Glassboro Wildlife Management Area – Clayton, NJ

Glassboro WMA – Clayton, Gloucester County, NJ
Distance –  unknown miles of trails, we did 3 miles out and back and barely scratched the surface
Type – a web of walkable dirt roads
Difficulty: 1 of 10

Website – Division of Fish & Wildlife
Open – Sunrise to Sunset.

Terrain – Woods, swamps
Surface – Dirt and sand

Trailheads – 39°40’25.48″N, 75° 3’13.81″W

Directions – Carpenter Ave and Fries Mills Road, Clayton, NJ.

Parking – We parked on Whitney Way, but looks like room for a few cars at Carpenter Ave.

Looks like room to park here…

But we parked across the street

Dog friendly? Yes, but be careful during hunting season
Stroller friendly? No
Benches? None
Facilities?: None

Rules –

*NOTE – as with all WMAs, this one is open to hunting in season.  Wear orange or, better yet, hike on Sundays when hunting is not allowed*

Markings – None
Map – No maps available, here’s our hike.  Lots of side trails not marked on this map.

Description –

On a fine, hot end-of-June day, we set out for a lovely hike at Camden County College Trails… which was closed for police training.  So a quick look at the map and fifteen minutes later we were at the Glassboro Wildlife Management Area in Clayton, NJ.  Yay!  We hoped the wide roads that could be hiked here would keep the ticks at bay (which worked!).

This WMA, like all New Jersey WMA’s, has no marked trails and no map.  BUT it has miles and miles and miles of old dirt roads to explore.  We headed up Carpenter Lane (closed to traffic when we were there, open to traffic during hunting season).

Now this road is about 2 1/2 miles long or so through the preserve, with many roads splitting off of it on either side.  So this isn’t the most exciting hike, as we mostly plodded up Carpenter Ave, enjoying the shade of the trees on a hot day.

Kite Flyer did a nice job hiking on the way out, stopping to dig in the dirt with sticks along the way.

Along the way, there are side roads to be explored.

Along the way, there were some swampy areas and streams.  Not sure how often these are here when we haven’t had Noah levels of rain.

Where did the giant rock come from in the middle of South Jersey?

We eventually decided to explore a side road, making a left and working our way around to a meadow.

At this point, we were a mile and half into our hike and decided to head back the way that we came.

Tree Rider decided that he’d like to take pictures, this was his best one –

Someone then decided that he wanted a ride.  He refused to take a turn carrying me later.  Thanks Kite Flyer.

We’d been seeing blueberry bushes along the way, but then The Pres stumbled onto one that had ripe berries.  The three boys went crazy, finding every ripe one that they could and devouring it.

Kite Flyer then insisted on walking again so that he could check EVERY SINGLE PLANT for blueberries the rest of the way.

Still, it was a nice, shady walk of three miles on a beautiful, clear day, and we really enjoyed ourselves.

Nearby: Scotland Run Park in Clayton is just down the street, with lots of trails.