Ore Beds On Cherry Hill Road

Teegate

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Sep 17, 2002
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This morning we walked half of Cherry Hill Road between 206 and the Mullica looking for various things along the way.. Now that the heat of the summer has dried up much of it the walking is quite easy. We entered the road from the SE 3/4 of a mile below Locks Bridge. Along the route we found this in the road.


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Many of the puddles are about this size and the fish in them are dying.

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That road travels through the ore beds that were mined years ago for the furnaces in the area. Of all the places in that area I have been at, this section of the road shows that the best. The pebbles are semi large with ore scattered in them.


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The ore is right in the road.


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The beds can be seen in the center of the photo. The arrow on the right shows the abrupt change to fine sand as you leave that area.


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I would suggest if you want to visit that area and never could because of the flooding and 4x4 damage, this is the time to go. Park at 206 or the SE end near the Mullica and explore. Plenty of basic plants to see as well as the ore beds. I want to warn you that you should not drive that road for various reasons other than the mud, water or sand. Make sure you only walk it. Make sure!
 
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Rooftree

Explorer
Mar 24, 2017
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Guy; back on June 7th, a friend and I walked the whole distance of Cherry Hill Road from Rt 206 out to Batsto-Fireline Rd. Then back on Railroad Ave. What we experienced was the complete opposite of what you saw today. We probably picked the worst time of the year and the worst in many years to walk it. It was right after the hard rains in May. The first mile in was the usual large puddles but larger then normal. The go arounds worked well. All the ore beds were greatly saturated with a least 3 to 4 inches of water. When we got to were the road makes a dogleg bend to the left, things just got worst. (I think that may be where you took the pictures.) The road became a stream bed with moving water and a gravel bottom. I did see a few fish in much better shape then what is seen in our pictures. The flooded road went for almost 100 yards and deep over our boots in many places Needless to say, we had to bushwhack around all that with no prior paths made. We got to a point, we just wanted to get out of that area. From the bend, out to Batsto-Fireline Rd it was 90% under water. When we got to clear road, within 10 yards, back in the water again for another long distance of flooded road.. Usually, I take lots of pictures, but under the circumstances we were in, I didn't even think about the camera. When we got back to Lock Bridge, we met up with a Park Ranger. He drove us back to my car.

I wish I took pictures, to compare with yours.

Ron
 
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Teegate

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Yea, that was a bad time to go. Each week for the past month I have been checking the puddles to see when they were low so I could get some good photos of ore that I suspected was there as well as other things.
 

RednekF350

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Feb 20, 2004
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Very cool Guy. This sure is a dry stretch of weather.

I'll never forget accompanying my neighbor and his half-witted brother-in-law on a ride one day in the winter back in the 90's. The brother-in-law was from Irvington but he had himself an F250 with 36" tires and he was determined to get the truck dirty. I was directing him and I intended to take him back to Wescoat using Dave's Road. When he approached the intersection of Cherry Hill Road he suddenly veered left and said "Hold ON !!!" We made it about 20' and the hood went under water and he wetted out. My neighbor cussed him up and down and we all had to climb out into the bed one by one through the slider. It was before cell phones and my neighbor started hoofing it toward 206 where he planned on thumbing it to the Pic to use the phone.
While he was gone, a Jeep came from the east and he was able to pull us out. The Jeeper had a can of CRC and we popped off the distributor cap and sprayed everything with it an we got it started. We followed him out to 206 and came up on my neighbor around Boot Hill Gun Club. He was still livid. He jumped in and continued to yell at his brother in law.
Good times.
 

RednekF350

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Broke Jeep Joe

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Mar 8, 2006
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Waterford Twp
Whoops. I was on the road that intersects Dave's Road further to the south.

http://maps.njpinebarrens.com/#lat=39.70543061370779&lng=-74.70601100128175&z=15&type=nj2015&gpx=

I never new either road as Cherry Hill Road back then. Oddly, it seems like some of these road names, including Dave's Road, popped up in the last 15-20 years or so. I am thinking the Forest Fire Service might have had something to do with that to try to eliminate some confusion.

Yea, except for West Mill Rd :)
 
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Rooftree

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Mar 24, 2017
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There is a sign that reads Cherry Hill Rd. About 50 to 100 yards in off of 206, there is a handmade wooden sign nailed vertically high up on a pine tree on the right side of the road. I've walked past it many times in the past few years and never saw it. You have to be a birder, and not one looking at plants. Or, just more observant.
 

bobpbx

Piney
Staff member
Oct 25, 2002
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Guy, that's the road we started on the 3 river crossings trip.

Ahh, you remember! Yes, we were dropped off at the big clearing and walked from there in a fairly straight line all the way to Wading Pines Campground, crossing the Mullica, the Batsto, and the Wading in an 11 mile trek. Great memories. We stashed water at a couple places along the way.
 

Broke Jeep Joe

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Mar 8, 2006
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There is a sign that reads Cherry Hill Rd. About 50 to 100 yards in off of 206, there is a handmade wooden sign nailed vertically high up on a pine tree on the right side of the road. I've walked past it many times in the past few years and never saw it. You have to be a birder, and not one looking at plants. Or, just more observant.

There are quite a few of those signs out there if u are looking for them! There used to be one at Washington Tpke and Tuckerton, I only saw that one once before it vanished! There is/was one on West Mill (or whatever they call it this week), Quaker Bridge, Batsto-Fireline, Cherry Hill Rd. and some others out there.
 

RednekF350

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Feb 20, 2004
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There are quite a few of those signs out there if u are looking for them! There used to be one at Washington Tpke and Tuckerton, I only saw that one once before it vanished! There is/was one on West Mill (or whatever they call it this week), Quaker Bridge, Batsto-Fireline, Cherry Hill Rd. and some others out there.

Railroad Avenue, Pushline Road and Bulldozer Road were a few more signs that definitely weren't there 20 years ago. And as I said, I don't ever recall any of these roads having those names in the local dialect prior to that.
 

bobpbx

Piney
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Oct 25, 2002
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Railroad Avenue, Pushline Road and Bulldozer Road were a few more signs that definitely weren't there 20 years ago. And as I said, I don't ever recall any of these roads having those names in the local dialect prior to that.

I agree. I am very poor on the names given to roads in the pines. I usually remember the hard-surfaced road names (Mt. Misery, Pasadena, Savoy, etc) but I remember the sand ones only by memory. The Red Road is an exception.
 

Broke Jeep Joe

Explorer
Mar 8, 2006
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Waterford Twp
I agree. I am very poor on the names given to roads in the pines. I usually remember the hard-surfaced road names (Mt. Misery, Pasadena, Savoy, etc) but I remember the sand ones only by memory. The Red Road is an exception.

Same here Bob, I usually remember them by a unique feature i find along the way,
 

manumuskin

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Jul 20, 2003
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That is one of my favorite areas in the pines.I have driven that whole road in a dry summer,well almost.I came in from 206 and about half way through after some really scary puddles even in the dry season I came to a stump about 18 inches tall growing in the very middle of the road with no way around it.I have no idea how the stump managed to grow in the middle of an obviously well established dirt road but there it was right in the middle with no way around so I went back to 206 and then headed down the Mullica road and came in from the other direction and made it to the stump from the other way.Yep, there it was right in the way again.But yes it is a better walk then a drive.That area is very wild and was like the moon right after the 82 fire.
 
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