Liberty Water Gap and other Trail Maps

A comment on my post about the Lenape and Liberty Water Gap Trails asked:

I've been looking for a detailed map of the Liberty Water Gap Trail and can't seem to find one anywhere. Their website, LibertyWaterGap.org, doesn't exist anymore, and Google searches only bring me to NJ.com articles from 2011. Hopefully you are able to help me or point me in the right direction for information.

Here are a few suggestions for that area. If any readers know of other sources, please share in a comment below.

I like holding a map in my hands on a trail and the NY NJ Trail Conference offers NYNJTC maps and the Water Gap is included in their Kittatinny Trails map.

You can also find a number of maps of that area from Amazon.

The Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area (National Park Service New Jersey/Pennsylvania) offers a free pdf format set of trail maps in the area.

There are a number of maps at npmaps.com/delaware-water-gap/ 

Personally, I wouldn't rely on Google Maps for a hike, but their maps and the Google Earth view does give a pretty good sense of the area.

Liberty Water Gap Trail

The Liberty Water Gap Trail is a work-in-progress in New Jersey. It's a unique trail in that it connects two national landmarks at each end: the Delaware Water Gap at the Delaware River and the Statue of Liberty at the Hudson River - and it passes through a third, the Morristown National Historical Park.

It can be seen as a 130 mile "linear park" that runs the width of New Jersey that gives you a cross-section of forest, rural, suburban, and urban life across our state.

There are six distinct trail segments:

1. Hudson River Waterfront Walkway - Liberty State Park, Jersey City
2. East Coast Greenway - Jersey City to Newark
3. Lenape Trail - Essex County
4. Patriots' Path - Morris County
5. Sussex Branch Trail - Sussex County
6. Paulinskill Valley Trail - Sussex & Warren Counties

The idea for the trail originated with the indefatigable Al Kent back in 1999 who wanted to link trails in the state and create the first walking path across New Jersey.

My own hiking days have greatly diminished and my dream of walking the entire Appalachian Trail are pretty much gone - but I think this trail is still a possibility.

A reporter, Brian Kladko, did it in 2002 and wrote about it in The Record. I saved the series of articles and I have penciled the trail in on the retirement list.

Trail Marker

http://www.libertygap.org

NJ's Lenape and Liberty Water Gap Trails Presentation

Steve Marano, director of the Liberty Water Gap Trail Committee, and Ed Goodell, executive director of the New York-New Jersey Trail Conference, will talk about the importance of Essex County’s Lenape Trail to the completion of the Liberty Water Gap Trail.

The Lenape trail links together nearly all of Essex County’s parks from Newark to Roseland.

The Water Gap Trail is a 130-mile path from Liberty State Park to the Delaware Water Gap.

The free program is a special presentation on Tuesday night, May 18, 2010 at the Essex County Environmental Center at 7 p.m.   For information, call 973-228-8776.