Hike #1215; Bound Brook and Manville
4/17/19 Bound Brook and Manville Loop with Justin Gurbisz,, Annika Krystyna, Jennifer Berndt, and Dan Asnis
This next hike would be a night hike loop between Bound Brook and Manville area. There were some things I’d wanted to revisit for a while, and I figured this would be a good one.
On flood retention wall
My plan was to meet at the new little plaza on Chimney Rock Road just to the north of Rt 22. I had hiked through it on a night hike once before last year, when it was first constructed, but hadn’t gone back there yet. It seemed like it would be a good jump off point because the Shop Rite of Bound Brook, just to the south, would be excluded if I made it the end point. It was just too easy a point to cut corners out to.
When I’m going to do a hike, I make certain that I can do the mileage I want to do.
Flood wall
By meeting at this plaza, we would most definitely do the route that I’d planned on.
Annika hadn’t been out in quite a long time and had suffered an ankle injury, so she was apprehensive about making the trip down at all, but she handled it just fine.
Only Justin, Annika, and I started out on this one off of Chimney Rock Road. We headed from the new strip mall area down to the road, then turned to the right on Thompson Avenue.
This took us across the Middle Brook. We had to follow the road for a little bit of time.
Flood berm wall
My original plan was to head over to the Middle Brook and it’s culvert beneath Rt 78 to head through, but I knew the others wouldn’t want to get their feet wet. I didn’t want to leave anyone alone. In a large group I would have just gone and done it by myself, but not this time.
We reached the Rt 22 overpass, and then cut to the right onto an access drive into a foreign car service place. On the other side of that, parallel with Rt 22, a weird little paved pathway starts up and turns to follow the flood retention berm along the Middle Brook, out to and alongside the Shop Rite.
My then and now comp
I started telling Justin and Annika as we walked by the apartment building adjacent to the paved path how it had burned out pretty badly back in 2010.
Flood berm trail
During that time, Action Adam and I climbed to the very top of it through the burned out stairwell and explored the top of the structure. We would have almost guaranteed that the building would be turned down, but I was blown away that it was comletely rebuilt in the same framework when I walked by again in 2015.
We continued down the slope from the flood berm to the liquor store next to the Shop Rite. I wanted to see if they had anything interesting like the last time I’d been in there. They didn’t have much Weyerbacher, and they didn’t have the “Effin Awesome” like the last time.
Nature along the Middle Brook
They did however have the “Crazy Brewski” which is made by the same Lithuanian brewery, so I got one of those since I’d not had it in a while, as well as one of this interesting maple syrup barrel aged strong stout by Founders I think it was.
We headed from there back up to the berm, and across Union Avenue/Rt 28.
I should have gone through behind the bank across the street, but instead remained close to the Middle Brook. This took us through some industrial yard where we had to go over some crap they’d piled up to block off the back to the flood berm.
Lehigh Valley and Reading Railroad bridges
Once on the other side, we had to go down through some weeds, and then back up to the berm where I could see the easier way we should have gone.
The path from there though is good. There were people walking toward us along it, very happy to be out, and Justin and I joked about how the guy was so happy that he’s likely to soon have an aneurysm.
This is a strange section, because it’s really a perfect trail, but people are not allowed to walk on it legally. There are signs at the other side of it saying “no trespassing”, even though it looks like it’s made for walking.
Approaching Bound Brook station
It sucks particularly that they put these signs up soon after I’d completed a particularly popular article in Black River Journal on the Middle Brook and it’s greenways. The article, due to the outside efforts of others, ended up being out of date soon after it was published.
We continued out to Main Street after the berm paralleled Middle Brook Park and Tea Street.
Here, we had to cross, and the former Central Railroad of New Jersey tracks were parallel with the other side, crossing the Middle Brook. Dashing across leads to another similar paved path on the berm.
