Hike #600; Winslow Township Loop

 Hike #600; Winslow Township NJ

12/3/11 Winslow Township NJ Loop with Jason Kumpas, Amanda Murphy, Teun Ott, Marissa Rosen, and Dan Mclelland

The group on an ATV path near a quarry

My next hike would be a loop hike beginning and ending at our friends Rob and Carol Creamer's home outside of Berlin NJ. They were hosting their annual Decemberween Part, and it was also my six hundredth hike, and so I tried to make them work together. This time, I would put together an unconventional loop that was a bit different than any of the past trips I'd planned around the event, and it actually ended up being one of the best overall hiking routes we'd done in the southern part of NJ.

Trail in Berlin Park

After meeting on Dunham Loop, their road, we began walking out of the development to Watsontown New Freedom Road. We had walked this section on one of the hikes ending at Carol and Rob's a while back. We followed it along some pleasant fields to the entrance to Berlin Park and headed north for a bit. This took us along the Great Egg Harbor River until we reached a foot bridge that crossed. I had never gone this way yet, as previously we had gone further north.

Foot bridge over Great Egg Harbor River, Berlin Park

Great Egg Harbor River, Berlin Park

Trail in Berlin Park

We crossed the foot bridge, and there was the ruin of a little old dam on the Great Egg Harbor River, which began a short distance to the north of here. On the other side of the bridge, we reached another old road, now a trail, and turned left heading back to the southwest again.

The old road continued back out to Watsontown New Freedom Road where we turned right heading north to a Wawa convenience store on the corner of Berlin Cross Keys Road. I went in and got myself a pork roll, egg and cheese sandwich which was quite needed after driving over three hours to get there without a stop.

We then walked along the road for a ways to the southwest until we reached the village of Albion. We then turned left onto the former Pennsylvania Railroad, still active here.

Former Pennsylvania Railroad in Albion NJ...and JK smashing a pumpkin. Huzah.

We turned left and began following the tracks along an ATV path to the right of them, but soon had to come back down. We continued along the tracks for quite a while as it got more secluded. We soon saw signs for the state department of Fish, Game, and Wildlife, and I realized we were now completely withing Pebryn Lake Wildlife Management Area.

Former Pennsylvania Railroad through Penbryn WMA

We continued on the tracks for a little while, and soon there was an ATV path that turned off to the left. I followed it to a fork, and took the more down hill route which took us right to the side of Penbryn Lake. We had visited the lake on the Decemberween Hike the previous year, only on the other side. It was quite a pretty area.

Penbryn Lake

Paths along Penbryn Lake

Penbryn Lake

The rest of the group soon followed, and we were able to very easily continue along the shore of the lake closely by way of a series of ATV trails. It was such a narrow area between the tracks and the lake itself that we shouldn't have had to worry about hunters. The path skirted the lake, and came to a couple of really nice views. I figured the lake was probably once a sand quarry that filled in with water. We came to one wide open area with a fire pit, and then the ATV path led us out to Penbryn Road where we had been the previous year. There was a portajohn on site as well as a large storage container that read "Creamer" on it.

How ironic. At Penbryn Lake

ATV path at Penbryn.

After a short break here, we continued to the right on Penbryn Road, but didn't have to get onto the railroad tracks heading south because there was a great ATV path that paralleled it to the left, high up on a hillside away from it. It was in this section the previous year that Jason Kumpas found lots of little glass balls, because I suppose they were manufactured in the area, and we found a few more this time.

Sand quarry near penbryn

Sand quarry near Penbryn

The ATV path continued on through some pleasant woods, and then opened up on the left with a side path to an overlook over a sand quarry operation. Some of this was filled in with water, and it solidified my theory that Penbryn Lake might have been just such a quarry at one time. The view, although it was a horrible disturbed spot, was actually quite nice.

