Bishop Farmstead Walking Trail – Southampton, NJ

Bishop Farmstead Walking Trail- Pinelands Preservation Alliance Headquarters- Southampton, Burlington County, NJ
Distance: 0.6 miles
Type: Loop
Difficulty: 1 of 10

Website – Pinelands Preservation Alliance
Open – The Pinelands Visitor Center is open Monday – Friday, from 10:00 am – 4:00 pm. Call ahead for seasonal weekend hours

Terrain – meadow

Trailheads –  39°56’25.88″N,  74°44’47.55″W – at the back of the parking area.

Directions: Located at 17 Pemberton Road, Southampton, NJ

Parking: Large lot between the Visitor’s Center and the walking trail.

Markings – None, pat is marked by a mown path in a field.

Map –

Description: It was a beautiful day today, so the boys and I jumped in the car, picked up my dad, and headed out to Southampton to check out the Pinelands Preservation Alliance’s Pinelands Visitor Center.  We checked out the store, which has a super impressive array of South Jersey and pine barrens books for sale, then hiked the walking trail, which starts at the back of the parking lot.

Starting at the back of the parking lot.

The trail is very easy to follow, just walk along the mown area at the edge of the field.  Keep an eye out for birds and enjoy the views of the nearby farms (to the left of the trail) and the meadows (to the right of the trail).  This will take up the first three sides of the trail.

Bees!

Granddad walking with Tree Rider. The little guy made it about a hundred yard, his longest hike to date!

The inner part of the track approaches the old Bishop farmhouse, built way back in 1753.  It stays along the field, going past the pond and around the barn (built 1932)  before coming back to the corner where we started.

Done!

Of course, it would be silly to just walk the field.  Make sure to check out the pond next to the barn…

… the native plants garden…


… and of course the store inside the Bishop farmhouse…

Back of the house.

Go around the front to the entrance.

Inside, you’ll find more South Jersey books than you can shake a stick at, a lot of informational brochures, and a database of activities to do in the area.  Just be careful, because some of the employees there are a little scary.

Okay, a lot scary. A whole lot scary.