Hamburg Mountain Wildlife Management Area

Hamburg Mountain Wildlife Management Area (7/5/2010)

This is the hike #9 ("Hamburg Mountain WMA") in the book 24 Great Rail-Trails of New Jersey. Today was a scorcher, the second day in a row with temperatures in the 90s in New Jersey (with more to come). But it was a national holiday (Independence Day), so we just had to hit the trails for the second time this weekend. But I chose something basically flat and in dense tree coverage. This out-and-back rail trail was perfect. We logged 5.5 miles in less than 3 hours and the temperature stayed below 90 F until we were finished. I'm sure it didn't get above 80 on the trail, especially with an almost continuous cool breeze blowing down the railroad corridor.

This delightful little rail trail (2.7 miles end to end) offered more than I expected. It has one of the most impressive rock cuts I've seen in the area, a fun sinkhole that we had to negotiate around twice (it's probably new, since the book doesn't mention it), ruins of railroad walls, stone piers and the foundation of a water tower. There's even two nice viewpoints, the first up a steep, sandy, slippery unmarked path (not mentioned in the book) where one finds a rope tied to a tree to help the curious hiker, and the second in a powerline cut where one can apparently see the High Point monument on a clear day. Today was a clear day but the humidity in the air obstructed the view.

(Click on the thumbnail to bring up a bigger image in a pop-up window)