Big tire near Williamstown Junction

We continued out along the ATV paths to a road, at a point where it changed names from Williamstown Road to Taunton Road. Another branch of the Pennsylvania Railroad once had Williamstown Junction at this site, and it crossed over the tracks directly as well to make it's way to Atco. I didn't realize it at the time, but it was the same branch that would have connected across from the line we had followed previously from Atsion to Atco. Much of it had been obliterated from the quarrying though.

Giant conveyor thing

We came back down to follow the tracks again for a while at this point because there was no good parallel ATV path. The rail junction would have been right around the crossing spot, and the cross was parallel with this road just to the south. We continued on and soon reached New Brooklyn Road, and crossed yet again. There was soon a path to the left side that went to what appeared to be industrial ruins.

The top of a giant conveyor thing

There was a large building with lots of broken glass windows. This building seemed strangely filled in with giant heaps of dirt that reached well up beyond the lower level. It would have been easy to climb in underneath the piles of dirt, and I was considering doing so.

Looking down from the conveyor thing

Right in front of it was a giant bridge thing which looked like one of those quarry ladder conveyors, but it had no belt on it. I really wanted to check it out, so I went on over and began climbing up it. It was rather scary, because it swayed back and forth as I made my way up. It was sectioned off with bases of concrete slabs, and I feared one might just bust loose while I was walking up it.

Looking up toward the top of the former conveyor thing

The guard rails were low, and some of them were missing. If I'd gotten dizzy and fallen, there was nothing to catch me. The lower end of it had a ballast like rock on it which made traction on it somewhat difficult, but it disappeared the further I went up the thing.Everyone else soon followed to where I was. A chain link fence wrapped around the entire building and the elevated thing I was on, but it had a chain link doorway that had been left open, so we just walked in thinking we'd be able to get through.

Nearing the top of the high thing

I continued and soon reached the top. I had a good view of the building both north and south. What I didn't expect was that further out across the top of the building in front of me (the thing I was standing on towered higher than the big building in front of me) there were people working and trucks moving around. I heard one of the men shout out something. I might have been seen. I hurried down the thing again as quickly as I could without slipping off.

View from the top of the former conveyor thing to the south

Industrial site with the large conveyor thing.

I had taken other pictures on this hike, but sadly they would not load off of my camera, a problem I had had recently. I was sad that I didn't get the one looking down the ramp from the top.

We tried to get around the building a bit, but the fence went all the way, so there was no other way through. We made our way back through the door in the gate and over to the tracks promptly.

Paint ball course

Paint ball course

Winslow Twp

We continued down the tracks for a bit, and soon another ATV path went off to the left. We decided to follow it for a bit. According to my google maps application there were wide open areas to walk. As we continued, we soon found that it was some sort of paint ball course. At first, we thought it was just some amateur kid's set up. It wasn't all that impressive, because they were using giant spools and things that would be rather easy to set up. i found out later that this was in all likelihood one of the official paint ball places. We heard some people hollering off at a parking spot nearby, so we all hurried back onto the rail bed so we didn't get shot up with paint. There were tons of paint balls laying all over the ground.

We got back on the tracks and crossed a small road I think, followed by Florence Street. A short distance beyond we made a left turn onto an ATV path that followed on or parallel with a power line.

Power line in Winslow Twp.

We walked out onto the power line, and under the first giant "iron maiden" as they refer to those structures, we took a nice break. There was a group with horses ahead of us, and I wanted to give them time to move on before we interrupted them or spooked the horses.

After our break, we continued on along the power line which took us out to Rt 73. We had to take care in crossing, then continued on the ATV paths, still very clear to Tomwells Road. We agreed while taking our break that we were making such good time that we could do a side trip to a nearby winery that Jason, Amanda, Marissa, and Dan had visited the previous year.

Washington Ave, Chesilhurst NJ

When we reached Washington Avenue, we turned right off of the power line for our side trip. The road walk was actually quite nice through some pine barrens, and barely any cars used it. Some of the road was lined, though I didn't understand why because of it's lack of use.

The road took us into a little village area called Chesilhurst. We then turned left onto Vinyard Road, into what I believe is considered part of West Atco.

