Hike #762; Oxford and Pequest Loop

Hike #762; Oxford and Pequest Loop Wanderings

4/10/14 Oxford/Pequest Loop with Brandan Jermyn, Gregg Hudis, Matthew Davis, Dan Lurie, and Sue Olivar

Group on the old Warren Railroad bed.

Our next hike would be another looping night hike in the vicinity of Oxford NJ. I hadn't really planned to do a hike at this point, and I didn't think or know it would be a full length one, but it turned out as such, so all the better. Only Brandan and I covered the entire hike.

It started when Matt asked if I'd be interested in hiking between Oxford and Washington, in part to scout the Warren  Highlands Trail route including West Oxford Mountain. Director of Land Preservation Corey Tierney expressed interest in developing more trails and having another opening in 2014, which of course would be great. But first, we would have to familiarize ourselves with where we were going to put new trails in. West Oxford Mountain is an obvious choice with no developed trails currently.

I picked up Brandan and headed to Oxford to meet Gregg at the central school. My plan was to explore some of the main body of West Oxford Mountain, then continue with Matt, Dan, and Sue when they arrived at about 6:30 on to Washington. Gregg had to leave by 6:30, and so looping back worked out better for him.

We started walking up past the school on the back streets and I pointed out a few historical sites. I pointed out where the Warren Railroad had gone prior to the tunnel being completed in 1862 (it is now the route of Academy Street). We cut into the woods by Academy Street and began following on and off some woods roads toward the top. We pretty much made a bee line directly for the very top of West Oxford Mountain. There wasn't a lot to see the way I chose to take. We took a woods road briefly, but then turned off of it in order to continue to the top.

Once we had reached the top, there were some seasonal views out toward Mansfield. It was alright, but the property boundary was right there. The round top to the mountain probably wouldn't make for the best trail route. Just off the county property were to pits, either exploratory mine pits or old charcoal hearths from before the hot blast furnace was employed in Oxford.

We headed down hill, off trail following the property line as posted, and eventually came to a strange flat area that I'd thought might have been a mine of some kind. There was a faint trail leading off onto private land to the south, but we didn't bother finding it. It was a substantial grade, but I'm unsure how they would have made it unless it's an old hand dug charcoal hearth.

We continued down hill and through a lot of downed trees and weeds to reach near the edge of Rt 31, onto the abandoned Warren Railroad right of way that was used only from 1856 until 1862 when the tunnel was completed. The right of way was nice, and I would like to see it as a trail. I thought as we walked how I could loop a trail to utilize the right of way and where history signs might go.

Old Warren Railroad bed along West Oxford Mountain

The right of way offered a nice view above 31 at one point, and we were able to follow it more clearly after a pathway joined from the left, and the rail bed turned toward Academy Street. We followed it to where an atv path came from behind a house. We turned onto Academy Street and followed it, the former rail line, back out to the main street/Mine Hill Road and former Spruce Run Turnpike.

Oxford and churches back in the day

We walked down the main drag of town, and I pointed out where there used to be a church on the left side of the road as we headed toward the furnace. I remember it standing in a state of disrepair when I was little, but then it was torn down sometime maybe in the late 80s. I thought it was sad to let something like that go, such a nice styled old church with a steeple.

We then came upon the Second Presbyterian Church. The first one, in "Old Oxford", which is now known as Hazen, is much further up beyond the area that was known as Pittengerville, now part of Oxford.

Second Oxford Presbyterian Church

The church and it's fellowship building still retain much of their historic character. I saw the minister was Joicy Becker Richards, who I believe trained with the minister where I went to church in Hampton back in the 1980s. Small world.

We continued on down hill to the Oxford Furnace and the church that was formerly the mill, but the iron company wanted the original church's land, and so agreed to do a swap and turn the mill into the church.

We walked beyond the furnace and I showed them where the 1856 Warren Railroad crossed Belvidere Avenue, then we followed the right of way which now makes up the road behind the Shippen Manor. We went out to the plaque that occupies the wall in the back of the manor, where the plaque that once graced the north side of the Oxford Tunnel, actually called Van Nest Gap Tunnel, now resides. The plaque was stolen over twenty years ago, and reporter Richard Harpster, one of the men responsible for stopping the Tocks Island Dam project, happened to show up at the tunnel within the hour after the thieves took it. A guy was taking pictures down there, and Harpster took it upon himself to have the pictures enlarged to read the license plate number. He then went to the home of the kid who took it and demanded he donate it to the Warren County Historical Society, after which it ended up in the back wall of Shippen Manor, ironically the rail line's route prior to the tunnel.

We checked out some of the rail bed ahead, then continued back around the manor with a good view of Oxford. The Oxwall site was being cleared as we walked by. The water tower that defines the Oxford skyline appeared ready to be torn down. None of the Oxwall buildings had any roof to it any more. There was a large earth mover within it's fences.

Oxwall building fire in 2007

It was a shame that the old Company Store, the the general store and most historic building from that site burned down end of March in 2007, a couple of days before my ten year anniversary Warren Railroad hike. The general store was the only building on the site local politicians wanted to save, but it was probably torched by it's owner who had only payed the back taxes hours before.

