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Amico Island County Park – Delran, Burlington County, NJ

Distance: 2 trail miles, can string together something slightly longer.  (We’ve done as little as 1 1/2 miles here and as much as 2.6 miles)
Type: Interlocking loops leading from one parking lot
Difficulty: 2 of 10 (The Pres rates it a difficulty of 10 of 10, but that’s because he has little toddler legs and doesn’t like to walk in the snow)
Updated – 12/26/21

Terrain – Beautiful woodlands on an “island” (Note: you’ll notice from the map it’s not really an island).

Trailheads – All trails lead from the parking lot at N40 02.264, W74 58.697

Parking – Good sized parking lot

Directions: 81 Norman Ave, Delran, NJ. Very close to Rt 130.

Hours: 8 AM to dusk.  Note – while many parks are a bit vague about “dusk”, Amico has posted signs about when it closes, plus a gate that locks and people that lock it.

Markings – Posts and paint marks.

Map?:

This map can be picked up many places around Burlington County. I got mine at the County Store in the Moorestown Mall.

This map can be picked up many places around Burlington County. I got mine at the County Store in the Moorestown Mall.  Click for a bigger image.

UPDATE – December 26, 2021 – We come here often enough that we have a “regular” route now, so figured close to 8 years and maybe a dozen visits meant I should update this page.  The story shall remain the same, any additional notes will be in brackets.  You’ll know the newer pictures because they won’t have a bunch of snow in them.

Description: Cabin fever, the promise of decent temperatures, and a crushing loss of the US hockey team to Canada drove us out for our first real hike of 2014.  The Pres and I decided to check out Amico Island County Park, which we had picked up a beautiful map of last Spring and hadn’t gotten to yet.

The good news was that it was already in the mid-40s, heading for the mid-50s.  The bad news…

"Why are we walking in this?"

“Why are we walking in this Dad?”

Nevertheless, we had an awesome two hours, just at a slower pace than usual (and the only time I’ve seen him hike without running).

Having picked up a beautiful map of the trails, I left it at home by mistake.  So we took a left onto the blue trail because that’s the direction a dog was heading (Needless to say, I didn’t pick the direction).  The blue trail weaves through marshier areas, mixed in with lovely clumps of trees.  You’ll have half a dozen stairs to climb at one point (or be carried up, if you’re so lucky).

Blue trail heads left!

Blue trail heads left!

Lovely marshier areas (no mosquitoes with the snow!)

Lovely marshier areas (no mosquitoes with the snow!)

Viewing area near here.

Bridge. The stairs are just after this.

Bridge. The stairs are just after this.

After the stairs, we quickly arrived at a point where you can walk out onto the shoreline to check out what’s going on.  This day, it was tons of birds hanging out on or next to the ice.  The only bird I could definitely identify was the seagull (The Pres’s favorite… he doesn’t get that from me), but those ones with the necks might be herons.  Or might not.  We spent a half hour or so here pointing and saying “dir-dee” over and over again.  Time well spent.

Plenty of stay pieces of when this island was not a peaceful county park.

Plenty of stay pieces of when this island was not a peaceful county park.

Dir-dees.

Dir-dees.

Definitely herons, there a rookery out there.



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Getting back on the trail, I figured it was around the corner to the parking lot.  My sense of directions today was as bad as my map-remembering skills.  It was time to give The Pres a lift, and we strolled down the snow covered trail, around a little cove, up on a bit of a ridge, past a pair of lovely overlooks complete with benches, and down a steeper hill than I expected on such a small peninsula.

Lovely little cove on the south end of the "island". The Talcony-Palmyra Bridge can be seen waaaay in the distance.

Lovely little cove on the south end of the “island”. The Talcony-Palmyra Bridge can be seen waaaay in the distance.

Down the hill!

Down the hill!  Mikaela Shiffrin took the gold, but The Pres and I put in a good showing. [This hill isn’t actually big, it was just slippery]

[Just past here, out “usual” route now takes us on an unofficial, but well traveled, trail out to the southwest point of the “island”.  It features a lovely view toward Philly.]

