Hike #1117; Flanders to High Bridge

Hike #1117; Flanders to High Bridge

4/5/18 Flanders to High Bridge with Justin Gurbisz and Ken Zaruni

This next hike is one I pretty much put on the schedule every year. It’s a good Winter one when the days are shorter, and when I just don’t know what else to slap on there. I had tried posted this one probably three times already, and then kept canceling or having something come up.

Bartley; end of the tracks

The hike followed the old High Bridge Branch of the Central Railroad of New Jersey, one that I’d been following regularly for years. In fact, the reason I really wanted to get it posted was because it was twenty years ago in February the first time I led a group hike on it.
My first group trip was back when the hikes all ended at my home in Washington NJ. I had no drivers license, and so all of them had to end there, and start where I could get dropped off for convenience. My grandfather helped me scale a route opposite from my first hike, coming from the south, and incorporating the Jersey Central lines.

My group at Crestmoore Crossing in 1997

He dropped my friends Aaron Marques, Mike Delgado, and Abbie Bullivant off at Crestmoore Crossing, just past the Morris County line along the High Bridge Branch.

Crestmoore Crossing today

We hiked the High Bridge Branch to the CNJ main line in High Bridge, then continued on along the right of way north to Hampton Junction, and took the Lackawanna Railroad old main/Warren Railroad back to Washington from there.

Crossing the South Branch of the Raritan

So I was rather anxious to do the route again, even though I’ve done it so many times. I used to work for Hunterdon Parks, so I walked the seven mile Hunterdon sections through work, with a rake, countless times.
We met at the High Bridge Commons lot in town, where the line broke into a wye and connected with the CNJ main line, and we shuttled in my van to Flanders, where we parked at the Shop Rite to start off. We headed down hill from there, and cut through an industrial site to the tracks.

The area is slowly dying. The High Bridge Branch was shut down in the Flanders area in the seventies, and ripped up through to High Bridge, but a section of it was put back I understand to get to some of the industry as well as Toys R Us headquarters.

Historic rail image in Flanders

Now, we have word that the Toys R Us is closing. The entire company is closing. We walked by near the very end of their time at that site. The rail spur hadn’t been used in a while. Maybe it’ll be removed to that site as well soon. Who knows.
We walked further on and crossed over Bartley-Chester Road, the busiest crossing probably, followed by Bartley Road. From there, the Columbia Trail started. I still absolutely hate that name for the trail and think it should be changed to High Bridge Branch Trail. It’s still confusing people between Paulins Kill Valley Trail which finds it’s western terminus in Columbia NJ. A rail line should not be named for a gas line.

A train in Flanders

We headed out across Four Bridges Road, as well as Elizabeth Lane, and passed where the Patriot’s Path joined for a bit. We crossed a few little bridges and crossed the South Branch of the Raritan River, which made it’s way down hill from the mountain and it’s head waters at Budd Lake.
We crossed Naughright Road and passed through the lovely farm lands to where the Patriot’s Path breaks away to the right, and the Highlands Trail comes in from the right to co-align with the rail bed all the way to Ken Lockwood Gorge. We went around the steel place in Long Valley, and soon approached the new development built over the Welch Famrs facility.

Chester Branch bridge site

It’s at this point that the trail leaves the old High Bridge Branch, now developed over. It turns abruptly left and picks up the former Chester Branch of the Central Railroad of New Jersey. It follows it only a short distance, then turns to the right on a newly constructed trail that skirts the development, but there is a trail that continues, called Trestle Trail, that goes to where the Chester Branch used to cross the South Branch of the Raritan.

Historic image of the Chester Branch bridge

For some reason, I had never incorporated this parallel trail into one of my hikes, so it was planned as the new thing I’d introduce on this one. It ended up very nice.

Chester Branch bridge site today

I had wanted to set up one of my “then and now” photos anyway at the bridge site, so it gave me the opportunity to do so.
The Black River and Western Railroad, which operates on the old Pennsylvania Railroad’s Flemington Branch, actually started their operation here when plans to use the old Rockaway Valley Railroad fell through (because of Interstate 78 development).

Chester Branch bridge site

We checked out the trestle site, then turned to the right along the down stream South Branch heading toward Long Valley. I’d walked this trail once before with Jillane, but for whatever reason I had never brought a group hike through. It’s really very nice and has a couple of good spots that would be good for swimming in the Summer, so I’ll definitely come back to it soon. We continued down stream with it being spuratically blazed through a pine grove. It then moved a little closer to the edge of the river and continued.

As we got closer to the town of Long Valley, the trail turned inland and went by a little memorial spot next to a nice tree, which I think was a White Oak.
Just past the memorial, the trail reaches an enormous White Ash tree, which I’d climbed on in the past. This time, a branch was falling off of it, and it wasn’t in as good shape. The Emerald Ash Borers are wreaking havoc on Ash trees, and it may seal this beautiful tree’s fate too.

Along the South Branch

We passed the big tree and then came out on the main trail. It took us north and returned us to the railroad bed, and turned left into the town of Long Valley.

Memorial tree

The town was originally Dutch Valley when settled, and soon after, German Valley. Because of the anti-German World War sentiment, the name of the town was changed to Long Valley instead.
When we got to Schooleys Mountain Road, we had our only option for a food stop at all convenient along the way. We turned left down the road, and soon reached Long Valley Bagel. The guy in the past was nice to our group in the past when we came in and wanted food right around closing.

Big Ash

We went in, and I decided to get the special, which was some sort of chicken sandwich. I had thought that Justin and Ken might want to get something, or I might not have stopped, but they didn’t want anything.
I ate my sandwich pretty quickly, which I think I got overchanged for because it was supposed to be a special, and then got a browning that I shared with them (it was amazing). We then made our way back out on our way.