Bound Brook Station
There were the same signs on the other side as well. We just hurried over and got on the path. Justin pointed out that it was interesting there were flood gates that could be closed across the railroad tracks at the Middle Brook. The entire area here floods pretty badly.
The Raritan River, the Millstone River, and the Middle Brook all come together on a super flood plain, and everything in Bound Brook has gone under in the past. The flood protection is absolutely necessary at times.
NJ Transit pulling up to the former CNJ station
We went down the slope from the paved path because I figured it was more out of sight, and followed a ballasted path below the berm. There were some wildflowers starting to come up, and everything was starting to get green.
We remained down there for a bit, and soon the former Lehigh Valley Railroad, now active Norfolk Southern freight, came into view to the right. The former Reading Railroad, now abandoned, which was part of the National Railroad when built, was just beyond that. Both railroads crossed over what I guess is a flood wash on through truss bridges just ahead. I suppose it might have been a brook that was moved.
Bound Brook pedestrian underpass
A side path led down to the left to a little municipal ball field park, but we didn’t take that. It was my plan to take that, but I figured once we were up there that we might be able to follow the berm out to it’s end.
Sure enough, we did; we followed the berm past a building on the edge of it, then cut to the left out to a part of West Main Street.
The Main Street goes back and forth across the former CNJ tracks there, but no longer crosses at grade legally.
There used to be many grade crossings on the old Jersey Central line, but there was an effort to remove these grade crossings by elevating the entire railroad in the section between Bound Brook and Somerville. This project was completed in 1913. This is why so many of the sections of the main street through Bound Brook are cut off and disjointed on both sides of the tracks. If we were using a car, we would have had to turn around at this area.
The original CNJ station
The Central Railroad of New Jersey started out as the Elizabeth and Somerville Railroad, and had a handsome wooden station to serve Bound Brook.
Lehigh Valley Railroad station
The original station only served until 1913 when it was replaced as part of the elevating project. The new square station, which is now a restaurant, replaced it.
Historic postcard of Bound Brook Station
The Central Railroad of New Jersey is now NJ Transit. Bound Brook was a pinch point where the CNJ, Lehigh Valley, and Reading Railroads all came closely together.
CNJ Bound Brook Station
We walked to the end of the street, and then had to skirt the railroad tracks where the former Lehigh Valley line was coming in from the right.
Underpass
We simply followed along until we reached the public station platform.
In this area, they clearly don’t care what people are doing. I was shocked to see a toddler playing in the middle of the NJ Transit tracks adjacent to the platform. His mother was standing over on the corner of the platform looking disinterested in life altogether.
We continued onto the middle platform, and soon a westbound train was coming in to the station. We watched it arrive before we took to the pedestrian underpass steps to get out to the north side. This took us out near the center of town.
Historic image of the Voorhees Building
The Voorhees Building, which used to have store fronts such as confectionery and other stuff used to be in the bottom of the building, I think completed in 1881.
Voorhees Building today
We went into a little mini mart and got some snacks and such. Jen was arriving soon, and I tried to find a location that would be on the South Bound Brook side for her.
The Somerville Circle and Pillar of FIre building
The only thing that was coming up reasonably close to where we were going as I recall I think was Dave’s Meat Market. She ended up parking near the Quick Chek and walking toward the Delaware and Raritan Canal.
We continued to the right, past the station and then to the Bound Brook Circle where we turned to the right to pass beneath the railroad tracks.
Once on the other side of the tracks, we passe by the site of the oldest bridge in the state of New Jersey, a stone arch structure that is now buried next to the railroad fill. It was originally to span the Bound Brook, but it was filled over. The brook itself was moved to a new confluence, but amazingly the bridge survives mostly buried, with the top walls and parapets only still visible. We continued from here out across the Raritan River on the Queen’s Bridge.
Excavation study on the old stone arch
The Old Stone Arch, on the Old York Road, now mostly buried under fill, is the second oldest bridge in America, behind the Frankford bridge over the Pennypack in Philadelphia.
