Raised trail?
- Thread starter DashRyan
- Start date
There is a Trail
In a State Park
In Southern New Jersey....
And it's been the site of strange phenomena, like shadows of things that don't exist...
I also found this yesterday, just 15 feet west of the berm. It's rare to see these now if I think I'm right on what it is; a deer blind partly underground.
Pineland-P,
Pine Branch C is hard to find,
I'm in a bind
It slips my mind.
It seems to be situated by a hamlet called "Blackwood Ter", which must stand for Terrace, I guess, but u never know in New Jersey. It's not like we're talking about a civilized place. They actually play golf in New Jersey (see below)...
"There are also plenty of outdoor activities here [Blackwood Ter] all year round such as fishing at Bowe’s Creek Nature Park, golfing at Deer Valley Golf Course and canoeing down the Pine Branch Creek..."
Zip 08096 (Blackwood Ter, NJ) People
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There is a Trail
In a State Park
In Southern New Jersey....
And it's been the site of strange phenomena, like shadows of things that don't exist...
I used to go on century rides - 100 mile bicycle rides - starting in - I forgot the name of that nice town in central NJ - and going into PA. Once I went up a long hill, as I recall, to a town named Zion in NJ. I felt like I had entered the Twilight Zone. I saw robotic people walking stiffly and staring straight ahead. I've had some other strange outdoor adventures in NJ and NY. Once I met two real witches. Where's that trail?
No, the deer blind is on the west side. Here is a shot of the northern depression as I approached it.
I'd like to do a sort of test with one of my photos. When I reached the bottom of the slope, I looked back up at the berm and took a photo of the berm at the top. When I looked at the photo after uploading it I said to myself "I"m not going to show this one, they won't get it, it just looks like woods because cameras are basically 2 dimensional". But what if I outlined the berm at the top along with the ground around it. I'm curious if you now construct the slope in your mind after seeing this:
Yes. That helps. I was going to do the same thing, but I waited until I left to try it.
I sent an email to the Double Trouble historian, and he believes that the berm or raises trail is most related to the cranberry era of Dover Forge. 
But for what purpose? The berm is on high ground. The bogs would have been in the floodplain.
Good questions. My best guess right now is that it was an access road to reach the river downstream from the cranberry bog for some reason. Perhaps to collect spill from flooding/ draining the bogs.
All the other roads in the area are cut into the ground, not raised on a berm. I'd rule out a road.
That's what initially brought it to my attention. Only Dover forge trail is raised like it in the area.
The old mill site was being turned into a bog in 1908.
According to the history provided by the Monmouth County Historical Society, the entire area was consumed by a large forest fire in 1910.
Although it's far too long, a friend floated the idea that it might be a sand back stop for an old gun range.
I found this last night night, working on the lead that I received that the raised trail might be from the cranberry era of Dover Forge. What's very interesting is the diagram of a cranberry bog layout.
The fire break in the upper portion of the diagram seems to fit with the raised trail formation and location. Near the blueberry fields, the area has been formerly cultivated. Could this be an old bog, up and away from Cedar Creek? Maybe not a bog at all by dry harvested cranberries?