Big Ash

I was feeling pretty good, enjoying my food wiht my Narwhal imperial stout drink. We had to cross the narrow old stone bridge from town to get back to the rail bed, and Justin and I walked along the top of the masonry.
When we got back to the rail bed, we turned left, still with some daylight remaining.
I usually do this hike in the earlier Winter, and the sun is down by the time we get to this point, so it was odd to be there.

YUM SANDWICH BEER CHIPS YUM

There’s a giant odd pile of rocks along the left side of the trail that’s been there for a while. Not sure why.
We continued from this point out to the next little settlement, Middle Valley. I pointed out where the Middle Valley Railroad, a 1.1 mile spur line to a trap rock quarry, used to break off to the right.
Ken had hiked this trail numerous times, but not all in one shot, so he was happy to see all of the stuff I could point out along the way.

Long Valley

We continued past a junk yard type place and then crossed the South Branch of the Raritan again on a decked girder bridge. We continued from there across a driveway where the bridge has long been missing, and made our way out toward Crestmoore Crossing.

Bridge in Long Valley

From Crestmoore, the trail goes directly across Jenkinson’s Tree Farm. It was a spot we used to have to either go around or run across. The first time I hiked this bit, we ran and hid behind Christmas trees that were growing in the area.
A little ways beyond the tree farm, we crossed West Valley Brook Road.
The trail entered Hunterdon County at the crossing, and the surfacing changed. It’s horrible on the Hunterdon side and does not give when you walk on it at all. It’s painful.

Historic image in Long Valley

We continued through a stretch of woods, and soon emerged in the little settlement of Vernoy. The rail bed is next to the road and thus was never surfaced here.

Pile along the grade

We continued out of Vernoy and then skirted some yards, passed through some woods, and I pointed out the spur site where a line led to another quarry, where the stone was taken to build the Califon Station ahead.
Califon was just ahead, and we soon paralleled Bank Street heading into town.
Califon was originally named California, but the sign maker didn’t make the sign large enough as the story goes, and so he abbreviated the town name on it and it somehow stuck.

Middle Valley Bridge historic image

We continued across the main street where surfacing ends again briefly, and then crossed over Academy Street where we passed the historic stone station.

Historic Middle Valley bridge view

The town had petitioned the Central Railroad of New Jersey to build them a stone station, but they would not agree to such unless they provided the stone for it.

The South Branch from the bridge

The town agreed to the terms, and the beautiful but small stone station was constructed.
The popularity of this stone station was such that it reportedly led to the CNJ constructing other stations of stone, like the lovely ones in Somerville and Raritan.
The High Bridge Branch didn’t start out as a popular passenger line. It was originally the main artery for iron ore. Wharton and Northern, the Chester Branch, Hacklebarney Mine Railroad, Mt. Hope Mineral Railroad, and Hibernia Mine Railroad all siphoned through.

On my hike in 1998

Ninety full cars full of iron ore traveled over the High Bridge Branch per day in the 1880s, but by the 1890s, sixty thousand passengers rode the line in the Summers to Lake Hopatcong.

The view in 2018

We continued from Califon through to the start of Ken Lockwood Gorge. We passed through the last of the settlements at Hoffman’s Crossing, and soon entered the gorge itself.

Ken Lockwood Gorge 1998

On that hike in 1998, my friends and I ran up a hill to the left of the trail, which I pointed out to Justin and Ken. I had recently gone up there again to get a modern view of the same.

The trail in 2018

The railroad bed had not been surfaced the first few times I hiked through on it. It was actually much better. By the time we got to the trestle, I was in pain.

Trestle approach in 1998

The trail surface is like walking on concrete, and the bottoms of my feet were starting to feel raw. We soon reached the Gorge Trestle and crossed over.

Ken Lockwood Gorge Trestle, 2018

On the other side, we continued past where the Highlands Trail broke away, and I tried watching closely to point it out to Ken, but somehow I missed it.

Gorge Trestle, 1998

The trestle in Ken Lockwood Gorge was different in ‘98. It had an overhead fence on it to keep people from climbing or whatever. It also only had double blank decking on ties.

Gorge Trestle, 2018

By 2002, the entire trestle had wooden plank decking and the same overhead fence work, but even all of that was removed in favor of the current mess, which appeared in 2003.

We continued through a couple of cuts, and soon came to where we could see Lake Solitude below us.
We crossed a couple of driveways ahead, and we crossed the bridge over Cokesbury Road at the settlement known as Readingsburg. I found out that there was a shooting that had recently occurred ahead, but nothing ever appeared in the news about it, and I don’t knwo really anything more about it.
We continued soon ahead to where the Taylor Steelworker’s Historic Greenway breaks off to the left. Usually, I do bonus miles and we would go down that trail, but this time I think we all wanted to get done a bit sooner. We were really motoring for a bit there. We continued from there toward the main street crossing in town.

Dark Thomas St. overpass

There’s a really nice cut just before reaching the end of the line. We crossed beneath the bridge under Taylor Street, then passed over Mill Street at grade, and then finally Main Street before walking into the parking lot. It’s hard to believe there was once a double track crossing at this point.
The rails are still in place going into the Commons Lot, although not immediately obvious. The former eastbound connection is still along the edge of the parking lot and almost looks like it’s a planter.f

Historic image of Main St. crossing

The former westbound is now buried under the surfacing of the parking lot, as well as some of the grass, but it can be found if you go and look for it.

Main St. crossing 2018

It was nice to be done with this one a bit early, and I got a ride back to my car before picking up some delicious Taco Bell on my way home through Hackettstown I believe.
There’s so much more to see, and Ken indicated he wanted to explore more of the Lehigh and Hudson River Railway. I was ready to post some more night hikes soon.