Hike #1442; Belfast and Wind Gap Loop

 

Hike #1442: 9/30/21 Belfast and Wind Gap Loop with Jillane Becker and Everen

This next one would be another mid week day off hike with my son and Jillane, this time a loop I had done in the past both with her and with the rest of the group between Wind Gap and Belfast. I chose the commuter parking area in Belfast directly off of Route 33 for the starting point on this one.

My plan was to head directly to the west on Henry Road, underneath Route 33, to get to the trails of Jacobsburg Environmental Education Center.

I have loved this park ever since the first time I explored it, which was a solo trip on one of those weekends many years ago when no one showed up for a hike, prior to 2004. The place had amazing trails, which I utilized for both day and night hikes over the years. Further, it was great for places to take a dip. As the trail system was further developed, I was able to concoct new hikes that would be longer loops right out of the location. The park and ride off of Rt 33 was in the perfect location where everyone could go, but we wouldn't have any trouble parking anywhere after dark. This was like it was set up specifically for me.

A good amount of what is now Jacobsburg Environmental Education Center was once the gun factory lands of the Henry Family.

William Henry II established his gun manufacturing facility in 1792 in Jacobsburg, having moved from nearby Nazareth. A forge was constructed at the site for this purpose.

Henry Rifles were once a huge deal. They played major roles in the War of 1812 and skirmishes to follow. The needs for guns grew with the Civil War, and three generations of the Henry family operated the business at Jacobsburg. The business grew, and by the end of the 1700s, the operations moved downstream along the Bushkill Creek from Jacobsburg to Boulton.

We headed from the Rt 33 underpass, and a trail passes along the right side of the road, which we used to get to an old building an the first of the trails through the area.

We passed through a parking area, and then turned to the right on the connection to Henry's Woods Trail. The trail passes through the woods and soon meets the mill race that served the factory. A trail to the let leads out over a foot bridge and past the dam site, then to the Boulton Historic Site with all of the old buildings and homestead, but we didn't go over there this time. My plan was to follow more strictly the stuff that was very easy to do with the stroller. Henry's Woods Trail has branches that go on both the lower section on the east side of the Bushkill, and the upper with steep foot path stuff and cliffs above that creek. The lower trail also has terrific accesses down into the creek so that children can enjoy it better. One day I know I'll bring my son there when he's old enough to do so.

We followed along the trail to the north for a bit, and eventually came out to the foot bridge over the Bushkill and to another parking area on Belfast Road.

We passed through the parking area to the left, and then continued on the path that led to the rather new visitor center on the west side of the road ahead. Across the street from there and into the woods is the original Henry forge, rather hidden from sight most of the year. We continued past the visitor center which I don't believe was yet open due to pandemic stuff, and continued on the Homestead Trail which goes into woods parallel with Belfast Road.

The visitor center had a lovely pollinator garden out front of it, which is something growing in popularity in a lot of park places. We continued through on the Homestead Trail until it reached an intersection; to the left it went up along a power line, and to the right it led down to the intersection of Jacobsburg Road and Belfast Road. We turned onto Jacobsburg Road and followed it over the bridge across the Bushkill, then turned to the left at the intersection with State Park Road onto a trail, which follows the abandoned former continuation of State Park Road to the west.

The road was probably a continuation of Douglasville Road originally, but I'm not totally sure. We followed the trail to the west a bit, and passed by a spot where there was a lot of water from a stream flowing over the trail and a pipe beneath that was completely clogged. There was also the bridge over the Sober's Run along the way, and there were to guys working on that, one of them with a machine clearing stuff out down by the base of the bridge. I had thought that they would have it blocked off and we'd have to find another way around, but fortunately we were able to walk right on through with no issue.

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We continued on the old road route until we came to the old Nazareth Branch of the Lehigh and New England Railroad.
This branch of the line broke away from the main line at a junction point in a place known as Rismiller, just to the west of Wind Gap. Most of the main line was built by 1888, and abandoned in 1961, the second major railroad in America (after the O&W) to abandon in one day, but this branch, built in 1898, was abandoned in 1939.
The route was the subject of my hikes many times in the past, and when I first started trying to trace it, the only portion that was public trail was the part in Jacobsburg, part of Sober's Run Loop Trail. 

The rest of it was mostly just a power line right of way and hardly anyone would have known it was once a railroad. Several years ago, they finally turned much of it to the north into a trail.

We turned to the right on the railroad bed, which goes through a well shaded and pretty section of the environmental education center. 

