Wharton state forest trails.

[jobzombi]

Did a search, but either had no luck finding an answer or entered a wrong string of characters to search for. I'm new on the site as I am also new on hiking and backpacking, but I am very eager to give it a try, especially getting to see the beauty of Jersey or just the outdoors in general. I currently am interested in backpacking in wharton and camping at their Batona camp. My main question, and I have had no luck elsewhere just finding hard to read maps or maps of the campgrounds, is there any legal roads to take my vehicle closer to the campground and not to hike all the way. While I'd definitely be willing to do it, I want to take my dog on one trip and the batona campground is one of the few that allow pets and is somewhat primitive, Lower forge being another (though very primitive). If it was just me and my girl I'd love to the the batona trail but with my dog, I'd rather keep it simple and if the need to pack and run comes up, I would like to be able to run only a little to my car rather than miles in thunder, bad weather, etc..

I found this around here:

http://forums.njpinebarrens.com/attachments/njdot-jpg.2393/

but that does not show the batona camp or it's trails. NJ website says only lower forge and Mullica river can be accessed via only through hiking or such means. Any help or fingers pointing in the right direction would be greatly appreciated. I'd like to plan my venture before going there. I was told they have pamphlets at the main office, but again, I'd rather get it all taken care off now.

 

[Pine Baron]

Job-

Welcome to the site! There's lots of info here to injest.

This is just my 2¢. Yes, you may take your pup to Batona, but you don't have to backpack in... you can drive your vehicle right up to your site. This makes for easy camping, but the place is filled with "yahoos", especially on the weekends. You'll get that at most SP campgrounds that you can drive to.

If your looking for a little seclusion and a place for a short backpack in to, the only other primitive "pet friendly" campsite in the Wharton is Lower Forge. But you have to pack (or cache) your own water here as there are no pumps. You can park only .5 miles away (at Bulldozer and Lower Forge Rds) , so you are still be able to get to your car if needs be. Good luck and I hope you enjoy the forest.

John-

 

[jobzombi]

Thanks for the response. Good to know. I don't mind "yahoos" just not crazies or bears. Plus I'll have my imacasa machete and my KOA knife for clearing bush, wood whittling (if need be) and some basic chopping, so I don't mind a very rustic setting. The only reason I picked batona over lower forge was the water pumps. I can try to "wing" it or scavenge but I won't submit my dog to it. As for the driving up right to the site, I saw a map on the .gov site that shows "P" of parking near the atsion office, but I saw nothing near the batona site, I assume this means that I can park on the side of the road, ie unmarked parking, and the road itself is for car use.

 

[imkms]

At Batona, you can park your car right next to your tent, there is no defined parking area. As an alternative you could first setup at Batona, and then take the Baton trail North or South and using a combination of the trail and dirt roads, you can end back at Batona. After a long day of hiking coming back to a site all setup for you is nice and would allow you to bring more comforts.