The Old Stone Arch formerly crossed the Green Brook at Bound Brook before being rerouted.
This bridge was constructed in 1731 but is hidden in an industrial site.
Queen's Bridge
This site has been an historic crossing going very far back. The original bridge over the Raritan at this point opened in 1767. By 1771, an act was passed that provided maintenance to the bridge and named it the Queen’s Bridge.
Queen's Bridge stone piears
I understand that the original was a wooden bridge and at some point a covered bridge spanned the same location. In 1875, the wooden structure was replaced with a class steel pipe truss bridge. That bridge continued in use until it’s replacement in 1984.
Interestingly, the original stone piers that carried the truss bridge were utilized in the construction of the newer bridge that remains in service today.
Once on the other side of the bridge, we reached the crossing of the Delaware and Raritan Canal. We turned to the right and paused to wait for Jen to show up.
Historic image of the Queen's Bridge
I went down below the bridge to get a view of the old stone piers of the original Queen’s Bridge. It’s hard to imagine the Continental Army and British Redcoats crossing this structure multiple times during the Revolution, and the Battle of Bound Brook.
Towpath and mile marker
The Continental Army guarded the bridges over the Raritan because the British would need them to go through, but the British and Hessian soldiers attacked when their numbers were reduced and forced them to retreat.
While waiting, Justin found some fun in swinging back and forth on the gate the was supposed to bar vehicles from driving onto the canal towpath. It did no good, as the post it was to secure it to was broken off completely and could not be closed off.
On the canal
The Delaware and Raritan Canal is one of New Jersey’s two cross state canals, along with the Morris Canal. Unlike the Morris, the D&R had just fourteen locks and much less elevation to overcome. The canal was completed in 1834.
Canal swinging
The canal was an important part of the coal industry out of Pennsylvania. A great deal of coal came by way of the Schuykill Navigation down to Philadelphia, and then up the D&R.
Approaching Lock #11
The D&R originally started out as a simple mule drawn towpath canal, but it was widened in later years to where steamer tug boat types of larger variety passed through. The canal was 75 feet wide, compared to the 50 foot Morris. It had to be because boats coming out of the Schuykill Navigation were also quite large.
Also in later years, the old lift locks were replaced from the armstrong style arms to steam engine powered. This helped the canal to remain relevant later than most canals.
Approaching Lock 11
In the final years of the canal, pleasure crafts made far more use of it than freight. The Schuykill Navigation suffered in these final years because the Pennsylvania Railroad purchased the canal, and the competing canal could no longer ship by way of the D&R.
D&R Canal ceased operations in 1932, and as years went by sections of it were destroyed. Route 18 through New Bruswick destroyed the section through the city from the area of Landing Lane out to the first two locks. In Trenton, Route 1 was built over, but did not fill in the section of canal there, which flows underground.
South Bound Brook Lock, Lock #11
Jen arrived pretty soon, and we were on our way along the towpath heading to the west.
South Bound Brook Lock
It was really a beautiful time to be out.
One of the old concrete mile markers, denoting 8 miles from the eastern terminus of the canal, was right about where we started on it.
We moved on ahead a bit, and soon reached Lock #11, known more commonly as the South Bound Brook Lock.
Original stone was all visible here, but it had been faced with concrete at most spots from the upgrades to the canal, and the upper end of the lock had it’s doors replaced with a spillway that kept the water flowing.
Bridges
The entire canal that remains is now part of NJ Water Authority and serves as a drinking water supply. The land around it became a state park in 1975.
We continued ahead from here, and the route is like being on a causeway because the Raritan River is to the right, and the canal is to the left.
We soon passed the railroad bridges on the other side of the river that we had passed on the berm from along the Middle Brook. It looks like water only flows beneath them during flood.
Bridge view across the Raritan
We soon passed beneath Rt 287. In this area was a spillway, created to allow water to drain off of the canal in times of flooding so that it wouldn’t wash out the canal.