[You can hook around here to the picnic area and rejoin the Blue Trail, but we’ve had it flooded out with tides at times when we’ve tried it, so we usually just backtrack to the Blue Trail where we left it]

The blue trail finally hooks back toward the parking lot.  We stopped for a sit and a drink at the beach at this point, checking out more (but much further away) birdies.

Lovely little beach.

Lovely little beach.

Lovely little bench just above the lovely little beach. I wish we brought some sandwiches for this spot.

Lovely little bench just above the lovely little beach. I wish we brought some sandwiches for this spot.

After a while hanging out there, someone was really, really tired.  He fell half asleep on my shoulder as I carried him the rest of the way to the parking lot.  Along this stretch, the red trail split off twice (it’s a loop).  Somewhere off to our left, the yellow trail split from the red trail to take you to the northern-most part of the “island”, where Rancocas Creek comes in (that part is in hindsight, after checking out the map when we made it home).  Someday soon, we’ll be back to tackle those trails and see what the island looks like when it’s green.

Overall, it was a perfect day.

Until the USA lost to Finland in the Bronze medal game on the way home.  My radio is in pieces somewhere along Haddonfield Road as we speak.

THE ADVENTURE CONTINUES MANY YEARS LATER:

But of course we couldn’t not check out the rest of the island, which we’ve done a bunch of times now, just without updating the website.  We start back where the Red Trail leaves the Blue Trail near the center of the “island”.  We hook a left to check out the North part of the island.  The trail here first parallels the beach and then threads between the Delaware River and the lake on the northern part of Amico Island.

Beach view just off the Red Trail.

Found the lake… it’s nice.

We always stick on the Red Trail until the Yellow Trail splits to the left.  We then follow the Yellow Trail up to the northernmost point on the island, which offers a view of the mouth of Rancocas Creek.  The boys love the rocks that were stashed up here.

 

Made it!

The Yellow Trail then heads south, hooking around to meet back up with the Red Trail.  We make a left on the Red Trail, which takes you back to the junction right by the parking lot.  You’ll usually pass a lot of fishermen on this last stretch.

Finally, an assortment of fun pictures we’ve taken over the years!

Found balloons here two or three times as well.

Also check out about Amico Island:
South Jersey History & Adventures (aka Yummygal’s Blog) – great post with pictures without snow.  Also great historical information passed along from historian Paul Schopp.
Official Park Page

The Good

Beautiful views of the Delaware River, birds galore, deer (saw plenty of tracks, didn't see any live ones), picnic spots, and fishing.

The Could Be Better

Trash washed up in the park.

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Bottom Line

Beautiful park, we really never tire of coming here. It's great in any season.

Also, if you are a little too obsessed with hockey, make sure to become a Canadian citizen so you have a remote chance of seeing your team get a gold medal.

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About The Author
southjerseytrails
Just a man, his five small children, and the need to hike every single trail in South Jersey, maybe.
  • Mary Thompson
    March 22, 2014 at 6:45 pm

    MIKE Thanks for another great place to hike. We went to Amico Island today and enjoyed it very much.

  • April 25, 2014 at 1:50 pm

    Thank you so much for this blog! I have been looking for a site like this for months!! We stopped at amico island on our way back home from pennington park today and have decided to return tomorrow morning for a little hike!

  • October 4, 2016 at 1:16 pm

    I discovered Amico Island a couple weekends ago and feel like it’s a hidden gem. I will be taking my family back there for family pictures in a month or so.

  • Bev Parada
    September 5, 2017 at 11:18 am
    The Good

    Easy walking, nice viewing spots for the Delaware River and Rancocas Creek, benches to rest on, lovely beachy area, easy to get to, restroom facility (port-a-pot), good parking, free, nice trails.

    The Could Be Better

    A dedicated restroom facility (hate port-a-pots), some litter along the trails but not bad

    Rating
    Rating9

    We just found this treasure yesterday! Had an awesome time “hiking” (walking with style) these trails. There were many good places to stop and enjoy the views of the river, and benches to rest on if needed. We will definitely be back as the leaves turn color! This place has just made our top five. 🙂

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