Hike #251; Canistear Road to Riverdale NJ

 Hike #251 11/14/6

11/14/6

Canistear Road-Riverdale NJ with Cathy Fisher

Another hike the original journal entry is lost to...damn fire.

lol sweater vest...on NYS&W near Bloomingdale NJ

Here's a link to all photos from this hike:

http://s132.photobucket.com/albums/q13/sneezehorse/hike251%2011-14-6/

Along former NYS&W tracks in the Pequannock Valley

NYS&W tracks in Pequannock Valley

NYS&W tracks in Pequannock Valley

Oak Ridge Reservoir from NYS&W tracks

NYS&W tracks near Oak Ridge Reservoir

NYS&W tracks near Oak Ridge Reservoir

NYS&W tracks near Newfoundland

NYS&W railroad in Newfoundland

Rail cars in Newfoundland NJ

Newfoundland NJ

Newfoundland station

Newfoundland Station

Along NYS&W tracks in Newfoundland

Old cemetery in Newfoundland

Ancient grave in newfoundland

1756 tomb stone in Newfoundland

Old cemetery in Newfoundland

Old cemetery in Newfoundland

Old cemetery in Newfoundland

Newfoundland NJ

Along the tracks just east of Newfoundland

Just east of Newfoundland

Apparent rail spur in Newfoundland

Wetland near Newfoundland

Wetland near Newfoundand with Copperas Mountain in view

NYS&W tracks near Charlottesburg Reservoir

Charlottesburg Reservoir from the tracks

Along Charlottesburg Reservoir

tracks in Charlottesburg NJ

NYS&W Pequannock Trestle in Charlottesburg NJ

Abandoned spur line near Smoke Rise

NYS&W tracks near Smoke Rise

Old dam along Pequannock River near Bloomingdale NJ

Pequannock River dam

Pequannock River dam

NYS&W near Smoke Rise

Along NYS&W in Bloomingdale NJ

NYS&W line in Bloomingdale

NYS&W line in Bloomingdale

Tracks in Butler NJ

Small falls in Butler NJ

Pequannock River in Butler

Butler NJ

Butler NJ

Butler station

Butler NJ

Butler NJ

In Butler NJ

Old train garage in Butler

Butler NJ

Heading east from Butler NJ

Quarried mountain near Butler NJ

Walking back roads to Riverdale NJ

Some of the remnants of Suntan Lake in Riverdale NJ

Behind the Home Depot in Riverdale

Scrambling behind Home Depot in Riverdale

Goofing off in Riverdale

Finishing the hike at Riverdale NJ. Sad this great car got Repo'd.

Me in Riverdale.

 

On this one just Cathy and I walked from Canistear Road to Riverdale area where we left a car at the Home Depot area.

This was pretty much all just active track. we stayed on the tracks right from Canistear Road which went along a nice shelf and past Oak Ridge Resevoir. We then continued through Newfoundland which I thought was cool because we'd recently seen the movie "The Station Agent" with Peter Dinklidge and it was set at that station. From there, we continued and found by chance an old cemetary dating back to mid 1700s on the banks of the Pequannock River!

We soon came to a river crossing and then paralleled Charlottesburg Resevoir. On the close side we could see the alignment of the former Wharton and Northern Railroad break off. This was the later route, before the resevoir was created the line connected to the east a bit. After crossing a very high trestle over the river again we got to that point. Charlottesburg was named for the wife of King George the Third.

As we continued there was an old spur track on one side that was no longer connected, another resevoir with a cool stone structure. It looked refurbished but probably dates pretty far back. We also passed the entrance to the private community Smoke Rise.

Shortly after reaching Bloomingdale we left the tracks and paralleled on close roads. We found a nice old small dam along the way, then got back on the tracks into Butler where there was a nice old station and some rail cars. Just beyond was an old coal trestle or something with an interesting enclosure over it. We left the tracks on the far east side of Butler and walked up some roads. We met a kid on a bike along the way and he directed us up some roads to get back to our cars. Old USGS maps show "Suntan Lake" Where that site is now, and it had been mostly obliterated during the developement. It was at one time some sort of recreation area. We found a small dam and part of the pool area remaining. There were also some cool rocks to scramble around on behind the Home Depot surprisingly. We walked to the cars and finished, with me pushing Cathy in a shopping cart.