Rt 287 underpass
This was a concrete one. Some of the original stone ones, which I thought were fantastic, were complained about by cyclists and replaced by smoother atrocities. I don’t recall seeing any of those.
At another spillway, Justin went over and walked across it. I went to do the same and accidentally caught my stitches on my finger from the previous hike on the top of it. I keep forgetting they’re in there and hurting it worse.
Ahead to the right, there was a large dam spanning the Raritan just downstream from it’s confluence with the Millstone River. From this point, the D&R follows the Millstone.
Patriotism on the canal
Fishing season had apparently just started, because there were a lot of fishermen in this area.
Just up ahead, we reached Ten Mile Lock, also known as Lock #10.
This was a nice lock site, with the tender’s house still standing on the berm side and in fine condition.
I pointed out the recesses in the old stone in the tops where the hardware once was for the original lock mechanisms before they went to steam. The later concrete facing was around that.
D&R Canal
We continued ahead from here, and the next point of interest was the Pillar of Fire place at Zaraphath.
The site originated from a planned meeting of the Pentecostal Union to recruit bible school students in the early years of the 1900s. Alma White had a heavily mortgaged farm at the site, and offered it to the Pentecostal Union if they could pay off the owed money. The site became the eastern headquarters to the Pentecostal Union, and was renamed “Pillar of Fire” in 1917.
View across the Raritan
It became the headquarters for Pillar of Fire International.
The colloquial name for the settlement is Zaraphath, taken from the biblical place where a “widow woman” sustained the prophet Elijah.
Today, the main building to the place is vacant and I thought it was to be repaired, but now I’ve found that after the flooding from Hurricane Irene in 2011, the college has been ordered to move all operations, and the entire campus is to be demolished. They’ve had a history of major floods at the site, despite the fact that they’ve maintained a twelve foot perimeter levee.
Canal view
There was an old bridge keeper’s house or something adjacent ot the canal here, which is vacant.
I went across the canal to set up a then and now compilation using an old photo of the Pillar of Fire place, along with what it looks like now.
We continued ahead on the canal from here, and saw where the twelve foot berm came back in. I’d have liked to walk that, because it looks pretty welcoming, but the church group of course has “no trespassing” signs up all over it to keep us out.
Historic Zaraphath image
We didn’t have much farther to go after the Pillar of Fire place before we’d turn away from the canal. Dan was ready to meet up with us soon, so I directed him to Manville Causeway.
Zaraphath today
Manville Causeway is the road that connects Weston Canal Road with Main Street in Manville. This was my planned route to get over to the east side.
The canal
We turned to the right when we got to the road, which had another handsome old bridge house on the opposite side of the canal. We headed along the road past Morningside Farm, which was a handsome old building it seemed, on the right side of the road.
After a bit of farm land, we crossed over the Millstone River, where we could see some ruins down below us to the right. There was some busted up concrete which could have been part of a gauging station or something, but also some much older stone ruins which were most certainly some kind of mill at one time.
Old canal mile marker
There is a parking area on the opposite side of the bridge below the canal, which I directed Dan to first, but he instead went to the canal parking area on the Weston Canal Road side. We didn’t hear from him on time, but did wait for him for a while at the Krauszer’s store on the opposite side. We went in and bummed around here for a bit.
When Dan was in the wrong spot, I directed him instead to meet up with us at the next park we’d be going to, Lincoln Avenue Park.
Zaraphath marker
We cut across the parking lot to a closed restaurant across from the Krauszers, and then started following Main Street to the right.
A foot bridge on the canal
We would have tried to cross Royce Brook on the informal paths to get to Lincoln Avenue Park, but it’d have been kind of tough. It was already starting to get a bit dark.
