Morris Canal Greenway [Ledgewood]

Morris Canal Greenway [Ledgewood] (6/4/2011)

We had no intention of going on a hike today, but when I realized that we were going to have lunch at a place very near Canal Park in Ledgewood, New Jersey, and that this park had an inclined plane from the Morris Canal, I decided to take my camera and see if I could find anything interesting. As an aside, we were checking out a vegan restaurant called The Loving Hut, and it was wonderful. Canal Park is a 5-minute ride, on the other side of Route 46, at the end of Canal Street (appropriately named). We parked in the dirt lot and headed NW to the boat basin, where ships awaited their turn to get on either of the two inclined planes (Plane 2-E is north of the basin, Plane 3-E is south). We continued north along the towpath, visiting the powerhouse (which may be getting a restoration, it's not clear). Then we proceeded through a power line cut (with views east of Route 46), and then a bit further north before we decided to turn back. On the way back, we hiked along a higher towpath that paralleled the one we just walked.

Along the towpath there were blazes (large diamonds nailed onto the trees) for trails heading into the 250 acres of forest to the west: one yellow trail and a blue trail closer to the basin. They were very inviting, and we actually walked a bit on the blue before deciding to keep these two for another day.

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