Hike #1032; Cranberry Lake to Hackettstown
4/26/17 Cranberry Lake to Hackettstown with Jim “Uncle Soup” Campbell, Jason W. Briggs,
This next hike was a point to point between Cranberry Lake and Hackettstown which we wouldn’t exactly execute the way I’d planned, but worked out just fine anyway.
We met in the afternoon at the Wendy’s in Hackettstown. We had a bit to eat and were pretty quickly on our way to the start point, the commuter parking lot at Cranberry Lake.
Cranberry Lake stop
Our starting point was the old station stop for the Sussex Railroad, later the Sussex Branch of the Lackawanna. It was a good spot because there was a store across the street, so we could get sustenance.
We started walking the rail bed to the north. We didn’t go all that far before we came to the Waving Willie Trail.
Waving Willie was a local icon who passed away in 2000. Every day, he would sit in front of his house on Rt 206 out of Cranberry Lake and just wave at passers by. Everyone knew him, and Weird NJ did an article, and follow ups called the “Cult of Wavers”. This phenomenon is actually not as uncommon as many thought. Different towns have their own waving man of great antiquity sitting out in some chair somewhere. We had one in New Hampton not too many years ago, and I meant to interview him for the magazine and didn’t get to it. I think he’s since passed away unfortunately. The trail into Allamuchy Mountain State Park was named for Waving Willie because it comes out to the Sussex Branch Trail behind the house.
A bit of a view off trail
We made our way up hill from here very gradually on the Waving Willie Trail. It makes it’s way below the big rock outcrops, but does not go up to the very top of the very obvious rock outcrop that can be seen from Rt 206.
I had wanted to go to that for years, and so on a hike in May of 2006 we went up to try to find it. We found it that time, and the overlook was kind of obscured, but it was there. It was however on the border of private land. I didn’t want to bother with it too much, and so I didn’t go back. I figured it was about time to revisit the place, so I planned to turn off trail here.
Cranberry Overlook
We soon reached a prominent pathway after a section of off trail climbing. We followed this to the overlook and outcropping I remembered, and now there was a rock lined area and a couple of chairs sitting at the top. I assumed it was someone’s private thing.
Cranberry Overlook
We relaxed for a few moments and took in the view, which really only showed us a little of Cranberry Lake because it’s so obscured now, and then moved on.
I found out a bit later that this is now public land and it’s called the Cranberry Overlook! I had no idea, but there’s a trailhead somewhere just to the north of there, probably Whitehall Hill Road, and I wasn’t aware. I found out later when I posted the photos and Crystal Waters told me she had already been there. I was sort of floored by this; I was overly nervous about it for no good reason.
1921 postcard of Cranberry Lake
I realize now I have to do a hike to the rock on the other side of Rt 206, because more of the famous postcard images were taken from over there. Still, it’s good to know we can visit this overlook another way.
Old Cranberry Lake postcard, probably turn of the century
We headed down hill along the crest of the ridge area, off trail from the “official” trail to the west. There was a great view out there, through the trees which really showed us how much of an expanse of land there was.
We passed by a lovely hidden camp site, and then descended rather steeply down hill through the woods until we reached the green blazed Waving Willie Trail again. We kept on the green blazes, and apparently intersected with white at some point, but we ended up not going the right way. Waving Willie Trail used to just intersect with white blazed Waterloo-517 Trail, but now it did this other crap where it went back out to the development at Cranberry Lake. I’d never done that connection, so this was good rare mileage, but it wasn’t the way I wanted to go. We headed to that point, and ended up having to turn back.
East Allamuchy map
My next mistake was following the green all the way back. I got a phone call from my friend John from DEP, and I was on for a while. While on the phone, I lost track of what I was doing and the rest of the group was ahead, and so we ended up coming back out on Sussex Branch Trail at the Waving Willie trailhead where we’d first gone in!
Historic view of a locomotive on Cranberry Lake
There was no way we were heading back into the woods again, and Dan and Brandan were coming to meet up with us. It made more sense to have the first part of the hike a loop and to head back to Cranberry Lake.
Sussex Branch on 206 where the lot is today
We went to the Krauszers I think it was across from the park and ride on the right of way and waited for those two to meet up before we continued on.
We then made our way on the rail bed south along the shore of the lake side.
Elizabeth Rose House on North Shore Road at Cranberry Lake, apparently gone today?
We passed the suspension bridge over the lake at the narrow point, and made our way past a couple of parking lots before the trail took us into Allamuchy Mountain State Park.
Dave Rutan collection photo of Sussex Branch at Cranberry Lake
It’s an easy and pleasant route from here heading to the south into the park lands again. We skirted some wetlands and passed the crossing of the Highlands Trail.
Near the end of the Sussex Branch
Rather than follow the later route of the Sussex Branch, we turned from the intersection just north of Jefferson Lake and followed the earlier Sussex Mine Railroad right of way which goes parallel with it at many locations.
1915 view of Sussex Branch at Cranberry Lake area
Every time we got to one of the places where the older rail bed was parallel or there were remnants I pointed them out. The first time was a parallel bridge site to the right of the rail bed.
Old Sussex Mine Railroad bridge site
The second was a prominent rock cut, where the older line can be seen circumnavigating the large rock in a more roundabout way. The most substantial one was where we walked it at Jefferson Lake.
We followed the rail bed south all the way to the intersection of Continetnal Drive and Waterloo Road. From there, we went straight, where the road was built on top of the regular railroad, and We went down to the bridge so I could show everyone how the modern bridge was built on the old masonry railroad abutments from 1901. There, we followed the Musconetcong River up stream.
