2

cmwrdelawarebay44

Songbird Trail and Woodcock Trail – Cape May National Wildlife Refuge – Delaware Bay Unit – Middle Township (Cape May Courthouse), Cape May County, NJ
Distance – official is just over a mile, but my GPS said 1.5.
Type – Loop trail
Difficulty: 2 of 10
Total score: 4 of 10

Website – http://www.friendsofcapemayrefuge.org/
Open – Sunrise to Sunset.

Terrain – Meadows, woods, and marshland

Songbird Trail – 

Trailheads – Parking lot at Refuge Headquarters – 39° 5’58.64″N, 74°52’48.16″W
Trail parking lot – 39° 6’3.43″N, 74°52’53.89″W

Directions – 24 Kimbles Beach Rd, Middle Township, NJ 08210

Parking – Parking either at the refuge headquarters, or across the street and down 100 feet in the trail parking lot.

cmwrdelawarebaypark1
cmwrdelawarebaypark2

Markings – painted blazes, metal blazes, and trail signs.

cmwrdelawarebayblaze
cmwrdelawarebayblaze2

Map – cmwrdelawarebaymap

Description – As Day #2 of Hikesgiving arrived, we started a day of hiking getting warmed up on the Songbird Trail at the Delaware Bay Unit of the Cape May National Wildlife Refuge.  Tree Rider fell asleep in the car, so The Pres and I left him with The Wife and set off from the parking lot of the refuge headquarters.

cmwrdelawarebay01
cmwrdelawarebay02Heading in this direction, we immediately left the national wildlife refuge and ended up in the Hands Landing Preserve, which is owned by the Nature Conservancy, but has no online presence what-so-ever that I can find.  I knew the trail more or less followed the road, but there were a few times that a trail branched off deeper into the woods.  Some of those were even blazed, which made it confusing.

cmwrdelawarebay04
cmwrdelawarebay05
cmwrdelawarebay06
cmwrdelawarebay08
cmwrdelawarebay09
cmwrdelawarebay10

cmwrdelawarebay12
cmwrdelawarebay13
cmwrdelawarebay14
cmwrdelawarebay15
cmwrdelawarebay16
cmwrdelawarebay17
Eventually, the path keeps going straight, but the trail turns right, immediately reenters the national wildlife refuge, and quickly reaches the road.  The trail continues on the other side of the road.

cmwrdelawarebay18
cmwrdelawarebay19
cmwrdelawarebay20
On the other side, the trail follows what looks like an old road, then turns left into the woods, then quickly turns back to the right.  Pay very close attention to the blazes.  It then crosses a ditch on a few downed logs, although you could easily hop across here without any aid.

cmwrdelawarebay21

Go left.

Go left.

cmwrdelawarebay23
cmwrdelawarebay24
cmwrdelawarebay25
cmwrdelawarebay26
cmwrdelawarebay27

On the other side of the ditch, the trail heads out toward the edge of some marshland.  No clear views here, but a spot of mud, so keep an eye on the trail.  It meanders back around after a bit and then makes a sharp left onto what appears to be an old road or dirt track.

cmwrdelawarebay28
cmwrdelawarebay29

Turn left.

Turn left.

You’ll follow this nice, clear pathway dead straight until it meets up with the nature trail portion of the Songbird Trail, which is surfaced in crushed gravel.  This part of the trail is very easy to follow, and take a look at the information signs along the way explaining some of the plant life around you.  This trail will go all the way to the trailhead parking lot (NOT the refuge office lot that we started at).

cmwrdelawarebay31
cmwrdelawarebay32
cmwrdelawarebay33
cmwrdelawarebay34
cmwrdelawarebay35
cmwrdelawarebay36
cmwrdelawarebay37
Here, we met up with The Wife and Tree Rider, one of whom had woken up from his nap.  The trail runs into the parking lot, then leaves it past some shed-type buildings.  Follow along the clear, right-of-way until you’re close to the refuge office.  Then the trail turns toward the office, crosses a field, and then crosses the road back to where we started.

cmwrdelawarebay38
cmwrdelawarebay39
cmwrdelawarebay40
cmwrdelawarebay41
cmwrdelawarebay42
cmwrdelawarebay43

Nearby – Lizard Swamp Preserve is supposed to be really good!


Woodcock Trail –

Have not hiked yet!

Trailheads –  39° 5’38.19″N,  74°52’51.96″W

Directions – Woodcock Lane, Middle Township, NJ

Parking – Roadside parking

Standouts –N/A

Markings – N/A

Description – Have not hiked yet!

 




Warning: A non-numeric value encountered in /home/customer/www/southjerseytrails.org/public_html/wp-content/themes/engine/functions/reviews.php on line 338
The Good

Nice patch of woods, part of trail is well labeled nature trail.

The Could Be Better

Bugs can be a problem at times, trail is very near the road.

Ratings
Mike's Review
Your Reviews
Rate Here
Rating
4.0
Bottom Line

Nice little hike if you’re in the area, but there are nicer trails than the Songbird Trail near here that you can hike. If I did it again, I’d reverse the order and head across the street first.

4.0
Mike's Review
Your Reviews
You have rated this
About The Author
southjerseytrails
Just a man, his five small children, and the need to hike every single trail in South Jersey, maybe.
  • Jim Ryan
    December 12, 2015 at 1:42 am

    Looks like a nice little hike; I had never heard of this wildlife refuge before, but if I’m in the area again, I will give it a looking over!

    Been to Lizard Tail Swamp Preserve — it is indeed a nice preserve with decent trails. There are two marked trails: Yellow & Blue (Yellow is a loop trail, while the blue forms a 3/4-circle, where one end is near the preserve entrance, and the other end intersects with the Yellow Trail at some point in its loop.) Not sure of the distances, but the Yellow Trail is the longer of the two; perhaps 1.5 miles, while the Blue Trail is maybe 0.5 – 0.75 miles. (I didn’t have my smart phone just yet, so I didn’t have a reliable pedometer app to track the distances!) Both trails can be accessed near the entrance to the park; however, the Yellow Trail is much easier to spot. But make no mistake — both trails are worth checking out!

    Look forward to your (future) adventure at this preserve, and your eventual write-up on it!

    — Jim

Leave a Response

Rating