Dinosaur Trail – Allaire State Park – Wall Township, Monmouth County, NJ Distance – 0.75 out and back or 1.2 mile loop Type – Out-and-back or loop, part of a larger web of trails Difficulty: 1 of 10 (out-and-back) or 3 of 10 (loop)
NOTE – As of October 2022, many of the dinosaurs have, sadly, been destroyed. There is still some magic in the woods here, but it’s much diminished from the pictures from our first visit.Website – Allaire State Park Website or ExploreAllaire Open – Park closes at 8 p.m. Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day weekend; 6 p.m. after Labor Day; 4:30 p.m. in November; 6 p.m. in [...]
Union Transportation Trail – Upper Freehold Township, Monmouth County, NJ Distance – 9 miles total one way (we did 2 miles one way) Type – Out-and-back Difficulty: 1 of 10 Good for equestrians, hikers, walkers, joggers and bicyclists.
Website – https://www.monmouthcountyparks.com/page.aspx?ID=3777 Open – Park opens at 7 a.m. daily, year round. Closing time is 6 p.m. through February 11; 6:30 p.m. February 12-March 7; and 8 p.m. March 8-April 15.
Terrain – Woods, farms, and swamps Surface – Crushed gravel
Trailheads – Sharon Station Road parking lot (intersects with Herbert Road) – 40°12’21.73″N, [...]
Manasquan Reservoir County Park – Howell Township, Monmouth County, NJ Distance – 7.5 miles of trails total Type – Loops Difficulty: 1 of 10
Website – Monmouth County Parks Open – Park opens daily at 7 a.m. November 1-March 31 and 6 a.m. April 1-October 31. Closing time is 9 p.m. through August 19; 8:30 p.m. August 20-September 3; and 8 p.m. September 4-23.
Terrain – Lakeside woods and wetlands Surface – Crushed stone
Trailheads – 40°10’14.75″N, 74°12’18.52″W (this is the one that we used) 40°10’38.76″N, 74°13’14.19″W 40°10’50.47″N, [...]
Five years ago, I started a blog about hiking in South Jersey as an excuse to go exploring with my then one year old son. I expected maybe four people to ever read it, and that estimate included if my mom could figure out how to get to it to see pictures of her grandson (she hasn’t yet).
Five years (and two kids later), we’ve explored 166 trails in South Jersey and counting. We’ve made many new friends, been invited to part of some amazing experiences, and have had a total of ELEVEN people read our posts (okay, maybe more like fourteen people… wait, 700,000 hits so far!?).
So, in celebration of five years, we present the Top 20 Trails in South [...]
