So the newest issue of New Jersey Monthly Magazine just hit the magazine racks, and the cover story is ALL about hiking and biking all over New Jersey. The cover article is totally worth the read, and having done all 12 of the trails in South Jersey that are mentioned, I vouch that they are all great. So totally get a copy.
Wait, what’s this? An article on backpacking on the Mullica River Trail? Yes, writer Nick DiUlio and a buddy backpacked that lovely 9.5 mile trail, enjoying this backpacking gem out in the pine barrens, and then wrote a lovely little article about their adventure. Loyal readers may remember that this was the first trail the Pres ever backpacked, completing it with Daddy and Uncle Skunk when he was three.
Wait? Who is that being quoted in the article (and sounding much more intelligent that I do in real life)? It’s me! Yay! Nick was kind enough to reach out to me to talk about the Mullica River Trail, and I was happy to yammer at him for 40 minutes on the phone. I have a quote or two in the article, and Nick was even nice enough to put our web address in the article. Because he’s awesome.
You can read the article here, but you should totally put up the $5 for the paper copy, because I am old fashioned and paper copies are awesome.
In conclusion – buy magazine, Nick is awesome (thanks Nick!), and to be a professional writer I need to stop working in stupid puns, focus when writing, and not write statements like “Yay!” in articles. And definitely do not use fragments in my writing. Or repeat myself. Or repeat myself.
Don’t know where to get a copy? Just go to Barnes & Noble in Marlton, which is where my wife picked up a copy to surprise me with. Or, you know, any of a variety of stores all over New Jersey that stock fine magazines.
Hey there.. I moved back to South Jersey nearly two years ago and love your website and emails! Yesterday, I was reaching the former Sally Starr properties.. remembering a great time of drinking beer and guitars in my teens (1970s). I googled it and found your article, but I am wondering if you can tell me the exact address so I could visit. I can tell it is near Black Run Preserve, where I hike often. Thank you for your time.. no rush! God bless you! And if you ever need any help with proofreading or writing a book or something, you could keep me in mind. I was a journalist for a decade (in NJ) and have been a high school English teacher since then. In addition, I have been a public relations account executive at an agency and taught as an adjunct at Brookdale Community College in Monmouth County. There would be no fee… just offering as a volunteer and fellow hiker. Currently, I serve as the librarian (teacher in charge) and an English specialist at Winslow High School. God bless you! Alice Gallagher
Hi Alice!
Sally Starr’s was located on Dutchtown Rd in Voorhees and used to be a pseudo-public park. Sadly, it was bought out seven or eight years ago by Virtua Hospital and is now private property patrolled by the hospital security.
We actually have a big update on that article coming at some point (we met up with a fellow who was an MC there in the ’70s, have acquired some old pictures of the area from the original owners, and we acquired some of the property records). Would you be willing to meet up at some point and talk about your memories of the place?
Appreciate the offer to help if we take on a book project, we just might take you up on that!
Awesome news!
Hi! I read about the new NJ Monthly magazine about hiking in NJ but I’m wondering if you know / can recommend any of the parks, trails, or campsites allow dogs?
Hi Jess! Plenty of parks out there that allow dogs. If you let me know roughly which counties are close to you, I’d be happy to either recommend some (if you are Camden, Burlington, or Gloucester County) or put it out on our Facebook group if you are a bit further off.
As for pet friendly camping, the State of New Jersey has made a handy list of which state park campground allow dog camping-
http://www.state.nj.us/dep/parksandforests/parks/pet_friendly_camping.html
Thanks for the link! I’ll have to take a look at where some of those parks are that they reference. I’m located in Monmouth County but open for suggestions anywhere within a 2hr-ish drive.
Awesome! You have a ton of options then!
Ocean County – all their parks are open to dogs that are leashed and cleaned up after. Some really nice ones-
Jake’s Branch Park – https://southjerseytrails.org/2016/05/11/jakes-branch-park/
Wells Mills- https://southjerseytrails.org/2016/01/16/wellsmills/
Cloverdale- https://southjerseytrails.org/2017/01/16/cloverdalefarm/
Pine barrens – all of the state parks are open to dogs.
Batona Trail (Carranza to Apple Pie Hill – Wharton SF) – https://southjerseytrails.org/2013/03/25/batona-trail-carranza-memorial-to-apple-pie-hill-tabernacle-nj/
Mount Misery Trail (Brendan Bryne SF) – https://southjerseytrails.org/2015/04/30/mtmiserytrail/ – the Cranberry Trail there is also great, but much shorter.
Monmouth County –
Allaire State Park – http://www.state.nj.us/dep/parksandforests/parks/allaire.html
Monmouth State Park – http://www.state.nj.us/dep/parksandforests/parks/monbat.html
That should give you a pretty good start! You can also check our hike list (broken down by county). For each hike, I start listing whether the hike is dog friendly or not, although I haven’t been able to backtrack and do all of the hikes before I started checking for that specifically. Hope this helped!
Awesome! I love love love Allaire State Park. Both for hiking/rucking and mountain biking. I’ll have to check out the ones you suggested. I’ll be up at Hudson Highlands in NY on Saturday for the Breakneck Point Race [read: 21k w/ 4k elevation gain “hike” for me] on Saturday so I’ll likely be looking for something flat on Sunday for recovery ;). And, after 3 stops today, I was finally able to grab a copy of the NJ Monthly mag, excited to flip through it.
One last thing! I have never used this book, but my mother-in-law loves the Delaware and Pennsylvania editions. Might be of some help! Looks like used copies are only a bit more than $5, or a local library might have a copy.
https://www.amazon.com/Best-Hikes-Dogs-New-Jersey/dp/1594850038