Hike #1354; Gravel Place to Delaware Water Gap NJ
9/10/20 Gravel Place to Delaware Water Gap/Dunnfield with Kenny Zaruni, Professor John DiFiore, Kirk Rohn, and Brittany Audrey
This next hike would be another point to point, this time in the Delaware Water Gap area meeting at Dunnfield, at the Kittatinny Point lot along the Delaware and Rt 80.
Old NYS&W grade
My original plan for this was to do some kind of a loop, either on the NJ side or the PA side, because either would work, but then when less people showed up than I was expecting, it made more sense to do a point to point that covered some other ground that I’d wanted to do.
I went over routes on my phone pretty quickly, and then we made the last minute decision to head north to Gravel Place, just above East Stroudsburg.
Just before meeting the group I went to take a now photo of the former New York, Susquehanna, and Western Railroad bed which is now the route of Karamac Trail, to match an older photo posted recently by Jeff Concord I think it was. I didn’t match it up perfect, but okay.
NYS&W grade, now Karamac Trail, today
The trees have grown in an incredible amount.
We headed north to Gravel Place and parked in the lot for The Cinder Inn, a little bar.
This was a short distance from where the New York, Susquehanna, and Western crossed Rt 2022. There’s a power line partially over the old grade. This spot was the original terminus when the line was completed in 1881, and it interchanged with the Lackawanna main line that was nearby. In 1893, the interchange was no longer necessary because they completed their wholly owned subsidiary, the Wilkes Barre and Eastern.
NYS&W grade
We walked across the rail grade and then past where there used to be a store that we would stop at while hiking through the area. It was now gone, and appeared to be a distribution place or something.
We moved on from there, and made our way soon to the Broadhead Creek bridge, and the Levee Loop Trail east.
This trail is a really nice one along the creek and down through to Stroudsburg. I’ve always really liked it since my first time on it probably about fifteen years or more ago.
Rocks along Broadhead Creek at Yetter Park
This first part was in Yetter park.
We walked down to the edge of the creek where there are some nice rocks exposed and admired the creek.
We then headed back up to the main trail, which is part of a frisbee golf course. It was raining a bit when we started, and so we were using umbrellas and such. This was one of the reasons for going in this direction, to avoid having to deal with really slippery rocks from the rain.
We headed along, and I was surprised to see some people actually out playing the game.
Levee Loop Trail
We ascended slightly, and the trail joined the old NYS&W railroad bed again along the frisbee golf course. We turned right on it briefly, and I pointed out about roughly where the tracks would have crossed the Broadhead Creek. There is no sign of the former bridge there any more; it was probably destroyed during the efforts to complete the levee system along the creek following the Flood of 1955 that badly devastated the area.
The trail continued along the top of the berm heading to the south.
Bridge in East Stroudsburg
The trail got back on the berm after the fields and continued along the creek with some rather splendid views.
The trail soon reached some ball fields at Dansbury Park, and then turned left to skirt them. We then hit an access road and followed that around to another ber section on another tributary. We went along this, and eventually crossed it by way of a foot bridge. The trail then went up and crossed the parking lot for a Salvation Army place of some sort, and continued along the berm.
Broadhead Creek view
It was in this area a few years ago that we’d left a shopping cart we found in Stroudsburg in the yard of our friend Gina Zuvich, who used to live right there by the trail.
The trail remained on the berm the rest of the way to Main Street. The berm continues on with no trail on it beyond.
We turned right across the bridge, and I set up a then and now presentation shot there using a photo of the earlier through truss bridge that used to stand there, compared to the best now shot I could do from about the same location.
Historic view of the bridge in Stroudsburg
We headed from there on through Stroudsburg along Main Street, and I pointed out as we went by where the People’s Coal trestle used to be next to the McDonalds.
Bridge in Stroudsburg today
Only part of the bridge there exists to this day, but when I first hiked through this area, more of it was standing with its wooden components still in place.
Then and now at People's coal
We continued walking from there on up the main street for a bit. It was getting to be pretty nice out, and I always enjoy walking through little towns like this one.
McMichael Falls then and now
We headed on up in to town, and passed where I had been planning to turn off to the left. Instead, we took a little side trip and visited the Renegade Winery for a break.
The old Stroudsburg Station
Not everyone went in. Kirk, Brittany, and I had a look around and decided to try some stuff. I was offered a small sample of something and ended up with about half a glass!
The old WB&E rail bed along McMichael Creek
We only sat around for a little bit, and I ended up getting a bottle of some of the sweet stuff for the road.
