Hike #552; Princeton to Davidsons Mill Pond Park

 Hike #552 4/2/11

4/2/11 Princeton to Davidsons Mill Pond Park with Doug Kiovsky, Jason Kumpas, Amanda Murphy, Jason Itell, Teun Ott, Eric Pace, DJ Ray Cordts, Rob Creamer (and Bruce), Jack Lowry, Susan Duncan, Mathias Bullerman, Ryan Novesielski, Bernie Lieberman, "Major Tom" Conroy, Justin Jones, and Kristen Shoop.

Group shot at Princeton Nurseries

For my next hike, I would once again collaborate with Doug Kiovsky, Assistant Park Planner of Hunterdon County Park Department with whom I used to work. While I was still working with Hunterdon, Doug (or as I call him "Snoop Dougie K") passed me a map of the Princeton area with some of the areas to the east toward South Brunswick. He pointed out a few different parks which we could connect together for a long hike. The spine of this hike would be made of of the original right of way of the Camden and Amboy Railroad, the first railroad to cross NJ, and the first real passenger line in the country. The first engine, the John Bull, is still in service and on permanent display at the Smithsonian. I went over the maps Doug gave me, and looked at how we could connect it with the previous hike we had done in Princeton. I came up with a route that looked like about 15.5 miles after scaling on Google Earth, and consulted Doug. We agreed on the meeting point, Davidson's Mill Pond Park, and arranged for the hike to start at the same point as the last one, Princeton Battlefield State Park.

Princeton Battlefield

I met much of the group at Davidson's Mill Pond. We crammed as best we could into only two cars. Along the way to Princeton we picked up Jason Itell along the road, after he'd left a car since he had to make a plane to England that afternoon. We could barely fit into the back of DJ Ray's car.

Farm fields near Princeton Battlefield.

When we arrived at Princeton Battlefield we were soon joined by Doug, then Ryan who walked from the train station, as well as Justin and Kristen who came through Rob. I asked Doug to pick the route we'd follow to the south, and he picked the Corn Field Trail out of Princeton Battlefield and into Institute Woods.

Along Corn Field Trail, Institute Woods

We walked out along the edge of a corn field, and then along some pretty fields. Eric told us about how his dad had gone up a tower within view of the edge of the fields once. I wasn't sure we were going the right way since so many of the trails are not marked. We followed a rather obvious farm road area past a second field and then turned left. This took us down to the side of Stony Brook, and we figured if we followed that down stream we were okay. It worked out, and it led us to Far Trail.

River's Edge Trail, Institute Woods

River's Edge Trail, Institute Woods

We turned right on Far Trail, and when it reached the edge of the Stony brook it was known as River's Edge Trail. We turned on this and followed it's wide path along the shore of the Stony Brook down stream. We soon came to the great Swinging Bridge we had visited on the previous Princeton area hike, only this time we would cross and follow the trail on the other side on through.

The Swinging Bridge, Institute Woods

Along Swinging Bridge Trail

We waited for everyone to cross the bridge, and then continued along Swinging Bridge Trail. This trail weaved around a lot through the woods heading out to where the Stony Brook turned a sharp left with the Delaware and Raritan Canal towpath's berm  straight ahead of us. There was a finger of the stream that blocked us from getting over to the canal from here, so we turned right parallel with it to find a way up. DJ Ray led a few of the others across a log that had fallen over the body of water, while I led the rest a bit further down to where that water ended and bushwhacked on up to the towpath.

Along Delaware and Raritan Canal

Ray brought his group up to catch up with us, and we waited for everyone to fight through the bushes before moving on. Next, we followed the Delaware and Raritan Canal towpath west for a bit. This took us to the golf course section, where there were two pedestrian bridges over the canal. We used the first one and made our way away from the canal a bit.

Along the Delaware and Raritan Canal in Princeton

Delaware and Raritan Canal towpath in Princeton area.

Pedestrian bridge at the golf course over D&R Canal

On the opposite side of the bridge, my google map on my phone showed a pedestrian path going along the non towpath side of the canal. My plan was to follow this. We headed up hill a bit near the end of Emmons Drive, and then turned left along a retention pond. Some of the path looked to have been a pedestrian path, but the screenings had been plowed away or something. Much of this "path" was driven on quite a lot, and was obviously torn all up. We followed it through the woods with homes to our right.

The pathway was rather muddy, and so when we came to where there was another path descending to the left of this one from the buildings to the edge of the canal we took it. This took us down to a utility right of way on the berm side. It is probable that this section was part of the original Camden and Amboy railroad which in part followed the edge of the canal.

We followed this to a spot where we had to cross a spillway to the canal on a log. We all crossed and then made our way to Alexander Road where we met up with Jack and Susie.

Crossing the Princeton Branch line.

We went a short distance and had to cross over the active Princeton Branch railroad, still active through NJ Transit, and now the only remaining "Dinky" line in the state, being only a short distance back and forth between Princton and the main line.

