs state park,about 10 miles from coudersport,potter county abounds with many attractions,including the grand canyon of pennsylvania,in my opinion the most scenic county is potter.
Thunder swamp. Go to the PA DCNR abd access Delaware state forest. The have a nice map for this area...23 miles I think of trails & I can vouch for the elevation changes!
Thunder swamp is nice,lots of terrain changes from top to bottom, its been a long time but i don't remember many vistas. i think the milage is 50,but there are alot of ways to shorten the hike.Only a few hours out also.
I've been hunting a portion of the area off Snow Hill Road towards Utt's Swamp...I ve also driven the roads some around the deer exclosures. PA fenced alot of area to assist regeneration of native plants...
There is lot's of different terrain, you can camp, It's free! and I didn't see much litter...all under 30 min from the Water Gap Bridge!
I'm partial to the area as our family has held a state forest leased campsite nearby since 1928 so I've been going to this area my whole life...
There is lot's of different terrain, you can camp, It's free! and I didn't see much litter...all under 30 min from the Water Gap Bridge!
I'm partial to the area as our family has held a state forest leased campsite nearby since 1928 so I've been going to this area my whole life...
West Rim Trail
There was some discussion earlier of the PA Grand Canyon (Pine Creek Gorge). I just backpacked the ~30 mile West Rim Trail a couple of weekends ago, and here are a couple of photos. We had to really work to get any decent shots with the haze and clouds, but it was an awesome trail for vistas, and I'd recommend it to anyone! There are a few other ways to access many of the vistas without needing to do the entire 30 miles, so check it out no matter what kind of hiking you like. Next on my list is the Black Forest Trail...
There was some discussion earlier of the PA Grand Canyon (Pine Creek Gorge). I just backpacked the ~30 mile West Rim Trail a couple of weekends ago, and here are a couple of photos. We had to really work to get any decent shots with the haze and clouds, but it was an awesome trail for vistas, and I'd recommend it to anyone! There are a few other ways to access many of the vistas without needing to do the entire 30 miles, so check it out no matter what kind of hiking you like. Next on my list is the Black Forest Trail...
If you want some great hikes all over northern NJ, go to the New Your - New Jersey Trail Conference's website. Click on the link for "Hike of the Week". The hikes are grouped by the park or tract that they are within. They also publish maps including most of these trails, which you can buy online or at the larger outdoor stores, like Campmor or Ramsey Outdoor, but the hike descriptions on the website are so accurate and detailed you can get by without the map. Bringing map and compass, or GPS, is always a good idea though.
Ive done rickets glen a few dozen times, grandcanyon of PA was awsome also, but i didnt see anyone mention boulder field and hawk falls, which is much closer to us in SJ. If you decide to do boulder field ( which is awsome) make sure you do the shades of death trail also, last time i was there we saw a black bear, so be careful.
Over the summer i did about 90 miles total of the AT, anywhere u go on the AT is gonna be nice. also look u flatrock. amazing view, its only a 3 miles hike or so but its a hell of an incline in the begining. GL
Over the summer i did about 90 miles total of the AT, anywhere u go on the AT is gonna be nice. also look u flatrock. amazing view, its only a 3 miles hike or so but its a hell of an incline in the begining. GL