Bog swamp
I had hiked this stretch on a few hikes in the past, but many occasions found it to be quite dificult. The weeds grow high there, and there is a swamp outlet parallel with the main Sussex Branch right of way fill, which was my destination. Still, I figured it was early season and we could get through.
It proved rather difficult. We go a ways, but it got overgrown. We had to hop over wet areas and went through a beautiful but rather tough bog. The worst was when we got to the swamp outlet. Fortunately, there were spots you could just hop over. Just to the south of us it would have been impossible.
Muscy bridge on Sussex Branch
I made my way up the fill of the old Sussex Branch first. The bridge at Continental Drive was sort of a replacement, but co-existed with this one. Waterloo Junction was just south of Waterloo Village, but in 1901 the cutoff was built to Stanhope and Netcong which cut off distance for the eastbound route. It ended up making the line out toward Waterloo Junction rather obsolete. The bridge that carried this line is long gone, but the piers are still in place.
Although most of Sussex Branch is a trail today, the section from the Musconetcong down to Waterloo Junction is not, and remains one of the most secluded sections due to it’s isolation.
Sussex Branch
We continued walking the line to the southwest on a fill, with lovely swamps to the east of us. Aside from a bit of Japanese Barberry here and there it wasn’t terribly overgrown.
On the Sussex Branch
We continued along and I watched to the right for the ruins of the old ice company building to the right. It’s the most inaccessible piece of historic infrastructure associated with Waterloo Village today.
As we walked, since there wasn’t so much vegetation, I was able to spot where the railroad spur went off ot the right to the industrial site.
I did not note any further spur lines, but there were reportedly three different ones going to the buildings along Waterloo Lake. Even the one that I spotted is still pretty obscure today.
The old railroad spur to the ice house
Waterloo Village was of course much the land of the Smiths. They had interests in just about everything that happened there.
Peter D., Samuel T. and Seymour R. Smith went into partnership with Swift Brothers & Company of Newark to establish the Waterloo Ice Company on the shore just to the east of the village. They leased the lake and the adjacent lands in this area to the ice company starting in 1889.
With the construction of a new dam, the company created a fifty acre pond that would be the source for the ice harvesting. They also dug channels and made berms for the new lake.
1890 view of Waterloo ice houses
It was necessary to channelize and divert water with berms for the ice to be removed. If the water moved too much, thick ice would simply not form very well.
Waterloo Ice i ndustry
Five ice houses on the shore were equipped with elevators to put the ice up. Ice was typically harvested between January and March during the years of operation.
Refrigeration of course did the ice houses in, but even before that, the somewhat colder temperatures of the Poconos were better for ice havesting, and railroad accessibility made them much more practical, so most New Jersey ice house operations did not last all that long. Such was the case with the outfit at Waterloo, because it too closed it’s doors around 1917.
Ice company office and residence ruins
It had been a while since I had been back to the site myself. I knew the rail spur would lead out to near where we wanted to be, but it didn’t go quite direct.
The remaining building was not actually the ice house itself, but rather the offices and residence associated with the site. The odd building is made of a hollow terracotta material unlike anything I’ve seen elsewhere. It seems the hollow bricks would be some sort of insulation, though I’m not sure how it worked. Since my last time out to the site, much of the southwest facing wall has collapsed pretty badly. I noticed this difference right away. I suppose the building is unstable and might not last all that much longer. The rest of it looked similar to how I remembered it from my last times there.
1909 image of Waterloo ice harvesting
We left the building here and made our way to the former Sussex Branch once again, but not for too long. We followed it east across the base of the old Morris Canal inclined plane, and then went by the old house on that side of Waterloo Lake.
We then followed old Waterloo Valley Road to the west.
Ice company house in Feb 2007.
When the road, which was severed by Rt 80, came to a dead end, we followed the path beneath 80 and out toward the Tilcon Lake. We turned off trail for a bit and cut through to the path that goes around the former Tilcon quarry site.
Ice co house today
We turned onto Kinney Road once we got around the Tilcon Lake, and weaved out and around the gate to the road. We then headed out the road briefly to the Morris Canal. I believe it was in this area that Brandan and Dan ubered out.
The rest of us got on the Morris Canal heading west from Kinney Road. We passed the old Waterloo concert stage, one of the last times we would pass the thing still standing, as it would be demolished soon after, and continued out to Waterloo Road where a house was built over part of the canal. We returned to it, and followed the trail, then road walk, then trail again, as well as the Colony Road section.
It was dark by this point, and I didn’t want to have any problems. It was tough to get back on the canal towpath from this spot because it was kind of steep and weedy heading down hill. I got to the intersection on Colony Road where I thought I needed to turn, but couldn’t find the road.
Historic image of Saxton Lake
We were wandering into woods a bit because I couldn’t see which way we were supposed to go. We eventually just used the main paved road to get out.
Once we got to Waterloo Road, we turned back on the canal towpath heading west.
Image of Saxton Falls after the Morris Canal lock was filled in, 1920s or 30s.
The section from here was very easy. It wasn’t always totally flat, but it was not at all overgrown and quite pleasant to walk.
I was getting pretty tired at this point. I’m sure work stress was weighing on me too. We followed the section of the canal out to Bilby Road, and then turned left.
At this point, we simply followed Willow Grove Street into Hackettstown followed by Mountain Avenue as I recall to get back to the cars. All in all a nice night and some interesting ground covered as always.
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