The route goes along the Sobers Run pretty closely at times making for nice ambiance.
Sometimes, the outline of the old railroad ties can be seen in the crushed stone surface that was added to the right of way so many years later.
We continued on this across a power line clearing, and then out to Belfast Road gain.
From this point, the somewhat newer sections of trail continue to the north. It parallels Keller Road briefly, and then joins with the power line clearing.

For the past few years, I wondered what the official name for the trail would be, with hopes that they would through Lehigh and New England in there somewhere.

This time was the first that I actually noted signs on it, calling it the Bushkill Township Trail.
When I first hiked this, there were bridges missing over little tributaries on this. Now, those bridges are completely covered over in weeds, and the trail bypasses them to the right. We used to do running jumps to get across the spots.
One of the most unique features of this entire section was the old power lines.
These old lines were a simple angle iron composition. Every so many of them were four legged structures for bracing, and then the next several would be simply two legged, relying on the bracing from the stronger ones but still providing enough individually.

It was said that these power lines were built by the Lehigh Navigation Electric Company in the 1910s, but I don't know anything about it or if it has any relation to the canal or anything. 

It appears that these power lines are now completely defunct. I thought that maybe they would upgrade them to the big iron lady style or the new straight poles, but it looks like they're coming down.

Jillane noticed the first one laying completely bent over on itself. I at first assumed that the wind must have taken this one down. 

After seeing a couple of them down, I changed my mind; these must have been taken to the ground with a machine.
Probably the next time we go out that way, they might be missing entirely. I'm glad we got to see them at this point before they're gone.
Another interesting thing we came across, which Jillane noticed first also, was a ton of grapes. I think she actually smelled them before we saw them.
To the right side of the trail, on vines that were hanging quite low, there were tons of dark concord type grapes. 

These were Vitis rotundifolia, or Wild Grapes, and some of the best I've ever had. They were the best wild variety I have ever had actually.
As if that were not enough, the things were growing side by side with a Mayhaw tree.
We had just found a Mayhaw and Jillane was really excited about it, when we were on the Great Allegheny Passage the week before. 
These trees are typically found in the southeastern United States, but clearly we have more of them around than I had considered before, and we probably have looked at them many times and not noticed them. Since finding this second one close to home, I have found several more as well.

We crossed another power line along the railroad bed, and then came out to Kromer Road. The trail continues to the north from here, but my plan was to head east because it's a nice, lightly traveled road and leads to another park.
There is a really pretty farm pond right about where the trail crosses the road on private property to the right.
We crossed over Sobers Run on the road bridge next to a nice little farm, and then continued to the east on the road, to the entrance to Ballas Park.
I had hiked Ballas Park many times at this point, but the problem was I had never seen it once in the daylight. It was all part of night hikes.
These were all really great, and one time had billions of lightning bugs, but I still wanted to see it in the daylight. 

We soon reached Ballas Park and turned to the left into it. There is another pretty little pond to the right heading into that as well.
The trail in the park makes a large loop, and my plan was to head through and exit from the park at the northeast side. Jillane decided she was going to take the short way around.

Ev and I turned to the left with the stroller, and went around the park the long way to the west.

It was very beautiful with the cloud forms at the time. The lighting was great. Jillane went around the east side just a bit, and rather than follow the crushed stone path around the outside, she went through to the middle where there was a little circle with benches.

We continued to th enortheast side of this park area on the crushed stone trail after we got back together, and I had spotted what appeared to be a mowed trail leaving that edge of the park and heading into the mowed lawn of Colonial Academy, which is some sort of school.
The path was there, and it worked perfectly. I wish I had known of this way through when I was doing this as night hikes.
We walked along the front of the school from there directly, and then continued through its fields directly parallel with Jacobsburg Road. We continued then through more parking lots of some sort of medical facility.

We soon crossed over Jacobsburg Road and then walked through a bank parking lot. At the east end of that, we went down a grassy slope directly to Route 512 and turned right.

We passed beneath Route 33 here, and then very carefully sped by the on ramps to the highway. Just past those on ramps was a Taco Bell that had just opened, and I don't believe I had patronized it yet. This was the perfect opportunity to do so.

The place still did not have indoor seating. I was able to go inside to order the food, but they had some chairs and such set up outside that we used to eat.
I am quite certain I got a steak quesarito or a concoction that was almost like one special ordered.
Once we were finished here, we crossed over Sullivan Trail and then turned left to continue on Rt 512 to the north a bit.
We continued north and turned to the right on A Street. This took us into a development a bit, and then we turned to the left on Oak Street and continued for a few blocks through a development. This brought us to East 3rd Street directly across from Wind Gap Park.