Me with a happy face reflector on Washington Ave, Chesilhurst

Amalthea Vinyards

Amalthea Vinyards

Cat at Amalthea Winery

Cat at Amalthea Winery

We walked only a short distance on this road, and then turned left into the Amalthea Vinyards area. We cut across some lawn between vines, and then came over to the little bar area on the left. This area was reportedly once a stage coach stop in the late 1800s for fish traders.

As we walked along, an adorable and very friendly little tabby cat walked up to greet us. I stopped to pet him for quite some time because he was so adorable. He obviously loved people and attention.

The place we would go to enter was quite nice, with a nicely painted exterior facade.

Cat at Amalthea Winery

A pretty young blonde girl greeted us when we went inside, and invited us to the wine tasting. She guided us to a rear room and told us some of the history of the place to begin with. We were treated to some great cheeses, pepperoni, and other little goodies on the table.

The girl started us off with samples of the white wines. I didn't have much experience with such fancy wines, having been used to drinking cheap stuff like Four Loco and such.

Amalthea Winery

Just after we finished off with the white wines, a group of girls came in celebrating the fortieth birthday of one of them. Most of them didn't quite look forty. They arrived in a limousine, and were all already quite tipsy from one thing or another. They got a kick out of us and the fact that we'd hiked there. I was rather insulted because the birthday girl asked my age, and when I told her to guess, she said 42. I told her to try again and to go lower. Her response was 38. I figured it must be my grey hair, but she said it was probably my crazy vintage jacket I was wearing. I also had a coon skin cap on.

Amalthea Winery

We chatted with the two that were working the place for a bit about the hikes we were doing, and two other employees showed up and seemed to have interest in the group as well, so I passed out some Metrotrails business cards before we moved on. They told us they had gotten people coming in on bikes and such, but that we were the first hikers who had ever come by!

Amalthea Vinyards

We left the place feeling quite overly happy from a good amount of wine. We'd all tried pretty much everything, and it was very good. Jason and Amanda both picked up bottles of stuff they really liked. Before we left, the people working invited us to walk through the vineyard as part of our return route back the way we were going, so we did just that.

We continued back onto Washington Ave the way we came to return to the power line.

ATV path on the power lines of West Atco

My map showed the path along the power line marked as "Apple Road" in this area, but it certainly was no road of any kind, just an ATV path. We continued to follow it for a while, around a looping section below one of the iron ladies until we came to Stevens Ave. From here, we turned left onto an access road into a small park with some play grounds and ball courts. I spotted a path going into he woods to the left from here.

Path near West Atco

We took the path through another section of woods which took us exactly where we wanted to go, to what I think was an elementary school at the end of Pin Oak Drive.

Playground

Playground

We made our way to the left around the outside of the school, and then out to a playground with a purplish color. It had a long walkway going back and forth out to a slide. It was lame compared to the old playgrounds, but I was impressed with how big it was and how high the slide terminated from the ground. I went down it head first and got messy with all of the wood chips that were saturated around it. We goofed off on the playground equipment a bit, and then made our way west along the south side of larger ball fields and the Winslow Township High School.

We crossed the ball fields more directly and then came out to a rope course, followed by a chain link fence. Teun, Dan, and I went through it where there was a broken section while the others found a hole in it between property lines.

Former microwave tower in Winslow

There was a large microwave tower across Rt 73 from us which we needed to head over to. Most microwave towers were now inactive, and this one probably was as well. We headed out across an open field and stepped over a white fence to reach Rt 73, then carefully crossed the busy traffic.

Old road to microwave tower in Winslow

The road accessing the towers was lined, so it was probably at one time a through route, and may have even had homes on it at one time judging by the size of lots along the way. We followed the road for a little bit away from Rt 73, and were soon close to the microwave towers. Off to the left was a woods road that continued into the woods, so we turned.

Very old "no trespassing" sign

Sand quarry

Sand quarry

There was a very old "no trespassing" sign where the road entered some woods. Large boulders were blocking was was surely once a through driving route. We went on past, and came to where the road continued ahead. It was definitely used by ATV riders recently. Our route was to turn right here off of the road onto an ATV path that skirted the edge of another sand quarry.

