4/28 Gunks Hike! see our meetup site for more!

Sunday Newark Delaware Hike!

This hike will be a loop around Newark, DE! A bit further south than where we usually go, but we've had some good experiences with the Mason Dixon Trail and sorrounding system. I think this will be the best one yet!!
We will be meeting at 9 am at the Newark Shopping Center, 311 Newark Shopping Ctr, Newark, DE. There is a Goodwill Store there. Look for that, and park close by as to be within sight but not to take up the parking for patrons there. Maybe we'll check it out too if it's open. Once we're all together, a loop hike will commence utilizing both the Mason Dixon Trail, the Pomeroy Rail Trail, known locally as the "Pumpsie Doodle", and a couple other local trails forming a loop.
The full hike, as usual will be just about fifteen miles.

The theme for this hike will be ridicules leisure suits. We can always find those sorts of things at thrift stores, so maybe we'll find more at the beginning!
The Pomeroy Rail Trail leads us from the business district of Newark to more area trails. If it's warm enough to swim, there may be opportunities. We will check the temperature leading up to this which will dictate the direction of the loop hike (swimming would be near to the end).
The Pomeroy Trail connects with another trail near to the active rail line. Our connection between this and the Mason Dixon Trail at Iron Hill Park will be college campus sorts of stuff. Newark is actually a very pedestrian friendly city.
The Mason Dixon Trail makes it's way from White Clay Creek south on a very diverse route through both woods and developed parks, and follows a good stretch of the Christina River. It looks quite lovely.
If anyone needs further information or needs to get in touch with me, call or text my cell at 908 343 8374.
Carpools may be available from northwestern NJ.

This Week: Marble Hill Events and Hikes!

We have a lot of stuff coming up this week!!! Very exciting!
Please join us in this momentous occasion, celebrating the grand opening of the all new Marble Hill trail system at Lopatcong Park!
As Chairman of the Warren County Board of Recreation Commission and President of Metrotrails, I am proud to announce the completion of the all new Marble Hill Trail System, which includes mines, overlooks, and more!
The opening at noon is an open public event, so all are welcome to attend regardless of RSVP numbers here. Maps will be given to all in attendance!
Aside from just the hike, there will be a Highlands Trail presentation earlier in the week given by VP Matt Davis and myself at Hunterdon Arboretum for the Hunterdon Hiking Club (1020 Highway 31
Lebanon, NJ 08833 in Clinton Township, 7pm). Matt and I will be talking about the Highlands Trail system, and share photos of it's scenic route from Storm King Mountain in NY to Rieglesville PA. We'll then go on to describe our work on the Warren Highlands Trail, an alternative route to the main trail across Warren County, and the focus of this week's Sunday hike (4/14). There is also a Board of Recreation Meeting on Tuesday at 5 where we'll be going over some of the plans on official county level, in Oxford, Dept Land Pres office on Mt Pisgah Ave. Read on to the official press release below for more.

On the hike, participants will have the option of joining in one, two, three, or four parts of the event.

There will be a less than 4 mile hike in the morning, then we might stop to eat. There will be the grand opening, then another hike to follow.
THOSE WHO WISH TO JOIN ME FOR THE ENTIRE DAY, PLEASE MEET ME AT CRIVELLARO'S RESTAURANT at 8:30 am:  The address is 1690 Morgan Hill Rd, Easton, PA 18042. 
The plan is now to do the morning and afternoon event, then we'll hike on to Crivellaro's where we can have dinner and drinks.
Lopatcong Township Park is located at 9 Wildew Ave, Phillipsburg NJ. This is the park where the pool is located. Enter the park and keep to the right. At the far right parking lot, near the ball fields is a kiosk at the paved pathway, pictured here. This is where we will begin the hikes, and where the celebration will occur.
The first part hike (shown as a separate event here) will be a short loop with a bit of out and back, starting at 9 am. We'll follow the new Lopatcong Connector Trail, constructed by Jillane and I with mowing help from the township, on up to the Warren Highlands Trail. We'll turn right and follow it out to the newest section, rerouted from the previous year to the fields. It'll be an out and back to the former site of the Harmony School House. There is a nice panoramic view not to miss!
We'll make our way back from here probably backtracking a bit, but also on a utility line with another view.
At noon there will be the celebration. In attendance will be at least two Freeholders, Director of Warren County Land Preservation Mr. Corey Tierney, Director of Planning Mr. David Dech, and Assistant Director of State Parks Mr. John Trontis, all outstanding and passionate individuals, as well as others. Directly following the celebration, I will be leading the group, which may be larger at this point. We'll again follow the Lopatcong Connector Trail to Warren Highlands Trail, then the new yellow trail down to a new parking lot and kiosk. We'll continue on the yellow trail which loops back to Warren Highlands Trail a little further on. We'll then follow Warren Highlands to a lovely seasonal vista of "Little Water Gap" and St. Anthony's Nose in PA. After that, we follow the Iron Mine Trail to the Fulmer Mine, another great little spot.

