New Jersey Hiking

Pinelands National Reserve, Franklin Parker Preserve, 5.74 Miles RT, 79' +/-, March 1, 2025

Pinelands National Reserve, Franklin Parker Preserve, 5.74 Miles RT, 79' +/-, March 1, 2025

Today, we visited a very special place, the Pinelands National Reserve in New Jersey. The Pine Barrens have been on my bucklist to hike and today was the day. Weather conditions were sunny in the low 60s and perfect for hiking.

The Pinelands, also known as the Pine Barrens, is the largest surviving forest on the eastern seaboard between Maine’s North Woods and the Florida Everglades. The biodiversity here is remarkable! It is truly a unique and special place.

The ecosystem consists of acidic, low-nutrient water and soil, which support a wide variety of plant and wildlife species that have adapted to these conditions. The Pinelands provide critical habitat for over 50 rare, threatened, or endangered species. Here, you can find bald eagles, northern pine snakes, pine barrens tree frogs, and rare plants such as the pine barrens gentian and bog asphodel, to name just a few. Spanning over 800,000 acres, the Pinelands forest has only about half of its land permanently preserved.

Today, our hike took place at the Franklin Parker Preserve, the New Jersey Conservation Foundation’s largest property, covering 16 square miles in the heart of the Pine Barrens. We followed the Sam Lambert Trail, formerly known simply as the Red Trail, which is marked by red blazes. The loop trail led us through beautiful pitch pine forests and cedar swamps, with sandy roads winding through the woods, past shallow lakes and tributaries of the West Branch of the Wading River.

Once home to an active cranberry and blueberry farm, the land was purchased by the New Jersey Conservation Foundation in 2003 and is now a protected nature preserve. Efforts are underway to restore the land to functioning wetlands, providing essential habitat for a diverse variety of plants and animals.

There was little to no elevation on this hike, and the terrain was easy walking, allowing us to enjoy the scenery and take in all its beauty.

Discovering this incredible gem in such a densely populated state was a delightful surprise. I look forward to exploring more of this unique and beautiful area.

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Delaware Water Gap, Thanksgiving Hike, November 24, 2023, Blue Mountain Lake, Hemlock Pond, Crater Lake, 8.19 Miles RT, 961' +/-

Delaware Water Gap, Thanksgiving Hike, November 24, 2023, Blue Mountain Lake, Hemlock Pond, Crater Lake, 8.19 Miles RT, 961' +/-

Thanksgiving morning we hiked the Delaware Water Gap starting at Blue Mountain Lake on the New Jersey side. We brought along the Jetboil to make a Mountain House breakfast of scrambled eggs with sausage and peppers. When we arrived at Hemlock Pond, we made ourselves comfortable on the rocks and prepared coffee and breakfast. It was chilly in the shade, but the sun felt good. As we sat and gazed out upon the lake, a group of fellow hikers arrived. They had the same idea and made themselves at home on the rocks to enjoy a Thanksgiving morning breakfast in the outdoors. We chatted briefly then packed our things and headed back onto the trail. Our next stop was Crater Lake. We stopped here to look out along the lake. We met another couple hiking with their dog. They were from Germany and now living in New Jersey. I always love meeting people on the trails who share a similar passion. From Crater lake, we made our way back. Along the way we noted the beaver dam at Lake Success. We could see they’d been very busy sharpening their teeth on the trees since the last time we were here. The next stop was Indian Rocks. We took off our packs and laid out on the flat rocks warm ourselves in the sun, then headed up a little farther to the cliffside viewpoint. We listened to the familiar sound of the wind blowing through the pines on top of the mountain. It was a perfect way to spend our Thanksgiving.

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Delaware Water Gap, Van Campens Glen, January 8, 2022

Delaware Water Gap, Van Campens Glen, January 8, 2022

Beautiful day to hike Van Campens Glen on the New Jersey side of the Delaware Water Gap. Old Mine Road is now closed for the season, so we parked near Millbrook Village and walked in about a mile or so to the upper glen. Very pretty hike with waterfalls along the way. Falls were not frozen yet and the snow on the trail was still pretty soft since it hadn’t been packed down yet by other hikers. It was pretty cold out there today. Finally starting to feel more like winter.

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Delaware Water Gap, Coventry Pond, Millbrook Village, Donkey Hollow, January 2, 2022

Delaware Water Gap, Coventry Pond, Millbrook Village, Donkey Hollow, January 2, 2022

We hiked the New Jersey side of the Delaware Water Gap today. First stop was Coventry Pond. This is just a short trail leading up to the pond. Very quiet in here. Beautiful Hemlock forest and white pine up around the pond. Saw some bear scat along the way, but didn’t cross paths with the bear. From there we took a walk around Millbrook village to check out the old style buildings. From there we did an out and back along Donkey Hollow. Very relaxing day and again, super pretty in the mist.

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