We continued following the side that used to be the railroad grade across Rt 571. We continued on across Harrison Street and made our way to the Millstone Aqueduct. This entire section paralleled Carnegie Lake. We had to cross the Aqueduct and then came to a parking area. Rather than stay on the canal, I wanted to try to keep following the old railroad bed as best we could.

Former Camden and Amboy Railroad along the D&R Canal

Turtle on the D&R Canal, Princeton

On Millstone Aqueduct, Princeton

We met a few people who were looking for another building, which Doug was able to help with, and they were really interested in my hiking group which is pretty cool. We moved on from here out to to Mapleton Road.

Resting along Carnegie Lake

We followed a paved path parallel with Mapleton Road pretty easily, and even beyond that there was a clearing on the right side of the road parallel where it appeared that more of the path was to be constructed. We walked along this and the road on to where another trail led down hill to the left. This took us back down to the former Camden and Amboy Railroad.

Former Camden and Amboy Railroad bed near Carnegie Lake

Shrin of some sort along former Camden and Amboy Railroad in Princeton

Former Camden and Amboy Railroad.

Group shot near Princeton Nurseries

This section of the former rail bed was rather obviously more graded, but there was still no signage of any kind letting us known of it's place in history. The former Camden and Amboy turned right along the edge of Princeton Nurseries, but a spur line continued ahead out to Rocky Hill beyond. We followed this line, which was severred by a bit of an inlet of water with no bridge in place. We went around this and out to the Kingston Lock area. We then turned right up hill on Rt 27 into Kingston where we had our lunch break. I got a good sandwich, and most everyone else got something or another.

It was here that Jason Itell cut out to try to make his plane. He began running along the roads to get back to his car quicker. The rest of us soon moved on back down through Kingston, then left along the canal and rail bed. We stopped and checked out a sign Doug had made for the trail below.

Sign Doug had made years ago for the trail at Kingston.

We retraced our steps a little bit on the rail bed, then turned left following another rail bed heading sort of east. This one was either a rail bed or paralleled one. There was a second level right of way directly parallel with us to the right, but I can't figure out if the one we were on was a road then or not.

Mulit use trail heading away from Kingston.

We soon came out to Mapleton Road. There was a site where a bridge once crossed over the Heathcote Brook right there, but there was no sign of any abutments, and the newer road bridge certainly had obliterated the sign that any bridge had been there. We crossed the road, and to our right we could see the original Camden and Amboy right of way, now an access road to Princeton Nurseries, going off to where we were before along the canal. We crossed Mapleton Road and headed east.

Original right of way of the Camden and Amboy Railroad, now the entrance road to Princton Nurseries

Along the former Camden and Amboy Railroad Bed at Cooks Creek Natural Area

Old house of Princeton Nurseries

Old house at Princeton Nurseries

Old house at Princeton Nurseries

Old house at Princeton Nurseries

Old house

Old house at Princeton Nurseries

Former rail crossing at Cooks Creek State Natural Area

We came very close to the NJ State Central Office for the parks and forests, though we didn't go in because I was getting more concerned about time. We'd spent a while at lunch time, and Justin and Kristen had work obligations that night, so I tried to move everyone along a bit.

We followed a woods road either on or parallel to a rail bed, and there was a spot on the left of us tht could have been a rail bed because I saw it going over a tributary with a large metal pipe used by rail lines, but I can't be sure. We paralleled some buildings on our right, all abandoned, but they soon ended and we were back on definite rail bed.

The next spot was an abandoned village. This, Doug told us, was where the emlployees of Princeton Nurseries would stay, but that was of course no longer the case because they were all abandoned. I wanted to check them out, so I managed to go into one of them.

There was construction going on here. Doug told us that they were preparing them to be occupied once again. It was nice to hear that it would happen rather than have them torn down. The one I went into had the walls all gutted out, and there was plastic hanging up around the perimeters of it, and over the doors. The house reminded me of my beloved home in Port Colden, with it's vertical beams similar shape and height to the burnt ones I saw exposed following the fire.

Former Camden and Amboy Railroad at Cooks Creek State Natural Area

Camden and Amboy Railroad bed at Cooks Creek State Natural Area

We crossed Heathcote Road and skirted Cooks Creek State Natural Area to the south side. This section of the rail bed I think had a Middlesex County greenway sign at the beginning of it, an official trail section. It was very wide and easy to walk. As we were crossing Heathcote Road, Jason Itell ran up to the crossing! We were amazed to see him since he had started running so much earlier, and he had taken a route that should have cut a corner. He ran through exclaiming "I took a wrong turn!!". He darted off along the rail bed ahead of us and was out of sight soon.

We walked the railroad bed almost to where it crossed Rt 1 at grade, and I called Jason up to ask him how he got across. Apparently he just dashed across but then had the task of getting across a creek. We didn't want to have too much trouble so we turned left on a side path on which the trail was marked, and followed it through a developed park area. We ended up walking Taylor Road north out to Raymond Road.