Sand quarry

Sand quarry

Sand quarry area

Sand quarry area. JK has become by far the most animated person I know.

Sand quarry area

Sand quarry

Sand quarry

We continued walking along the path, and could see how a former road used to go to the left of where the ATV path was now, but the road was holding a lot of water. As we kept going, we reached a spot where there was a lot of sand dug out at a steep angle. We went around it and then continued on to where there was a great view over the lake that had been formed by the sand quarrying. There was a roadway built partway out to the west area on the other side, and trucks and buildings on the opposite side proved that this was still an active operation.

The ATV path continued to skirt the west side of the quarry area clearly.

Sand quarry

Sand quarry

Sand quarry

The paths continued along the edge, and there were occasionally road blocks from when portions of the path used to apparently be a public road. We passed near a couple of houses, but for the most part it was pretty secluded.

We stopped to take a break at a very nice spot with views out across the quarry. We spent some time throwing rocks out into the water or into the mud. I didn't know it at the time, but this disturbed area would have been where the former Pennsylvania railroad branch from Atco to Williamstown Junction would have passed through.

After our break, we had to head through some weeds to the north, reaching a much more obscure ATV path that came out next to a big water tower reading "Winslow Twp".

Scale in Winslow Twp

We crossed West Factory Road by here to some sort of a market where there was a kid directing people where to park. I asked him where we should park, and we said "Berlin!" and he said something about not even knowing where we are. I pointed out that it was on the side of the water tower. There was also a giant scale which we all used to weigh ourselves. I won't quote anyone's weight, but I will say that people in the group are certainly all muscle!

Park in Winslow Twp.

We crossed the parking lot, and then crossed Taunton Road into a grassy field park with a small trench and a foot bridge to a play ground in it. This park took us out across to Old Rt 720. There was a woods road with no trespassing sign going into the woods directly across.

We followed the woods road to an area that appeared to be a land fill. To the right was a large mound and everything had giant chain link fences around it. We opted to try to skirt the fences, but it got too difficult to move on through. We instead headed into the woods and fought through weeds. This was the worst bushwhacking section we had on the entire hike.

Sand quarry at Williamstown Junction area

We eventually found our way to a faint ATV path that led to the west. We were able to follow it to where it skirted the fence around the supposed land fill, then made it's way out to an open quarried area, the first quarry we saw earlier in the day from above the railroad tracks. As we entered, the sun was setting beautifully.

There was a woods road that left the quarry to the north side, and this would be our route to the north.

Sunset over the sand quarry

We made our way out of the disturbed quarry area and onto the woods road. It took us through pine forest, many of which had been broken off after the recent snow storms, but not so badly that it blocked us from walking the road at all.

Sand quarry

The woods road came out onto Penbryn Road, where we'd hike for the Decemberween trip the year before, diretctly across from Penbryn Lake. We walked onto a nice little path to the shore of the lake for one last scenic view before the sun went down. We then turned right to follow Penbryn Road to the east on out to the corner of New Freedom Road where we'd turn left.

Penbryn Lake

Ahead, there was a deli on the corner with Watsontown Road, and the sign read "open". I was thinking it would be good to get a sandwich, but it was closed. To my surprise, a guy came out and asked if we needed drinks or something, but when I told him I was just interested in a sandwich or something he said he was fresh out of rolls. So we continued on up Watsontown Road back up to the Dunham Loop development and Carol and Rob's house.

Decemberween

Decemberween

The Decemberween party was fun, but I was more tired I believe this time than at previous ones. There were at least twenty in attendance with all sorts of interesting costumes. Carol was passing out her signature "Jellow shots" in syringes, and lots of games of Beer Pong and Beer Dodge were going on.

The night became a bit crazy when Carol fell and smacked her eye on the edge of a table, causing a bad cut. Pretty much everyone was calming down or leaving by that point. It was fun nevertheless, and I was very happy with how the day turned out.

Decemberween