Kinkora Trail – Columbus, NJ

Kinkora Trail – Columbus, Burlington County, NJ
Distance – 2.2 miles total (one way on an out-and-back)
Type – out-and-back
Difficulty:  1 of 10

Website – Kinkora Trail
Open – Sunrise to Sunset.

Terrain – Farmland, grassland, and forest
Surface – Paved

Trailheads –  40° 4’20.69″N,  74°42’52.99″W – Township Park
40° 3’34.59″N, 74°42’5.91″W – Island Road (No parking)

Directions – 190 Atlantic Ave, Columbus NJ 08022 or just around the corner on East Maine Street, Columbus, NJ (we parked in the lot off of East Main Street)

Parking – Large lot

Dog friendly? Yes, if leashed
Stroller friendly? Very
Benches? Two or three scattered along the trail

Facilities?: Bathrooms there for the baseball fields, but aren’t always open

Markings – None, but paved trail, so easy to follow
Map –

Description –

So, Mrs. South Jersey Trails is working in July, which means that DADDY GETS ALL THE BOYS!  Thus, our semi-annual, DADDY CAMP is now open for business!  On a fine, warm day (alright, in the middle of the first bad heat wave of the summer), The Pres, Tree Rider, Kite Flyer, and I hopped on the camp bus (okay, the family van) and headed out for a day of sweating like crazy.  I mean, hiking.  Definitely hiking.  So began Day 2 of Daddy Camp.

We started at the parking lot at Mansfield Community Park.  We put Kite Flyer in the stroller (my first stroller hike!  So glad I didn’t carry him this hike), walked around the baseball field, admired the farm machinery at work, and headed off down the trail.

The trail curved around and passed a lovely area of flowers before moving under the shade of the trees.

The trail crossed a small creek, came out of the woods, and began to pass a nice farm.  We admired the view from a picnic table before pushing on.

Aren’t they cute?

Totally normal trail sign.

Can see the turn for the picnic table up ahead.

---

---

We adventured onward through the trees until we crossed another bridge, which put us out in the very, very, very, very warm sun.

A fine, large tree.

We hit a small area of shade before heading back out into the sun.  Luckily, the heat was lessened by the beautiful farm views.  We crossed a creek to turn the corner, and kept walking until we reached the end of the trail at Skunk Island Road.

At the end of the trail, we sat down to eat a snack and drink a whole lot of water (fun part of bringing stroller… super easy to carry lots of water).  A gentleman walked by and we had a fun talk about driving on road trips while the kids ate their snack.

Now, just so everyone knows, while this is the end of the trail, it isn’t really the end of the trail.  According to the Circuit Trails, this trail will eventually stretch 13 miles, so if you turn right here and walk a mile down the road, you can pick up another half mile of this trail at Veteran’s Park in Springfield.  More segments are being planned, but do not yet have funding.

So we turned back and sweated our way back to the shady part of the trail, which we enjoyed all the way back to the car for a total of 4.4 warm miles.

Nearby:
Crystal Lake Park in Mansfield is not far away, nor is Assiscunk Creek Park in Burlington.