We instead followed the road, and a concrete wall started forming along the side. A chain link fence appeared on it, and we had the choice of going either left along the road or to the right behind it on an informal path. This took us around a small building which I believe to be some kind of a sewage ejector pit, and then out to the underpass where the former Reading Railroad goes over Main Street.
Foot bridge on the canal
From here, there was a narrow, indistinct trail that went up to the railroad tracks. We all followed this, and then turned to the right along the tracks for a little bit. This took us across the Royce Brook.
We had done this on a hike in the past, but it was more light. This is how I knew that if we continud across, there is a set of wooden stairs that would take us down along the edge of the brook, and then out to the end of a road known as Benjamim Street. Unfortunately, when we got to the other side of the bridge, the steps were in deplorable condition and trees had fallen over it.
Ten Mile Lock
We opted instead to continue along the tracks just a little bit further with hopes that there would be an easier way out to the roads.
Old lock hardware recesses
I was totally surprised, but just barely beyond where we’d have been messing with the steps, there was a totally clear and easy access to John Place, the next dead end street up.
We easily headed out to John Place and followed it to Huff Avenue. We then turned to the right on Kyle Street and followed it directly out to Lincoln Avenue Park.
This park is likely not named for the famous President, but rather the commanding officer of the Continental Army from the Battle of Bound Brook, who was no relation to Abraham.
We could see Dan pulling up in his blue car into the park, but I let him know it was probably best not to park in the park after dark, and to park nearby on street. I figured we would probably be coming out to Bridge Street and Bossel Avenue, and that he should try to meet up with us there. We walked straight ahead into the park, toward the Millstone River in the open field areas.
Ten Mile Lock
The fields were super muddy. Some of the higher grass kept it easier to walk through, but we did have to find a good spot to step over some really wet spots in order to get to the trail section closer to the river.
Once over there, we started heading north along the west side of the Millstone River.
This was a pleasant section for a time, but the trail eventually turns back inland to the left. This would have been fine if it were dry conditions, but we got to a section of water that we couldn’t get across without getting our feet wet. I wouldn’t mind, but everyone else would.
D&R Canal looking west from Ten Mile Lock
We ended up having to follow the water back in the direction we’d come from for a while until it disappeared into the ground enough for us to cut inland.
We came out to Lincoln Avenue not all that far from where we first entered the park and headed toward Arlington Street. Dan met up with us here after he’d heard our voices.
Together, we continued through the grass to the north, and reached Bridge Street. Lincoln Avenue apparently used to go through the couple of missing blocks, because it starts back up again just to the east.
Canal at Zaraphath
We continued on Bossel Avenue, which became Lincoln Avenue again after a bend, and we followed it to Cooper Street Park. Here, there is an access to the large flood plains around the confluence of the Raritan and Millstone Rivers.
The area can get pretty muddy. I’d explored this section of it once before on a previous hike not so long ago, and it was pretty cool.
We headed down hill, and had to circumnavigate a couple of wet areas, but it was very pretty. Before too long, we were along the edge of the Raritan with the ambient light from industry and such showing well.
Mile marker at Zaraphath
We cut a bit off of the trail section, and then headed out to the water’s edge on a wider ATV path. We then turned to the left to try to follow the waterfront as best we could.
This took us out to the two through style truss bridges which carried the Reading Railroad and the Lehigh Valley Railroad across the Raritan. The Lehigh Valley Railroad here is still very active Norfolk Southern freight line, and the Reading Railroad is now part of the yard and a spur ending at the bridge. It is abandoned from that point to the east back to Bound Brook.
Old bridge house at Zaraphath
We regrouped here to discuss the plans for the remainder of the hike.
There was a lot of stuff to do, and a lot of stuff I wanted to do. I was actually not going to be dissatisfied with any of the routes we would take. I was quite enjoying every bit of it.
My initial plan was that we continue walking along the Raritan, as there are good paths, and end up at North Main Street where we could double back and then reach the branch tracks that go up to Chimney Rock.