The Shippen Manor itself is an amazing building, built around 1754 according to history signs. It served as an iron masters house for a century and is now a museum. When I was little, my grandfather showed it to me, and it was in deplorable condition.

Shippen Manor before restoration

Even worse than this old picture, the house was almost completely covered with Ailanthus trees and vines and was just an eyesore to the once thriving iron town. One day we saw that the house was clear and that work was being done on it. I seem to recall being upset that the porch, which was badly collapsing on the left, might not be put back. As we drove, often toward the Delaware Water Gap, we'd watch it's progress as it was restored to the glorious building it is today.

We made our way from here out into town again, then cut across at the post office and along some ball fields to reach the Furnace Brook. There were kids playing soccer or something, and we avoided them to continue along the brook into the woods, to the old Lackawanna Railroad stone culvert over the brook. Gregg and Brandan climbed to the top, but I walked back through again, checking out the laid stone flooring. I then climbed up the other side, which was in worse shape.

Once on the road, we turned left and followed it back in to Oxford. Gregg had to leave us to get something to eat, and so Brandan and I visited a store for a drink and snack, then walked back up Rt 31, past the old Oxford Iron Mines Railroad line, and got back on the 1856 Warren Railroad right of way. I wanted to follow it back to the pathway that we'd seen coming down the hill and follow it.

We took the rail bed from Academy Street back toward 31, then ascended on the path leading to the south. It got somewhat overgrown, but was still recognizable as some sort of path. It took us up hill with some seasonal views, across where we had already been, and then gradually down hill.

For some reason I never noticed before, but it took us to some chain link fenced mines. We were able to walk around the outside of the fence onto the tailings piles for a better look. They looked to be just the typical water filled pits, but interesting.

We got on the old mining road heading down hill from here. This led us to a nice old reservoir I had been to before. In fact, I opened up debris that still retained water in it back around 2001 and flooded out a lot of the Furnace Brook with my friend Gary "Mr. Shoe" Kinney.

We walked the perimeter of the reservoir, and got a call from Matt. Dan was stuck in traffic and would not meet the planned 6:30, so we changed our route. I looked over the maps on my phone and found something I figured would be good.

We made our way down to the road once more, walked a bit of mine rail bed, then took main street back in to town and headed over to the school again. Matt was there when we arrived, and Dan and Sue arrived in short order. We then continued to the store once more, and then to the old Warren Railroad bed, now the route of Lower Denmark Road.

Historic view of the second Oxford Station.

Along Lower Denmark Road, we passed the platform to the old Oxford Station. The first station remained on the 1856 line, near Oxford Furnace. Even after 1862 when the tunnel was completed, Oxford Station remained on that earlier track, which operated as a spur after that time, but I'm not sure for how many years.

We followed the road to the paved trail section, and Matt told me that the path was paved by the school district so kids could get to and from the town safely from the new development, because they didn't want a bus service. I'd never heard that before, so it was interesting. I remembered it was 2003 that it was paved.

We followed the rail bed out across Pequest Road, but then turned to the right onto the power line trail shortly thereafter.

The power line path led us to Pequest Road again, which we followed east for a while, as well as through the fields on the south side of the road. Brandan and I jumped on a mattress I spotted. I brought the group on a side woods road to the left that went to an abandoned part of the Pequest Fish Hatchery, but followed it to the right out to the active hatchery.

We walked through a field and then out around fences that were part of the breeding area, then past a pond and out to the main access road by stepping over a chain. Dan tripped here and fell flat onto the ground in front of it. Within a matter of a couple of seconds he shouted "Save the beer!!!". I was able to quickly pick it up and save most from spilling. This of course became the subject of many jokes for the remainder of the hike.

A guy in a white pickup was coming toward us at one point, and I was worried we'd be in trouble, but it turned out he wasn't supposed to be there either. He avoided us, then passed us once more before quickly turning back onto Rt 46 east. We turned left onto the old Lehigh and Hudson River Railroad right of way (1886-1986).

The rail bed was overall very clear, and was nice to walk in the dark. We continued with no problem out from the hatchery area to the former site of Pequest Furnace.

Historic Pequest Furnace

It's amazing that so little remains of the historic furnace. Barely even any foundations at the site where there was this huge industry, and a few masonry remains out in the woods along the route of the Furnace Railroad. We crossed over the bridge over the Pequest River, then turned left on the ATV paths that led to the slag piles left over from the furnace operation.

Historic Pequest Furnace

The path can be a little confusing for someone who doesn't know how to get around in there, but I managed to do it, even in the dark. We then walked along the slag piles to return to the old Warren Railroad line. From here, it was very nice and easy walking heading back toward Oxford.

Constant jokes back and forth between Dan and Matt were especially funny. They're both very quick and witty. Even Brandan would occasionally interrupt his conversation with Sue to throw out a funny quip. By the time we reached the paved section of the rail bed, they had me in stitches with deep guy laughter. It was a great feeling that I really needed with great people.