Hike #1260; Lockatong WMA to Frenchtown
10/1/19 Lockatong WMA/Lumberville/Frenchtown with Chris Kroschinski (Cupcake), Shane Blische, and Brittany Audrey
This next hike would be another point to point night hike, between several points we had done before, but also incorporating a bit of new stuff along the way.
High Falls of the Lockatong
It was predicted to be one of the last really hot days of the year, despite it being the first day of October. I wanted to be sure to get some kind of swimming in.
High Falls of the Lockatong
I planned a route that would include Lockatong Wildlife Management Area again because I wanted to find the prescription sunglasses I had lost out that way on a recent hike. I had gone back with Jillane to try to find them one night, but didn’t see anything, and I didn’t check the trail up the slope from the falls out there.
We met at the Frenchtown Station, now the Station Cafe. Brittany was the only one to show up there, because Cupcake was getting Shane and was running behind. I left my car at the end point this time, since we would be finishing with more people rather than the need for it to shuttle, and we headed to the WMA lot off of Rt 519 in Kingwood area.
High Falls of the Lockatong
Shane and Cupcake had already arrived by the time we got there, and we were ready to head out. There is a vague white blazed trail that a scout put in years ago to the High Falls of the Lockatong, which used to be a loop, but only the more direct side of it is at all clear.
We managed to walk back out to the site, and Shane and I jumped off of the top of it into the deep pool a few times. We tried to get Cupcake to jump in off of the top rock, but he wouldn’t do it. Brittany also jumped in off of a low rock. It was amazing that previous swims on hikes had been colder than this one.
On the Lockatong
The water was colder than it had been in the Summer, but the air was so hot that it was exactly what was needed. The water was quite clean and clear, because it doesn’t come from areas with a lot of heavy development.
Lockatong
We spent a good amount of time swimming a bit, and then moved on along the trail we had found the previous time out there.
The trail is an informal one that goes up hill to the west, very close to the boundary of the wildlife management area.
There’s not really any marking, but when we pay close attention we can find the trail heading out.
We managed to make our way into a clearing, and I watched the ground for my glasses, because I knew I put my pack down in one of these areas, but I couldn’t find them anywhere. I probably should have checked sooner.
High Falls of the Lockatong
The clearing brought us out to Federal Twist Road. I really don’t know where that road got it’s name from, but I would like to know. It’s an interesting one.
The road is quite pretty, and really the perfect type of back road to follow. I intentionally planned the hike to use a few back roads I thought were particularly good.
We headed south on Federal Twist, and soon passed over one of those lovely old stone arch bridges, for which Hunterdon is home to more of than anywhere in North America. After a little hill, we came to a four way intersection, with Strimples Mill Road on the left.
Lockatong
We turned to the right on Stompf Tavern Road.
I’m not sure what the Stompf Tavern was. There is an old house on the corner of one side of the intersection of Strimples Mill, and an old stone building on the opposite side now sort of used as a house. I was at first thinking that one of these homes was the old tavern, but I am now inclined to believe it was further down at the bottom of the Delaware River bluffs. These ones were probably just part of a farmstead.
We continued along Stompf Tavern Road, which was a beautiful dirt road.
High Falls of the Lockatong
We were already laughing and having a good time. Shane was wearing his extremely silly Kool Aid man costume. We even found a mail box that said for some reason “Anything but costumes” on it.
Stompf Tavern Road passed through some lovely farm land with views to the south, and woods to the north. We went around a bend, where we crossed a dry wash. There was a trickle of water running in it, but as the road descended it got to be a major erosion ditch.
There were only a few houses off of this road, but it appeared to once be busier. There was an old road to the right that had sort of a piped culvert first, and then another where there were old logs used for a bridge that has mostly completely washed out. We wanted to explore it a bit more, but there was a house with people home directly across the street, and I didn’t want us to get questioned about anything.
We continued down hill and the road got a bit steeper, the trench got deeper.
Anything but costumes?
We soon reached the bottom of the road, and crossed what was the original highway route closer to the Delaware River. The tavern must have been one of the homes along here.