We entered the park on the gravel service road and started walking north. I'd gone through this way before several times.
We continued straight ahead with the playgrounds to the left, then went steeply down hill, not on any formal trail, and soon skirted the right side of a couple of baseball fields.
At the end of the baseball fields, we continued through on a gravel lane to the north.
Since the time of this hike, I believe that gravel lane has been paved. I drove by it once.
We soon came out to E West Street. On previous hikes, we had done this loop backwards, and we had come from the right. This time, we didn't go to the right at all, but rather straight on Fairview Street.

E West Avenue is on or next to the right of way of the old Wind Gap Branch of the Lackawanna Railroad, which we had traced in some capacity on a couple of occasions to the east of here.

We didn't even see down that way at all, but there was soon, if not already by this time, a trail built on or next to the old Lackawanna branch to the east, adjacent to a new development that got built along some of the former slate quarry lands.
This time, we just went straight on Fairview, which kind of turned somewhat to the right after a few blocks, and then out to Alpha Road.
We crossed and cut a corner through some lawn out to Rt 512 again. There was a Sunoco Station across the street from here, so I stopped for some snacks and drinks before we moved further on.

Directly behind that service station at that intersection was the former Lehigh and New England Railroad. This was actually its predecessor line that built there, and then they later moved to a competitor line slightly further to the north as their main line. This one closer to 512 remained in service for the southbound junctions such as the aforementioned one in Rismiller.

I think this time we turned right on Glass Street after continuing on 512 for a bit longer. There is a little side path off of Glass Street that leads directly to, rather than going up to the start of the Plainfield Township Rail Trail. It's only slightly weedy and I recall it going fine.

The trail skirts along quarry lands rather than a rail bed for the first bit of it, behind houses, and then past some giant slate counterweight slabs that are still sat along the edge of the trail, which is likely a former quarry road.
Just before reaching the Plainfield Township Rail Trail, which follows a branch of the Bangor and Portland Railroad, later part of the Lackawanna, we crossed the Wind Gap Branch, which still has all of its ties in place at this point, which later runs along E West Street further to the west. 
The rail bed is in a cut at first, and springs all around are some of the headwaters of the Little Bushkill.
The Little Bushkill originates in this area of slate quarries that are all in close proximity to the rail bed at first. The small flows and springs come out and line the edge of the right of way.
Soon, we crossed Grand Central Road, and some farm lands began coming in to view. The trail is a good mix of woods and pastoral settings most of the way.
We crossed Delabole Road, soon followed by Gum Road, and then Merwarth Road where there was some trail parking to the left.

After a short break, we continued south and crossed Getz Road. We then had a long stretch and crossed Jones Hill Road.
Soon after that, we went beneath Route 191 where there was once a grade crossing. I think I might have taken a dip in the creek there, because I often do under the bridge, but I just don't remember.
We continued walking from there over where the road used to go, and then closer to the Little Bushkill Creek again.
It was starting to get pretty dark by the time we got to this point. The days were getting shorter all the time, and when I hike with Jillane, we always start pretty late, like no earlier than 11 am.
We continued ahead and crossed over Engler Road, and then we usually continue south just a bit more to the crossing with Gall Road and follow it up to Belfast.

I seem to recall we did something a bit differently this time instead of taking Gall Road.

I actually don't remember exactly what we did there, but I think we turned to the right on Engler Road when we got to it.
This would have taken us out to Rt 191. I remember walking along the shoulder of the road heading south, and then through parking lots in the dark.
I remember there being no good shoulder at first. Jillane must have wanted to walk the highway thinking it was quicker or something, because I don't think I would have made that decision.
Pretty soon there was a long parking lot and some sort of warehouse or some other buildings along the right side of the road. We ascended to the lot, and then started following that parallel with Rt 191.

This access road turned slightly away from Rt 191 toward its main access point on Belfast Road, and so we used that route to get back out to that road and then turned to the right.
We followed Belfast Road out to the little settlement of Belfast, across from Miguel's Restaurant, formerly the old Belfast Hotel, and continued straight.

Just a little ways further down, Henry Road went off to the left, and a short distance down that was where we got back to where we were parked to finish the hike.
I really love all of this hike except for the part with the road walking on Belfast Road near the end, but that's not really that bad.
I could see doing this hike over and over again, just because it's so enjoyable, and I foresee bringing Ev on it again in the future.