Horseshoe Bend Park



Horseshoe Bend Park (5/3/2014)

Last month my friends Daniela and Shawnee found this brand new gem in Hunterdon County near Frenchtown. Currently there are at least seven miles worth of trails with plans to blaze more in adjacent tracts of land. Today we followed Daniela's track, except we skipped the out-and-back along the trail currently under construction, which was apparently still littered with blow-downs.

Using this map we parked at the southern parking lot and headed west to the stream taking the trail along the stream north until we reached the White trail which we took east to the 0.3 mile mark where we crossed the stream and continued north along Orange. This segment is a bit confusing because there are no blazes and at times (if the farmer's dogs are out in the yard barking their heads off, like today) you feel as if you are trespassing. Just stay outside the fence of the farm and all is well. You may even get a group of goats following you from the other side of the fence, and pass a horse and a pig so busy eating he doesn't even notice you at all.

We continued following the path around the perimeter of the field. The map actually shows an Orange path here between mile markers 0.3 and 1.2 but there are no orange blazes nor mile markers on the actual path and the path isn't even mowed in the segment between 0.4 and 0.5. Just stay to the left of the fence and road and you're on the path. At about 1.2 the orange blazes once again begin, and the mile markers, so you will know exactly where you are. We continued on Orange until the end, at the park road (just after 2.6). Then we continued on White west, then north, making a sharp left to skirt another field on an unblazed trail back south all the way back to the car (the map shows two loops unconnected but they actually are connected). Our track is highlighted in yellow here.

Total distance hiked today was 4.2 miles in just over 2.5 hours.

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


Trailhead

Heading west...

...and down

Our return path


Green stink bug

Photographing the stream

Fiddlehead fern

 

Eastern Towhee


Stream parallels...

...the trail
 


Muddy in parts

White mile marker

A very wet White

Wildflowers
 


Wildflowers along bank


Crossing Burke's Run

On Orange north of the run
 


Very interesting stream bed

Climbing on Orange


 


Horse on farm

Pig on farm

Trail skirts the property fence

Pig oblivious to us
 


Tree Swallow staring contest

View south from top

Heading east past...

...hunting blind?
 


Farmer's goats

Tree Swallow

The goats follow Laura

View to hills west
 


View to farms north


American Kestrel

Mockingbird
 


Hills and barn north

Hills north

Descending back into woods

View to powerline cut north
 


Hovering Kestrel

View to...

...houses north

Old fence post
 


Steep descent...

...on slippery slate

Descending to...

...Burke's Run
 


Laura crossing Burke's Run

Moth

Orange mile marker

Crossing shallow stream
 


A critter track

Shallow stream on slate

Overhead

Continuing east on Orange
 


Fence lines the trail

Inviting path

New bridge

And a nice...
 


...new boardwalk

Wildflowers

An elusive cardinal

 


Hunting blind

Another shorter boardwalk


Heading west on Orange
 


Kiosk on park road

Large white blazes

On White before stables

 


Open fields west



Heading south
 


Kiosk...

...back at car

Brown-headed Cowbird

View from parking area north
 

Photographs and content copyright © Dan Balogh
Web design by Dan Balogh