New to the forum--first post

[marblesmike]

Hey guys,

I just registered here and am overwhelmed with the amount of information available here and how tightly knit it seems this online community is. I'm 24, so I'm a relative youngster, but I have just recently discovered the joy of exploring the Pines. Having always resided in the more congested areas of NJ, I enjoy every minute and second I get to spend out in the wild.

It all started back a few years ago. Laugh at me all you want (yes, I read the FAQ), but it all started with Weird NJ and one of my friends from Marlton telling me about Apple Pie Hill and eventually taking a late night journey out there. On the second or third visit, we ran into some locals who led us to the quarry right down and across the road from the entrance to Ringler Ave off 532. It seems recently that quarry was closed to the public (not surprising after seeing all sorts of redneck trash, immigrant workers and other people in my age group leaving their garbage all over the property), so I've began exploring other areas of the Pines. I've recently started checking out all the roads and trails off Quaker Bridge Road, but am afraid to explore too much with the risk of getting lost, not to mention I drive a little Celica. Any tips, or good maps with each of the intersecting dirt roads/trails labeled? Any info would help. I'm also looking for other quarries or swimming holes in the Shamong/Tabernacle/Chatsworth similar to the one mentioned above. So far I've found the Mullica River access points off of the Old Campground road, but other locations would be appreciated! Also, I'd like more information about the closed quarry. I'm trying to get in contact with the owners because my best friend in the marines wants permission to have a picnic there sometime this summer to propose to his girlfriend.

So I look forward to getting to know some of the people on here and sharing stories and information about one of the coolest, most tranquil, and even at times creepiest areas I've ever been to.

 

[Boyd]

Welcome the forums Mike!

For exploring the pines, try my Map of New Jersey. It works on any of the Garmin Nuvi GPS'es for your car, or the Oregon/Dakota/Colorado handhelds: http://www.gpsfiledepot.com/maps/view/294/

If you have one of the above mentioned handhelds, you will also find additional maps of the pines that I have posted at GPSFileDepot, including scanned USGS 24k topo's and high resolution aerial photography.

 

[marblesmike]

Thanks Boyd! I gotta get a handheld gps for sure. I'm thinking of getting one very soon. Great maps btw.

 

[Boyd]

Thanks. If you like, you can still use the map on your computer with Mapsource even if you don't have a GPS. Follow the tutorial at GPSFileDepot for installing Mapsource first, then download my map and run the installer.

 

[Teegate]

Welcome to the site!

Is this the "quarry" you are referring to?

http://maps.njpinebarrens.com/#lat=39.81849137230205&lng=-74.55264329910278&z=17&type=nj2007&gpx=

I doubt you will get permission to use it since it is owned by the New Jersey Conservation Foundation. Also, I suspect the people you met there were not exactly locals. I may be wrong but I suspect the quarry was where Garfield DeMarco who sold the property to the NJCF acquired the sand he used for his cranberry bogs when "sanding" them each year.

Guy

 

[marblesmike]

Welcome to the site!

Is this the "quarry" you are referring to?

http://maps.njpinebarrens.com/#lat=39.81849137230205&lng=-74.55264329910278&z=17&type=nj2007&gpx=

I doubt you will get permission to use it since it is owned by the New Jersey Conservation Foundation. Also, I suspect the people you met there were not exactly locals. I may be wrong but I suspect the quarry was where Garfield DeMarco who sold the property to the NJCF acquired the sand he used for his cranberry bogs when "sanding" them each year.

Guy

Yeah that's the one.
So what...when DeMarco owned the property it was open to the public? I know that people had been going back there for a while before they suddenly posted No Trespassing signs there last year or the year before. It's a shame too. That place was a great place to have a campfire, drink some beers and cool off. Not to mention clean and quiet. When did NJCF buy the property?

EDIT: just found this thread; with such a vague title, it eluded my searching

http://forums.njpinebarrens.com/f13/closed-public-5543/

 

[woodjin]

Welcome to the forum Mike. When DeMarco owned that "quarry" it was not public access and was not used by the public. I had been back there when DeMarco owned it and I didn't recall seeing any evidence of people hanging out back there. When the NJCF bought it a few years back they made the property public access but ran into too much a problem with people drinking and trashing the place back there and subsequently closed it. There are many swimming holes along the mullica and Batsto rivers. If you are specifically looking for quarrys or blue holes, there are a bunch of them. But are mostly on land owned by sand mining companies and are private property. There is a high liability for the land owners when people use them to go swimming in.

Boyds map is probably all that you need but a popular map that has been used for many years to navigate the area are the USGS topo maps. You can by them at the ranger station in Batsto.

Jeff

 

[marblesmike]

Jeff and Boyd,

Thanks for your help! Boyd, I tested you map set out today loaded it up on my buddy's Garmin Nuvi and took his Jeep down Quaker Bridge Road all the way out and about to Harrisville. I also bought a couple of the topo maps from the Atsion office. I know a lot of people here have complained about the "Park Police," but the three women (including the blonde one in charge I think I've seen others on here mention in the past) were very friendly, helpful and descriptive about some of the more popular routes in Wharton and about some of the rules pertaining to fires, camping, etc. In conjunction with the Garmin, these maps proved very useful and I'm proud to say we didn't get lost at all. In fact, my friends are psyched to come back there at night sometime as we feel a lot safer in terms of not getting lost with such an improved GPS map.

Thanks again for your help guys, although I do have a couple questions:

In the Quaker Bridge-Mount-Washington area, where are there any ruins that are worth investigating? Google map links would be superb! Also, on my maps there's a location designated as simply "Mount" between Quaker Bridge and Washington; so what's its significance? Finally, where are the other ruins that make up Harrisville (not including the old Mill's ruins)? I know someone said something about the other side of the road (meaning 679?) but I couldn't find them from the main road. The lady at the ranger station said there were ruins off the Washington Tpk but again I didn't notice any.

Sorry for the extended length post-- I just got back from exploring and am psyched to get back out there asap! Too bad my little Celica probably won't hold up too well back there

 

[Jerseyman]

I do have a couple questions:

In the Quaker Bridge-Mount-Washington area, where are there any ruins that are worth investigating? Google map links would be superb! Also, on my maps there's a location designated as simply "Mount" between Quaker Bridge and Washington; so what's its significance? Finally, where are the other ruins that make up Harrisville (not including the old Mill's ruins)? I know someone said something about the other side of the road (meaning 679?) but I couldn't find them from the main road. The lady at the ranger station said there were ruins off the Washington Tpk but again I didn't notice any.

Marblesmike:

Welcome to the forums; you are among friends here!!

For information on Quaker Bridge and Mount, you might want to review this thread:

http://forums.njpinebarrens.com/f8/quaker-bridge-tavern-7055/

Best regards,
Jerseyman

 

[Boyd]

Glad the map helped!

Regarding Harrisville, there are some old maps that might be of interest in "The Heart of the Pines" on pages 322-323. I thought they had been posted here somewhere, but can't find them now. I made the following images awhile ago and never got around to posting them. These were created by taking the very high resolution (1 foot per pixel) NJ Orthophotography and mapping them onto the high resolution 1/9 arc second DEM (digital elevation model) data from the USGS to create a 3d model. The result is sort of like Google Earth, but with higher resolution data. These are pretty big images, so you may need to zoom in and scroll around to see everything.

http://stephencreek.com/njpb/harrisville1.jpg
http://stephencreek.com/njpb/harrisville2.jpg
http://stephencreek.com/njpb/harrisville3.jpg

 

[marblesmike]

Cool thanks again! I'm glad I've found so many people here with such a strong interest in the Pines.