We certainly have some challenging hikes in NJ, but you can easily modify trails to your time and physical restrictions.
One place to try that is not often crowded in the fall is Belleplain State Forest. This is a 21,320-acre New Jersey State Forest in northern Cape May County and eastern Cumberland County. It has many young pine, oak and Atlantic white cedar trees, having better soil than the northern Pine Barrens.
In 1933, three camps were set up by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Reforestation Relief Act, supplying labor to the forest for over an eight-year period. The CCC converted Meisle Cranberry Bog into Lake Nummy, a popular swimming, boating, and fishing area. They also constructed the original forest headquarters, maintenance building, a road system, bridges, and dams.
Belleplain State Forest offers several hikes of diverse difficulty. The Lake Nummy hike iis 7.2 miles (East Creek Trail). That may sound long but because it is mostly on flat, packed sand trails with little elevation changes, so it's like 5 miles in Northern NJ. You will traverse several long boardwalks over wet areas, and maybe even a few wet areas if we have had recent rain. The most dangerous section is probably a stretch along the shoulder of Rt. 347 for about .4 mile or so around the midpoint.
If you want to walk the Pinelands but need something shorter, you can stay around Lake Nummy and do less than a mile walk on the Nature Trail (.89m), Meisle (.61m), North Shore Trail (.72m) or Goosekill Trail (.28m).
You can also combine and edit trails. Use Sunset Rd and Tom Field to make a loop and you'll cut out the East Creek pond section and knock the longer hike down to about 4.5m
You can find maps online to print out or pick up a park map at the Forest Office or Interpretive Center at Lake Nummy if it is open. There are no park fees after Labor Day.
Take precautions for ticks on any hike. You don't have to be very far into the wild to encounter ticks.
MORE INFO
http://www.state.nj.us/dep/parksandforests/parks/belle.html
https://www.nynjtc.org/park/belleplain-state-forest
https://www.njhiking.com/nj-hikes-belleplain-state-forest/
Information and a trail map can be found in 50 Hikes in New Jersey and Hiking New Jersey.
No comments:
Post a Comment