Just saying thanks

Ms Oats

Ms Oats

Scout
Aug 7, 2013
51
2
50
Bayville, NJ
Good Morning! I found these forums last week, and have been completely distracted from everything else while reading them. My boyfriend and I have been exploring the pine barrens (somewhat blindly) on our own for a while, and it's great to have stumbled upon some answers to questions we have had (like: what WAS this place?!). Thanks for all of the informative posts!
~Ms Oats
 
B

Badfish740

Explorer
Feb 19, 2005
589
44
Copperhead Road
So tell us what you've found so far? I just spent a weekend in Bass River State Forest which aren't my usual stomping grounds and found some interesting places.
 
Ms Oats

Ms Oats

Scout
Aug 7, 2013
51
2
50
Bayville, NJ
Just about every weekend we try to find somewhere new to hike around. We have been trying to make it to the Forked River Mountains all summer, but with all the rain we have had this summer, the roads have been pretty bad back there. We camped at Bass River in the spring and hiked all around there and Wharton, we have also hiked a lot of Lebanon State Forest, and we have plans to do the Batona at some point in the future. Last weekend we spent trying to find Parkdale and Brookbrae, I think we found Parkdale, but we were slightly off for Brookbrae. We also have gone several times to an old pig farm in Lakewood, which is sadly being turned into townhouses now. Hunting for geocaches, and more recently benchmarks has brought us to pretty some cool spots!
 
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WaretownMike

WaretownMike

Explorer
Jul 16, 2013
186
100
53
Waretown
Ms Oats said:
Just about every weekend we try to find somewhere new to hike around. We have been trying to make it to the Forked River Mountains all summer, but with all the rain we have had this summer, the roads have been pretty bad back there. We camped at Bass River in the spring and hiked all around there and Wharton, we have also hiked a lot of Lebanon State Forest, and we have plans to do the Batona at some point in the future. Last weekend we spent trying to find Parkdale and Brookbrae, I think we found Parkdale, but we were slightly off for Brookbrae. We also have gone several times to an old pig farm in Lakewood, which is sadly being turned into townhouses now. Hunting for geocaches, and more recently benchmarks has brought us to pretty some cool spots!
Click to expand...
Welcome Ms Oats!

There are some great trails off of Wells Mills road in Waretown to check out. Right now you can't drive too close to FR Mountains without a reliable 4x4 due to a few deep puddles that seem to last even through dry spells. Last time out we parked and ran to the top and back, about 8 miles round trip.
 
Ms Oats

Ms Oats

Scout
Aug 7, 2013
51
2
50
Bayville, NJ
haha! the puddles back there have been so bad this year, that we even got stuck once in a big 4x4, we will wait until it dries up a bit, or walk it. We walked the conservation trail back there a week or two ago as well, which is marked with white blazes every 20 ft then stopped, which was frustrating!
 
Ms Oats

Ms Oats

Scout
Aug 7, 2013
51
2
50
Bayville, NJ
Thats funny Boyd, I forget it's called Byrne now! It was one of the first things I noticed about moving to OC in 1990-- being in the moving truck with my dad and seeing the sign on the parkway to exit for Lebanon State Forest
 
Boyd

Boyd

Administrator
Staff member
Site Administrator
Jul 31, 2004
9,824
3,005
Ben's Branch, Stephen Creek
I lived on Station Road in Bayville in 1972-73 and worked at Ocean County College. It was a little farmhouse on the left, maybe 1/4 mile from Rt 9. Drove past there several years ago and it was still there, although everything around it has been developed. It may be gone now.

Those were some wild times back then - lots of memories! ;)
 
Ms Oats

Ms Oats

Scout
Aug 7, 2013
51
2
50
Bayville, NJ
There IS a farmhouse still on station road! It always looks abandoned, but there is a car usually parked at the house behind it on the same property, so I'm unsure if it's the same owner or not. My son and I saw the roof covered in turkey vultures one day, we were wondering what was going on inside!
 
46er

46er

Piney
Mar 24, 2004
8,837
2,144
Coastal NJ
There are 5 dwellings in that area, the home closest to Station is a goner, roof caved in. The ones along the back property line are maintained and have folks living there. Another place across Station from there is being lived in. Nice pieces of property. There is quite a bit of undeveloped land along Station on both sides of those homes.
 
Boyd

Boyd

Administrator
Staff member
Site Administrator
Jul 31, 2004
9,824
3,005
Ben's Branch, Stephen Creek
Cool. I will need to drive past there again one of these days. I am lost when I look at the current aerial photos. Is this it maybe?

http://maps.njpinebarrens.com/#lat=39.898529118419376&lng=-74.16600011261937&z=18&type=hybrid&gpx=

For some reason, the NJGIN layers of Ben's map aren't working for me right now, but the USGS topo also shows a house there, so I think that's it. There were indeed two houses there. It was an old farm and the owner lived in the rear house at the end of a field. He was quite a character - I will never forget him. He must have been 80 years old, his name was Larry Scillitani. I think he might have had about 4 teeth. :)

His hearing wasn't very good and he misunderstood almost everything I said. I remember calling right after I rented the place to ask if he would open the house for gas company. It was like a comedy routine...

"Hi Larry, this is your new tenant"

"Lieutenant? What Lieutenant?..."

"No - NEW TENANT!"

"Who?..."

Those were crazy times.... My roommate was Miss Ocean County. :D
 
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