Old stone arch on Federal Twist
The greatest highlight of this old road route was the beautiful stone arch bridge which now serves as someone’s private driveway access to the right. We could get a good view of it from next to Stompf Tavern Road. It had some restoration work obviously done to the top, but the arch was good and retained it’s historic ambiance.
We crossed Rt 29 here, and Shane told us that this was one of the only spots that there was a road out along the river. That in fact, The Bel Del Railroad was the only transportation route along the Delaware River for a long distance north of here.
Corner of Strimples Mill Rd.
We crossed and got on the old Bel Del Railroad grade and started heading to the south.
There’s another preserve I had considered making part of this hike north of there, the Kugler Woods Preserve, but I’ll put that into another hike sometime maybe soon.
Almost at the same point we came down, the Byram Boat Launch is just along the Delaware River. I wanted to take another dip, and so we headed down toward the waterfront. As we were getting there, a police officer was already sitting there. We tried to make it look as if we were not interested in swimming.
Stompf Tavern Road
I started pointing at things and talking about history.
The Delaware Canal towpath was on a high wall on the opposite side, so I talked about the Pennsylvania Canal, and just downstream we could clearly see the foot bridge from Bulls Island, officially the Lumberville-Raven Rock Pedestrian Bridge.
The bridge was built in 1947 but the John Roeblings Sons Co, to replace the earlier partially covered bridge. The original covered bridge was completed over the river at this point in 1856. It was approved for construction going back to the 1830s, but floods held it up.
View on Stompf Tavern Road
The bridge remained intact until one of the spans was swept away in the Pumpkin Flood of October 1903. One of the spans was then replaced with a steel truss.
Abandoned bridge site on Stomf Tavern
Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission deemed the original structure unfit for travel around 1944 and closed it to traffic, and it was soon dismantled.
By the time I was done talking about some history, the cop had pulled out of the parking lot and back onto Rt 29. We then walked down the boat launch, and Shane and I took a dip again. The others didn’t feel like getting wet again.
We enjoyed this nice little break, and then headed back up the boat launch road to the Bel Del Railroad grade, and followed it to the south a bit more. Through the woods, Shane pointed out the old stone building up along the bank, known as the Saxtonville Tavern, in Delaware Township. The hamlet was known as Saxtonville before Raven Rock.
The stream along Stompf Tavern Rd
The earliest portion of the structure is believed to have been constructed in 1810, with major additions on either side from 1820 and 1835. It found most success during the development of the Delaware and Raritan Canal, which found it’s terminus right about where this building is. The feeder canal, also used for freight, ended at the northern end of Bulls Island.
The tavern building was somewhat recently purchased by NJDEP as I understand, and Delaware Township and their local historical society has been pressuring to fast track sell it to them.
The old bridge at the bottom of Stompf Tavern
I understand there’s been a degree of renovation to it, but I don’t know for sure what is to become of it. I’m not sure if DEP still has it, or if it went to the township.
Old stone arch at the bottom of Stompf Tavern
Shane explained that the name “Raven Rock” was taken for a rock that looks like a Raven up on the Delaware River bluffs, but that we can’t see it nowadays due to much heavier foliage.
We continued a little bit further on, and soon reached the former site of the Raven Rock Station on the Bel Del, now the parking lot for Delaware and Raritan Canal State Park.
We turned away from the Bel Del at this point and crossed through Bulls Island, over the Delaware and Raritan Canal’s northernmost lock, and then past the park office to the foot bridge.
Delaware Canal is seen across the Delaware
We had great views up and down the river. The bridge still stands on the original piers from the first covered bridge that date back to 1855, which is cool.
On the other side, we could see the Black Bass Inn on the Pennsylvania side, in Lumberville. The original section of that building dates back to 1740, well before the canal and rail, and before many of the roads. There would only have been a ferry across the river then. The tavern served local tradesmen and travelers between New York, Philadelphia, and Easton.
Saxtonville Tavern
The big claim to fame at the Black Bass Inn is that George Washington did NOT sleep there.