Looking at the world through rose colored glasses in Heathcote NJ

Looking at the world through Rose colored glasses in Heathcote NJ

Along the way someone (I think Jack) found a pair of red safety glasses which gave the world a weird color, so we took turns goofing around and wearing them. I tried taking a couple of pictures through them. 

We reached Rt 1 and crossed at the traffic light. On the jug handle was a Target shopping cart, so I grabbed it and pushed it for a while. We continued on to a hotel just south of here. I pushed Amanda in the cart for a bit, and we turned left through the rear parking lot of the hotel. I tried to keep pushing but it was too tough as we left the pavement. We got off of the muddy stuff and then had to cross a creek. I was able to run and jump it, then pull the cart over. This led us right back to the old railroad bed, still part of a greenway here.

Bernie and Eric decided to cut out at this point. Bernie got a cab back to his car and made it alright.

Former Camden and Amboy Railroad near Heathcote NJ

We continued along and reached Stouts Lane. From here, the trail became paved. We continued along it, and I was glad I'd hung onto the cart because this section was so easy. It was all striped as well, for pedestrians as well as cyclists. We made our way along this section. Not many more rode in the shopping cart here surprisingly, except Jason took it for a while to push Amanda. In the unpaved section DJ Ray, Ryan, Rob, and Bruce all took turns riding in it.

Former Camden and Amboy Railroad east of Heathcote

Former Camden and Amboy Railroad east of Heathcote

New Road crossing near Monmouth Junction

The pavement ended yet again at New Road. There were still signs promoting the greenway, though it wasn't completely developed like the other part. We continued across and onto the old railroad bed. Right at the road crossing was probably where the original Camden and Amboy line broke off of the later line to Monmouth Junction. I could see a probable right of way to the left a bit. This would have made more sense than the Monmouth Junction alignment since it went more direct to a connection with the current main line alignment. We continued ahead a bit on the trail section, and then everything to the left of us was fenced in. This posed a problem because if we had to go around we'd have to add on some extra distance. I bushwhacked through weeds and mud to investigate what I thought to be the former C&A rail bed, and the cut for it was now being used as a drainage ditch. If that was indeed it, and it probably was, it was nearly unwalkable right now. Even along side of it would have taken far too long to try, sadly.

On the abandoned rail bed near Monmouth Junction

We continued along the rail bed out to Monmouth Junction and Ridge Road. We didn't try to folllow many alternative routes that would have taken us out of the way. They may have made the hike more interesting, but I wanted to try to get toward the end a bit quicker. We followed Ridge Road out to Rt 522 and turned right. We then turned left soon into Reichert Park. I was still pushing the shopping cart this entire way, and decided this park was a pretty good location to leave it. DJ Ray and Major Tom decided to wait there and try to get themselves a ride back to the cars.

We continued walking through Reichert Park, around some ball fields and onto apparently some sort of utility right of way which passed close by the northeast corridor railroad tracks. It then took us out to Major Road and the school Doug had attended, Crossroads. We walked around the right hand side of the school, then turned left onto Rt 679. We soon turned right onto Rockhingham Drive, then right on Putnam Road. We turned and found a path parallel with Viking Way

Doug at his old high school! Crossroads

This was a nice spot, being able to follow a paved path parallel with the road here was an unexpected convenience. I really didn't want that long road walk so it was perfect.

When we came out at the end of Viking, we reached Rt 130. We crossed this directly, and then passed thorugh a construction site. There were people working but none of them bothered us. We sckirted a retention pond area and then made our way out to County rt 610 where we could see Washington Cemetery. We crossed the road and skirted the left side of the cemetery, knowing this bordered Davidsons Mill Pond Park where we were parked. We followed the edge, past an overgrown field, and then along a wetland. There seemed to be no place to cross. A private residence was next, and there was still no way through. We just kept moving on, and I asked some kids at the house if there was a way they knew of to get into the mill pond park, and they had no clue. We continued to skirt the cemetery on the other side of the house, but could find nothing simple. I was concerned for Justin and Kristen, knowing they had to get out early because there was a meeting they were obligated to attend. I made the decision there to try to get them out right away. I told Doug to please lead the group to the safest and most convenient way he could find back, and told Justin and Kristen to go back to the nearest road. I would run across the swamp as quickly as I could to get my car and bring them back. They were apprehensive at first, but moved on, and I took off across the swamp.It was terribly mucky. At first it wasn't so bad, but then the mud got really deep, and I ended up having to cross a larger stream. On the other side I fought through sticker bushes and then ran as quickly as I could through a young growth forest, which was more convenient with little undergrowth. I soon saw a building and was able to run to it. I referred to the GPS on my cell phone a bit to get me across as well.

I soon found a roadway in the park and saw the way I needed to go. I ran across one field, and people all started at me as I went by, must have looked crazy dripping with sweat, and reached my car.

I was able to get Justin and Kristen back to their car in Princeton, DJ Ray and Major Tom had one of Ray's friends pick them and Eric up, and there was just enough room in the two remaining cars to carry the ten remaining hikers back to Princeton.

It's amazing how these things often work out, even when so many variables seem to work against us!