Hike #105
Crossing the South Branch of the Raritan from Assiscong Marsh
Hike 105
8/20/3
For my next hike, I had planned to hike from Flemington area in Hunterdon County to
High Bridge NJ. This ended up being a much more difficult hike than originally planned,
but we still managed to have a good time. Joining me this time were Tea Biscuit, Skyler,
and Joe Millionaire. By the end of the hike, things would not go as I had planned.
I believe we left Tea Biscuit’s car in High Bridge, and we piled into the Camaro and
drove down to Flemington. We drove up and down Rt 31 a few times trying to find the
turn off we wanted for Assiscong Marsh, part of Hunterdon County’s South Branch of the
Rariton Reservation. We eventually found it, on Rt 523 I think it was, just off a side road
we parked along the river and marsh.
Crossing the South Branch of the Raritan from Assiscong Marsh
Deer Path Park
Deer Path Park
Round Mountain, Peter Buelle Trail
Round Mountain on the Foothill Road side
In Hunterdon Arboretum, Vincent Aurbrytis Wetland Study Area
Along Rt 629 at the Round Valley dam
Round Valley Recreation Area
We began walking along unmarked trails, used mainly by fisherman, on the way out to the
South Branch. The marsh was to our north as we walked to the river. At the point we first
saw the river I was afraid we’d have to swim across, but at Assiscong Marsh it was
shallow enough to walk across at no more than knee high depth. We came back onto the
east short, now in the Wings section of the South Branch Reservation. We continued
north on a somewhat overgrown riverside trail. The trail became wider, leading us out to a
fork, to the right leading to a road, and to the left seemingly out toward Rt 31.
We turned right out to a road to Deer Path Park, where we entered a mowed piece path
into a section of mowed trails around the outside of the park. One of the trails was a
parcourse circuit, and another parallel trail. The other three walked on the outside trail
while I bushwhacked to the inner one within sight. We came together at one of the
exercise stations, which we would always have to use for “shits and giggles”.
We continued along the perimeter, which soon took us into the woods on a more narrow
footpath. The trail looped around a bit until I realized that we had to be going too far the
wrong way. We turned back into the main section of Deer Path Park, and walked across
grassy fields past a pond, and out to Woodschurch Road I think it was. We crossed the
road and entered the Round Mountain section of the park. We headed up hill, at first
through overgrown fields, and then into the woods, crossing a power line with very
limited views.
After reaching the top of Round Mountain, there were several old woods roads and some
apparently a side trail, as we continued downhill on the Peter Buell Trail, leading us out to
Foothill Road. We walked a short distance on Foothill Road to Stanton/Lebanon Road
(County Rt 629) to the west side of the Hunterdon Arboretum. We entered the Arboretum
and walked the southern side of it, across a bit of puncheon, to the visitor’s center, where
we stopped briefly. We left the visitor’s center, checking out a gazebo, and then made our
way back east along the northern end of the loop trail through the Arboretum. We soon
came back to Rt 629 and walked north.
The road took us a long way, passing through woods, farms, and residential areas, and
passing the south dam of Round Valley Resevoir. The road led us uphill to the main state
park entrance. We walked down across a grassy picnic area so we would’nt have to pay to
get into the beach.
We went for a nice swim at the beach, which was fortunitely not too crowded, as the
Summer was winding down. The beach at Round Valley Resevoir is separated from the
rest of the lake by a levee which regulates the water levels. My grandfather worked on the
survey when the resevoir was constructed. It was opened to public in 1977. The project
happened as a result of the Water Bond Act of 1958. My grandfather told us that he once
carried a large concrete monument along the top of the Cushetunk Ridge for miles, a feat
which took two men much more time to accomplish together!
After a good swim we stopped at little concession stand called “Castros” for some food.
We made several jokes in reference to the stand’s name. I think Tea Biscuit or Skyler
mentioned ordering a Communist Burger, and I added a Fidel Fajita or a Banana Boat
Split. We had some good laughs before continueing on to the Cushetunk Trail.
The Cushetunk Trail followed the ridge of the Cushetunk Mountain, which wrapped
around the south to north side of the Round Valley, made up of Igneus rock. Though it
was open to cyclists, it was still difficult.
At Round Valley Recreation Area
Along Cushetunk Trail, Round Valley Recreation Area
The trail took us from next to the park office with a nice view down to the shore, then
back uphill through new growth forest, and then some somewhat older woods. We soon
descended a bit on switchbacks down along a power line to the bottom of the south dam
where we had walked not much earlier.
On the other side, we ascended a bit through some camp property, and then came to a
trail split, where the Lower Cushetunk Trail headed downhill to the edge of the resevoir.
We continued on the Upper Cushetunk Trail until we reached an old road to Round
Valley, used occasionally to reach the campsites along the Cushetunk Trails. We were able
to refill our water at a pump at this point. Luckily, we came across a park employee who
gave us a better map of the campsite section of the park. This made me realize we were
not nearly as far as I had previously thought, and we opted to follow the old road out of
the park to Dreahook Road. Joe Millionaire let us use his cell phone to call my grandfather
to come and pick us up in Whitehouse, which we could walk to more easily.
We walked Dreahook Road to Rt 523 which took us into Whitehouse, and my
grandfather and Uncle Don were both waiting for us at the old CNJ railroad station (now
a library) and he took us back to my car. Quite a crazy day!
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