We headed from there, on the Main Street, down to Ann Street to the north, and turned left.
Pretty soon, we reached the old NYS&W Railroad station. It used to sit along the track bed a short distance away, but was moved to this site as an historic piece. It now serves as a museum, but is open odd hours, so I’ve never been inside. We continued form there east to Rt 191.
Cloudz, yo.
At about the bridge site, there is a dam as well as a small natural falls on the McMichael Creek, which is quite a pretty site. We went down a small walkway to there to check it out before moving on.
We then turned right on Rt 191, and walked up across Rt 80. I pointed out the former Wilkes Barre and Eastern Railroad right of way on the other side of the creek on the way up. Much of it is obliterated in the vicinity of Stroudsburg, but so much of it is in great shape further to the north. We’ve hiked the whole thing as a series.
Mist on Broadhead
As we were walking up the road, we went to turn left on Collins Street, which leads over to our next trail at Glen Park, but there were guys coming by in a car.
As we were waiting to cross, one of them appeared to be flipping us off, and they were headed onto the same street as us. They passed and pulled over at one of the houses on the right.
NYS&W grade in Glen Park
As we walked by, they started copping an attitude like we were trying to start something, and that’s why we were walking toward them. I told them we were just waiting to cross the street, going to Glen Park, and that it looked like they were flipping us off. I actually think they were, but weren’t expecting us to be going down that street.
The guy said no, that he was just flipping off one of his friends at his house on the corner, and everything was cool. They said something about staying cool or something.
Old metal pipe under the rail grade
We might have actually turned left on Colbert Street to Huston Ave, then left on Collins into Glen Park, as I recall the others got ahead of me and started heading the wrong direction.
Whatever the case, we went down slope into Collins Park, and then turned right where the old NYS&W Railroad went eastbound through the Broadhead Creek gorge. It’s really a fantastic section that becomes more secluded as we head out.
We walked along the edge of a ball field, and then entered the woods into the glen.
NYSW grade
Before going on too far, I was getting really hot and needed to cool off.
I went down to the left on a very steep foot path and reached the edge of the Broadhead Creek, where I proceeded to take a dip. I believe Brittany came in as well briefly.
From there, we headed back up and followed the rail bed through Mountain Laurels and dense undergrowth. I pointed out some homeless camps along the path to the right. It was about perfect through this stretch.
NYSW grade
At times, the railroad bed gets pretty badly eroded from flooding. I would imagine the worst was probably the Flood of ‘55 here. The Wilkes Barre and Eastern was abandoned and torn up by 1939, and I think the NYS&W into this area was gone by 1948, so it’s had a good while to deteriorate.
At one point, the right of way was totally gone, and it’s necessary to go up slope a bit, and then come back down to it. I pointed out along the way where there are remnants of an old dam that went across the creek as well.
NYSW grade
We continued walking for quite a while, and I think we went too far on one of the washout areas. Usually, when I walk this we are coming from the east, so I got screwed up.
"Creation" wine
We ended up having to backtrack to one of the ATV paths that led further up the Godfrey Ridge from where we were going. I had considered going further along the rail grade from there, but it was starting to get dark, and I didn’t think it would be wise to continue into more unknown ground. We’d have enough trouble where we were going anyway. So we took the next ATV path up, which gradually took us along the hillside and climbed a bit above the NYS&W grade. We followed this until another path went slightly to the left.
Trolley grade
So, we kind of backtracked at a higher elevation, and then we turned left on this other ATV path, which took us to the Water Gap Trolley right of way, and then turned left on that. For the second time, we were parallel with where we had just been, but only at a higher elevation.
The trolley grade is particularly stunning, because power line clearings keep the view relatively unobscured. The area is like a version of the Delaware Water Gap with only a fraction of the people wandering around.
View from the trolley bed
The trolley grade ascended slowly, and one can easily imagine what a thrill it must have been to sit on an elevated rail car as it seemed to hover along the edge of the precipice.
View from the trolley bed
Mountain View Trolley offered rides between Delaware Water Gap and Stroudsburg PA skirting the edge of Godfrey Ridge for fifteen cents starting in July of 1907.
The trolley, unlike other services that were similar, ran year round. It served not only the local tourism, but served as a school bus for the local children. Other trolley lines during the following years of “trolley fever” came to the Delaware Water Gap region, but it was all short lived.
Sunset from the trolley bed
Buses soon arrived and eliminated the interests in this form of transport. Under it’s last name, Stroudsburg Traction Company, the last trolley ran over the Godfrey Ridge in September of 1928. Today, it’s just an ATV path much of the way and rather forgotten.