Canal
From that point, we would simply go straight back to where we started.
The second scenario I had not really considered, but thought would be really cool, would be to cross the former Reading bridge, follow the right of way to the east back into Bound Brook for some food, and then double back on the same route we had taken on the flood berms to get back to Chimney Rock. I actually thought this would be the desired scenario among the group, but Annika preferred to do the previous.
The canal
Continuing along the very muddy Raritan just didn’t seem to be a good idea.
I offered an amended version of the original plan where we’d turn left along the tracks and come out at the Walmart and other stores in the Manville area, where the creosote plant used to be.
Everyone seemed pretty much fine with everything. I think Justin probably would have liked to cross that bridge, as would I, but there’s always future times. We continued up to the rail grades, and started to the west.
Manville Causeway
As we were walking, a train powered up in the land just to the left of us.
As we approached where the Walmart area could be seen to the right, I realized the branch going to the right would take us to the next bridge over the Raritan. Rather than use the road bridge like I was thinking before, we had covered enough ground here that I would be happy with crossing the Raritan there. It’s a lesser used track, so it seemed like a great idea. We headed along this to the north, with spring peepers making sounds in the lower wetlands to the right of us.
Lehigh Valley and Reading line bridges
It’s been a long time since I’d crossed the bridge at this area. It used to be a double tracked one, but the one side is all wood for other vehicles to get across.
Old foundations at Manville Causeway
We casually just walked over it and into a yard on the other side.
Justin was immediately interested in what was there.
As it turns out, there was all sorts of garbage being stored in rail cars at this site, which they’re not supposed to do.
Justin said something about the fines for storing just one of those things, and then we started counting how many of these cars there were.
If I counted correctly, and if it’s accurate, there would be over $500,000 worth in fines there.
Born to be wild
I walked along the top of an empty rail car bed heading to the north. We started heading into a lot ahead that came to a dead end, so we’d have to turn around to get out.
There was a guy sitting in a car at the end of the area there, which we figured must be some kind of security guard. We skirted where he was by walking over a mound and then out to Polhemus Lane where Bufflehead Road joins. We then just continued north on Pohemus and didn’t have any problems. We crossed the former Jersey Central Railroad tracks just north from here.
Halleluja
The track that came across the Raritan hung a right and connected to the former Jersey Central line. Just ahead, we crossed over that line, and the Chimney Rock spur broke off of it and paralleled us on Polhemus Lane.
We crossed Rt 533, Main Street, and then after that the Cuckels Brook. To the left, I could see the Chimney Rock spur crossing.
After we crossed the brook, we turned to the left and got over on the railroad spur to walk that parallel.
The busted steps
North of Rt 533, Polhemus Lane changed names to Chimney Rock Road. We continued parallel with that out through an industrial area and with a Jewish cemetery on the right side before we came out to Route 28.
We were almost ready to continue on when we realized there was a Wawa right there at the intersection, and a rather new one at that.
We backtracked and headed over there for some sustenance.
I ordered one of their quesadillas which have all sorts of stuff in them including zucchini and such. They’re really very good.
I was very disappointed however to find that they had discontinued recently their Double Dutch Chocolate milk. We sat down along the outside of the building for a last break before the end of the hike. I think I put my one beer bottle into the sleeve around the bollards, which I like to lovingly refer to as “recycling bins”.
Bridge crossin
We continued parallel with Chimney Rock Road, and soon crossed a bridge over Rt 287. From there, we passed through an industrial site briefly, and in not too long crossed over Rt 22 on another bridge. Just beyond that, and after the ramp from the highway, we were back at the mini mall where we’d started.
Making discoveries
I hadn’t posted this hike on the regular Metrotrails schedule, and it was nice that people still responded regardless of that. I’ll need to start posting them again soon and figuring out what I’m going to do about the countless trips I’ve devised and where they’ll fit in, but I’ll get to it somehow when stuff starts to calm down.
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