Daniel Chazin - 50 Hikes in New Jersey

OTHER BOOKS IN THE 50 HIKES SERIES

50 Hikes on Michigan & Wisconsins North Country Trail

50 Hikes in the North Georgia Mountains

50 Hikes in Northern New Mexico

50 Hikes in Ohio

50 Hikes in Orange County

50 Hikes in the Ozarks

50 Hikes in South Carolina

50 Hikes in the Upper Hudson Valley

50 Hikes in Wisconsin

50 Hikes in the Berkshire Hills

50 Hikes in Alaskas Kenai Peninsula

50 Hikes in Coastal and Inland Maine

50 Hikes in Kentucky

50 Hikes in the Catskills

50 Hikes in Connecticut

50 Hikes in Central Florida

50 Hikes in the Sierra Nevada

50 Hikes in the Lower Hudson Valley

AN INVITATION TO THE READER

Over time trails can be rerouted and signs and landmarks altered. If you find that changes have occurred on the routes described in this book, please let us know so that corrections may be made in future editions. The author and publisher also welcome other comments and suggestions.

Address all correspondence to:

Editor, 50 Hikes Series

The Countryman Press

500 Fifth Avenue

New York, NY 10110

Copyright 2020, 2014 by New York-New Jersey Trail Conference, Inc.

Copyright 2006, 1997, 1988 by Bruce C. Scofield, Stella J. Green, and H. Neil Zimmerman.

Maps by Erin Greb Cartography and World Sites Atlas, The Countryman Press

All rights reserved

For information about permission to reproduce selections from this book, write to Permissions, The Countryman Press, 500 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10110

For information about special discounts for bulk purchases, please contact W. W. Norton Special Sales at specialsales@wwnorton.com or 800-233-4830

Series book design by Chris Welch

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available

The Countryman Press

www.countrymanpress.com

A division of W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.

500 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10110

www.wwnorton.com

978-1-68268-444-3 (pbk.)

978-1-68268-445-0 (ebk.)

Contents

C ontinuing to build on the foundation set by Stella Green, Bruce Scofield, and H. Neil Zimmerman, the authors of the first two editions of the book, this fifth edition incorporates many changes and enhancements. For this edition, I have added three completely new hikes to the book: Hike #2 (Blue Mountain Loop Trail); Hike #5 (Ramapo Valley County Reservation), and Hike #26 (Dismal Harmony Natural Area). In addition, many other hikes have been significantly revised and updated, and many new photos have been included.

My friends Ryan Chombok, Akiva Grimaldi, Devin McDermitt, Reuben ONeill, Benny Oppenheim, Shimon Oppenheim, Ariel Schwartz, Eitan Schwartz, and Matt Wikfors accompanied me on trips to check out some of the hikes in this book, for which I am grateful. For this edition, all of the photos used (except for the cover image) are my own.

Daniel Chazin

N ew Jersey boasts an abundance of fine hiking trails. The famous Appalachian Trail crosses the northern part of the state, as does most of the 150-mile Highlands Trail; the 60-mile Delaware & Raritan Canal State Park extends from New Brunswick to Raven Rock, north of Trenton; the 50-mile Batona Trail traverses the New Jersey Pinelands; and the Long Path commences its journey northward on the Palisades at the George Washington Bridge. Some trails are located on old roads and footpaths that existed prior to the acquisition of the land for public use, and some date back to the Depression and the days of the federally funded Civilian Conservation Corps, whose members built park and recreation facilities still used today. Many trails, including the Appalachian Trail, are maintained by volunteers, whose dedication is evidenced by the fresh paint marks, water bars, and trails cleared of blowdowns and other hazards.

Hiking in the Garden State is varied, from the flat sandy trails in the southern part of the state to the hilly and rocky highlands in the northern part. There are swamps, beach areas, woods, and grasslands. Nine-tenths of New Jersey borders water; of its 480 miles of boundary, all but 48 are along either the seacoast or a riverbed. Except for the northwest section, the typical New Jersey landscape is a low, flat plain filled with meandering streams; four-fifths of the state is no more than 400 feet above sea level, and most of it is less than 100. The highest point, in the northwest corner, is 1,803 feet above sea level.

LAKE RUTHERFORD

THE GEOLOGY AND TOPOGRAPHY OF NEW JERSEY

Geologists divide New Jersey into four primary provinces. In the northwest, running roughly southwest to northeast, is the Appalachian Ridge and Valley Province, containing the highest elevations in the state. Here, in what was once a major mountain range (since leveled by erosion), is a series of parallel valleys and ridges composed of faulted and folded Paleozoic (Cambrian to mid-Devonian) sandstones and conglomerates between 375 and 540 million years old. The mountains we see today are former marine basins of sandstone, shale, and limestone, tipped by the compression of moving continental plates, which have eroded at varying rates, creating a series of parallel ridges and shallow valleys. Hawk sightings along the main ridges are frequent during the fall migration. The Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, Worthington and Stokes State Forests, and High Point State Park together preserve nearly all the mountainous portions of this province. The Appalachian Trail follows the crest of the main ridge, the Kittatinny Mountains, for more than 40 miles on its way from Georgia to Maine. The hiking in this province can be challenging because of steep inclines and extremely rocky footing.

Southeast of the Ridge and Valley Province and paralleling it lies the New Jersey Highlands Province. This mountainous area is composed primarily of Precambrian gneisses, granites, and schists, which formed between 750 million and 1.3 billion years ago. These rocks were formed from high pressures and temperatures deep within the Earth. From a distance, the Highlands appear to be a mass of elevated land at a constant elevation. But the Highlands have a very rugged topography, with erratic and disconnected ridges and deep valleys between them. The elevations of the flat-topped summits typical of this province lie only a few hundred feet lower than those of the Kittatinny Mountains. The range extends north into New York State as the Hudson Highlands and south into Pennsylvania as the Reading Prong. Hikers will find not only more trails in this province than in any other in the state but also numerous lakes and reservoirs. The province includes Ramapo Mountain State Forest, Ramapo Valley County Reservation, Norvin Green State Forest, Ringwood State Park, Wawayanda State Park, and the vast holdings of the city of Newark, which supply drinking water to New Jerseys largest city. A number of other state and county parks and forests preserve segments of the natural features of the area.