On the trolley bed
When we got to the really big clearing, the fog was rolling over the Broadhead Creek valley beautifully. We paused to take some photos before moving on.
The sun was setting as well, and we caught it at exactly the right moment.
We continued up the trolley bed to the top of the Godfrey Ridge, and it made a hard turn somewhere near the top. The ATV path shifts from the rail bed over to an old woods road, and to find the trolley bed at times can be difficult. Somehow, this time I lost it.
We turned left briefly along what I thought might have been it, but then it descended far too steeply to be the right way.
We ended up at a spot with the ruins of an old barn structure, and I knew were were a bit too far to the east from where I would normal exit the woods into the Delaware Water Gap.
We tried going through to the right on a vague path, but then it came out close to someone’s back yard. We ended up turning around and heading back up to the woods road.
Trolley then and now
We pushed along the base of the slope for a bit, and I do recall we found some of the trolley right of way. It passes through a very steep curving cut at the bottom, and I had everyone take a closer looking at it before we just left the area.
Sunset on Godfrey Ridge
I eventually saw where we needed to be. A woods road headed down from the trolley grade and toward Route 611. We went around a metal gate, and then onto the road briefly.
On the trolley bed
I cut across the highway, and then went up a steep slope on the other side. The others probably thought I was crazy, but I knew I was heading into the Water Gap Cemetery. I emerged on the edge of it, and we walked the rest of the way out to Main Street. We then followed that downhill into the town of Delaware Water Gap, once the vacation capital of the world.
I figured it would be good to stop and have a snack, and the hot dog and pie place was just a short distance away over on Broad Street.
We turned left down there, and it looked like we were going to make it on time.
As I approached the front door, there was a huge Black Bear chowing down on the fruit and pastries sitting on display outside the door! I hadn’t seen it until I was over too close! The bear ran off toward the other side of the building, then slowed down and headed toward the dumpsters in back.
The girl working came out and told us they were closed, and I told her what just happened with the bear. She freaked out and said “Are you kiddin me???”. She had a look and said something about getting a ride home, and we all left.
Our shadows in the gap
We headed back to Main Street and started heading uphill. We hadn’t done the miles I wanted to do yet, so I decided we would head up Mt. Minsi or at least some of the trails.
We turned right on Shepard Ave, and Brittany decided to head back to the cars.
The rest of us turned left on Minsi Road, then continued across Mountain Road into the parking area for the Appalachian Trail near Lake Lenape. From there, we followed the AT on the woods road, then followed the Minsi Fire Road all the way to the top where the Appalachian Trail rejoins it.
This was a long and difficult ascent, but it was a great workout. I don’t think I’ll ever try to go up Minsi Fire Road in the dark again, because it was pretty rough.
I had walked this hundreds of times before, and this had been my first time on it in a long while. I was surprised to see it had grown in to just about foot path length since the last time I was on it nearer to the top. When I had last been there, a jeep could easily have made it the entire way up if they were so inclined. That was no longer the case for sure.
I waited for everyone for a while even before the first, Ken, showed up.
Once everyone got there, we turned left and headed down Mt. Minsi on the Appalachian Trail.
This is also a tough way down. There are a lot of rocks to trip over, and some steep spots.
Still, We managed to push on through.
We went to the side view over Lookout Rock, and the mist over the river with the Rt 80 lights was eerie. We also took a little break at Eureka Creek, but nowhere was it deep enough to lay in like I was hoping it would be. I was pretty sweaty at this point.
Deer Head Inn
I had intended to take the right turn on the blue blazed trail that goes down to Resort Point overlook when we got to it, but we missed it. We stayed on the Appalachian Trail to close in a loop back to the Mountain Road parking lot, and then turned right on Mountain Road down to Rt 611 in the town again.
From there, we continued on the AT route to the Rt 80 bridge and crossed over into NJ.
Rt 80 bridge
I always found it humorous that in National Geographic’s “Mountain Adventure”, a photographic journey along the Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine, it described the Rt 80 Delaware crossing as the most frightening place on the entire trail.
Once on the other side, we descended to Kittatinny Point, and then headed down to the river to take a dip. It’s really a great spot at night; during the day they watch over it more closely to keep people from swimming, but the 24 hour lot has no problem at night for that.
Brittany got freaked out when a beaver came up on shore just to the right of her.
It was really a nice way to end the hike and cool off in the mist filled gap. The clouds loomed low and could be watched as they passed in closer than usual proximity to us.
The Summer was coming to an end, but it was still warm, but this was probably the last time the water felt good to be in after dark.
HAM
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