During the time of the Revolution, the inn was owned by Tory Loyalists, and Washington knocked on the door looking for lodging during a southbound march. As the story goes, the Loyalist owners turned him away.
The plan was we would walk across the bridge, and then stop in the place to have a drink and a bite to eat. We crossed over the foot bridge and turned left on the other side. I pointed out some of the history and shared some of my then and now compilations from there.
My then and now
We walked into the tavern and sat at the bar where there were fortunately three seats together. We were a little loud, but I didn’t think all that bad. The place was a little upscale for the likes of hikers, and some lady to my left was saying “Well I think they should pay for our dinner”, to which the other said “I don’t think that’s likely to happen”.
On the bridge
We hung out for a bit; I had two beers and a bowl of delicious soup. We eventually finished up, just before it was too dark, and headed back out and north on the highway.
Delaware River
We had to walk down the road just a little bit, and then there is an access to the canal and the towpath at the next lock, Lock #12. There used to be a lock house here, but that’s long gone.
We simply crossed over and started following the towpath to the north.
We soon crossed over the Paunnacussing Creek aqueduct. It was a bit slow going through here, and I helped Brittany along for the stretch, but we managed to keep on moving. It got dark pretty quick from here, but there was never a time I couldn’t see the towpath pretty clearly.
Delaware Canal looking toward Lock #12.
We passed along the high wall that held up the canal where we had viewed it from the boat launch before, where the wing dams provided the water to fill the Delaware and Raritan Canal down stream from there.
After a little bit we reached Lock #13, and just beyond that Lock #14, which has an occupied residence next to it, I think the former lock house.
A short distance past this is the lovely Tohickon Creek Aqueduct, which has almost a covered bridge look to it. That one was redone in more recent years and really compliments the ambiance of the area.
Black Bass inn and the canal
We kept on moving north slowly but surely, and by the time we got to what I think was around locks 15 and 16 to the north, Brittany laid down for a bit.
The problem with this was that the raccoons took a great interest in here!
At Black Bass Inn
They had been following us quite a lot. The one of them we saw we just flashed a light on it, and it climbed away and over a fence to the right of us into a yard.
Another then and now at Lumberville
One raccoon was coming directly up the trail behind us. I saw it and had Cupcake put the flashlight to it, and it just stopped in it’s tracks. It seemed to have no fear at all.
In Black Bass Inn
I turned back at it and started stomping my feet and chasing it. It started to back off, at first backwards as to be cautious, but then it left.
We waited a few more moments, and there was a raccoon right in front of us, walking up to Brittany and sniffing right at her head! I chased that one off, thinking it was the same one I’d just scared off somehow circumnavigating it’s way back, until I realized that one was still ahead and this was yet another raccoon coming from the woods to the right! There were more than just those two also. I could see the eyes flash in the light as Cupcake turned it. I made Brittany get up so we could keep her away from these very curious animals.
The curious raccoon
These fearless raccoons looked very healthy, and were probably just curious for food or something. It was very strange. As we left the area, they were still following us along the towpath.
I’m not particularly afraid of raccoons, but about thirty percent of them are carriers of rabies, so it’s a high enough amount to merit being cautious.
We continued onward, and Brittany started feeling a bit better. At that point, we just started going super fast to get the hike done. She and I powered on ahead at a speed of at least 3.5 miles per hour, because we crossed over Rt 32 and passed through the long expanse of farms and generally more secluded stuff fast and reached Uhlerstown far faster than Cupcake and Shane.
Plates in Black Bass Inn
We stopped and thought about waiting for them for a little bit when we got to Uhlerstown at the old covered bridge over the canal, but then decided we could just go back to my car and come back for them much more quickly.
We followed the road back out to Rt 32, did a quick jog left and right to get across the bridge to Frenchtown, and quickly reached the Bridge Cafe.
We hopped in my car, drove out across the bridge, and backtracked to the covered bridge where Cupcake and Shane had just come out off of the towpath and onto the road. Cupcake was shocked we got back as quickly as we did.
I got everyone back to their cars, and despite any time we spent stopped, from swimming to the Black Bass Inn and such, we still ended up finishing only slightly later than normal time.
HAM
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