 AGAIN, FOR THOSE DOING THE ENTIRE HIKE, we will continue out of the park. We will follow the Warren Highlands Trail out to the Northampton Street Free Bridge. I will split the group where some can stay on the trail, and some can go through my favorite giant pipe. We'll reconvene along the route along the road.
From there, we continue through the riverside park at the forks of the Delaware and Lehigh, and head across to the Lehigh Canal. This is the proposed terminus of the Warren Highlands Trail, where it makes connection with the main Highlands Trail route. We'll then follow the route, along the D&L Trail on the Lehigh Canal towpath to Glendon. We'll leave the canal at Glendon and walk a couple of very pleasant back roads up Morgan Hill, and I'll point out the remains of the old Glendon Branch rail line. We'll finish then at Crivellaro's where we can have some excellent dinner and drinks to celebrate the momentous occasion!
I can be reached at (908) 343-8374. Feel free to call or text.

The following is the official press release:
The County of Warren is pleased to announce that various improvements to the Marble Hill Natural Area Preserve have been completed and that a “Grand Re-Opening” will be held at the Lopatcong Municipal Park (off Belvidere Road) on Sunday April 14th at 12:00pm. The 270+ acre preserve is owned by the County and adjoins over 100 acres of state open space and over 100 acres of municipal parkland. Visitors are invited to attend the ceremony and explore the property. Michael Helbing, the Warren County Board of Recreation Chairman and volunteer who helped construct most of the trail system, will also lead a guided tour of the preserve.

With the help of the state, township and volunteers, Warren County has cleared and blazed nearly 4 miles of new trails, installed multiple informational kiosks and interpretive signs, and created additional parking areas along River Road and Marble Hill Road. “The Martins Jacoby Watershed Association and the National Parks Service deserve special thanks for their generous grant which made all this possible,” noted Dave Dech, Warren County Planning Director. “Although this property had been preserved for quite some time, not too many people knew about it. This is a terrific resource for the public to enjoy and we hope they will come visit.”

Situated along Delaware River just north of Phillipsburg, the preserve's contiguous forestland provides coverage for neo-tropical song birds and other migratory song birds that use the river as a flyway during migration. Visitors are invited to follow newly established trails through dense thickets of rhododendron which are particularly colorful in late spring and early summer.

Excavated in the late 1800s for iron ore, they may notice various rock walls and other interesting artifacts - including the Fulmer Mine (or "Ice Cave"). One of the more interesting features on this site, the floor of this cave is often covered with icy stalagmite during the winter months.

Atop Marble Hill and along the main trail, visitors are encouraged to stop and enjoy the Delaware River Vista which overlooks the narrows north of Phillipsburg and Easton (known to loggers who worked the Delaware River as the "Little Water Gap"). Across the gap is Gollub Park, home to a rock outcrop known as St. Anthony's Nose.

“The main trail through Marble Hill is a western section the Warren Highlands Trail. A cooperative effort between the NYNJ Trail Conference, Metrotrails, the Highlands Project, and other conservation organizations, as well as the state and local governments, this trail will extend over 150 miles from Storm King Mountain on the Hudson River. From Marble Hill to Allamuchy Township, Warren County will contain 32 miles of the trail,” explains Helbing.

“Many people don’t realize this, but thanks to continuing Freeholder support, Warren County owns and maintains nearly 1,800 acres of open space,” adds Corey Tierney, Warren County Land Preservation Director. “The improvements to Marble Hill are part of a broader county-wide effort to make our nature preserves more accessible to the public. With the support of organizations like Martins Jacoby and a committed group of volunteers, we can make these areas more enjoyable without straining the budget. I encourage anyone who is interested in building and maintaining trails to contact my office. With your help, we can really make a little go a long way.” The Land Preservation Department can be reached at (908) 453-2650.

Next Hike: March on Atlantic City

 Plenty more good stuff coming up. I may do a trail work or night hike thing this week, but the hike this Sunday, 4/7, will be the March on Atlantic City~!

This will be the next in the series to hike the entire perimeter of NJ, and the last of the sections that will require as much road walking, though this one should be really interesting going out across the causeways ending in Atlantic City!!!
Meet at 8:45 at the Absecon Train Station and park somewhere visible near where we'll get off the train later on. The website shows the following as the station's GPS coordinates:
(39.42333,-74.50053)
And the address is 1 White Horse Pike, Absecon NJ
As usual, we will shoot for doing about 15 miles.
We will shuttle from the meeting point a very short distance north to where we left off in Oceanville where we can get some breakfast sandwiches. We'll then head into part of Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge. We'll make our way south from here following some woods and along back roads. We'll be forced to walk Rt 9 in some areas because there is no public land, but there are a couple of shore front parks that should afford us views of Barnegat Bay. Despite the amount of road walking involved, these have turned out to be very good social hikes. We'll likely stop in stores and such along the way, and see whatever else there is of interest. If typical, these hikes finish earlier than others as well.
One of the nicer spots along the back roads will be Faunce Landing, with some nice views, pictured above. We'll be near to Absecon Creek, and once we reach the town of Absecon we will have to follow along a road section, Rt 30, before getting to AC. We should be able to get on one parallel sand road for a bit, or use the wide grassy edge in some spots. The views from the causeway the road uses should be pretty interesting. This is the final stretch of the road walk sections needed to get us to AC and more beach hikes! We'll turn off the road in AC and take the first available train back to Absecon, which costs only $2.
Contact me if you need any further info (908) 343 8374 call or text
Also, on 4/14,  be ready for the grand opening of the Marble Hill trail system which I developed myself with the help of a few volunteers! It's sure to be a nice little event, and I'll have hikes leading to and from the opening, which will occur at noon. Contact me for more details on that as well.

M'ke