Riverfront Park/Floodgates Road – Greenwich Township, Gloucester County, NJ
Distance – 2 miles (total out-and-back)
Type – out-and-back
Difficulty: 1 of 10
Total score: 6 of 10
Website – None (*GASP*)
Open – Sunrise to Sunset.
Terrain – along the Delaware River and marshes
Surface – Flat, gravel road
Trailheads – 39°49’53.24″N, 75°19’54.37″W
Filed under Hiking, Outdoors., South Jersey, Wildlife.
So, a certain South Jersey hiking blog was written about on the front page of the South Jersey section of the Philadelphia Inquirer today.
“South Jersey man’s hiking blog has half million fans, and climbing”
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/new_jersey/south-jersey-mans-hiking-blog-has-half-million-fans-and-climbing-20170611.html
Big thank you to Kevin Riordan for taking interest in our little blog here, and for writing such a nice article about it! Big thank you to Kevin and Elizabeth (who managed to get nice pictures of me) for schlepping two miles through the woods with me last Thursday, and then still have nice things things to say!
And, of course, thank you to everyone who comes to read what I have to say about the dirt paths through the woods, meadows, marshes, and swamps of the greatest state in the Union, South Jersey.
Filed under Hiking, Outdoors., South Jersey
Scotland Run Park – Clayton , Gloucester County, NJ
Distance – Unknown miles of trails total ( we covered 2.8 miles by doing the outside loop behind the nature center, the Nature Trail, and the road walk to the boat ramp road, plus the distance between the trailheads).
Type – Loops/out-and-backs
Difficulty: 2 of 10 – trails unmarked
Total score: 5 of 10
Website – Gloucester County Parks
Open – Sunrise to Sunset.
Terrain – Lake, woods, fields
Surface – Part paved, part grass, part dirt
Trailheads – Nature Trail – 39°39’27.27″N, 75° 3’9.80″W
Trails behind Nature Center – 39°39’20.19″N, 75° 3’6.17″W
Road walk down to boat ramp (closed to traffic) – 39°39’27.09″N, 75° 3’7.11″W
Filed under Fishing, Hiking, Outdoors., South Jersey
Penbryn Wildlife Management Area Paddle – Winslow, Camden County, NJ
Distance: Aimless paddling on this good size lake racked up a mile of distance.
Type: Out and back
Difficulty: 1 of 10
Total score: 4 of 10
Note – You can also hike here, as previously covered
Website – Penbryn WMA
Open – Sunrise to Sunset.
Terrain – Lakeside
Boat ramp – 39°45’55.40″N, 74°56’10.49″W
Directions: Penbryn Road, Winslow, NJ (Note – in my GPS, it comes up as Berlin.) It’s just before the railroad track.
Parking: Roadside parking. If parking in the small pull off areas, be careful that you aren’t blocking the boat ramp.
Standouts – Nice views of the lake. Nice marsh at the back.
Map – Large map can be found at Penbryn WMA
Description: A few weeks ago, my Scouts had their weekly meeting, this week on how to use a canoe. Instead of practicing in a field, they decided to head to nearby Penbryn Lake to practice.
Well, sometimes you head out to teach the new Scouts how to paddle around a lake and stumble into a gorgeous sunset.
But first, the proprieties must be observed. There is a rough boat ramp (it drops off pretty quick) at the corner of the lake near to Penbryn Road. From here, you can head out to explore the lake by canoe, kayak, or boat. It’s not a huge lake, but its good for 45 minutes of exploring. Bring your fishing rod, this is a popular local spot to fish.
Okay, now the sunset pictures.
Thanks to NJ Monthly for including a version of this shot as their “Instagram Shot of the Week” in their weekly email newsletter!
Best meeting of the year.
Overall – Not worth driving huge distance to get here, but its a pretty little lake to canoe around. I’ve also hiked here (can do about a mile) and had a great time and The Pres’s very first time fishing was here too. Pretty sunset not guaranteed.
Filed under Canoeing, Fishing, Outdoors., pine barrens, South Jersey
Melvin and Florence Levin Nature Conservancy – Mt. Laurel, Burlington County, NJ
Distance – a little over 2 miles of trails (we did 2 1/4 miles with some backtrack and only missed one cut-through trail) total
Type – Loop with a cut-through and a spur
Difficulty: 1 of 10
Total score: 5 of 10
Website – None
Open – Sunrise to Sunset.
Terrain – woods and swamp with a bit of grassland
Surface – some parts are boardwalk, some parts crushed stone dust, and some parts grass and dirt (or in our case, mud. Thanks rain)
Trailheads – 39°56’51.50″N, 74°52’40.67″W – this is the main one off of the parking lot, although there are others along Hainsport-Mt Laurel Road, and along Hartford Road (this is the best spot to park)
Filed under Hiking, Outdoors., South Jersey
Mill Pond Trail – Port Republic Trail System – Port Republic, Atlantic County, NJ
Distance – 1.9 miles total (does not include the cut through, nor the access trail to get to other parts of the wider trail system)
Type – Loop
Difficulty: 2 of 10
Total score: 7 of 10
Website – Port Republic Trail System (Facebook page, no website)
Open – Sunrise to Sunset.
Terrain – pine forest with a bit of swamp
Surface – dirt
Trailheads – 39°30’39.03″N, 74°30’15.30″W
Filed under Hiking, Outdoors., pine barrens, South Jersey, Wildlife.
A. Jerome Walnut Nature Trail – Barnegat Light, Long Beach Island, Ocean County, NJ
Distance – 0.25 miles total (one way), but paths off this trail can greatly extend your hike (we did 1 1/2 miles and could have extended it more)
Type – U trail (ends do not connect, must backtrack or walk around the block)
Difficulty: 3 of 10 – sand can be such a pain to walk in.
Total score: 6 of 10
Website – None
Open – Sunrise to Sunset.
Terrain – dunes and beach
Surface – Boardwalk and loose sand
Trailheads – 39°45’12.95″N, 74° 6’20.78″W OR 39°45’10.43″N, 74° 6’23.32″W
Filed under Hiking, History, Outdoors., South Jersey
