The last time we hiked in this rugged area was nearly six years ago, when we followed a hike in the
newly-released 3rd edition of 50 Hikes in New Jersey. At
that time we traversed trails in the middle region of the park. A recent examination of the park map
revealed an expanded network of trails that begged to be explored. So back we headed today. Like last time, we parked in the lot on Newman's Lane just south of Middle Brook.
It should be noted that the bridge that crosses over that brook is currently closed to traffic due to construction. It's impossible at the moment to get to the parking
area from the north; the only option is from the south.
We first headed west on Blue (right across Newman's Lane from the parking lot) and then stayed right at each fork (Blue is a network of trails west of Newman's Lane) paralleling Middle Brook. It was our intent to get on the white-blazed Middle Brook trail (MBT) at Newman's Lane but we could only find Blue, which we took west until it merged with the MBT. Our next hope was to take the MBT as far west as Argonne Farm, then turn back. But when we reached Crim Road, we encountered a sign announcing that the MBT was closed west of that point due to unsafe conditions. So we turned back at Crim Road, skirted the Crim Road soccer fields and then took the most southern and western Blue trails over the mountain and back to Newman's Lane. Total distance hiked today was 4.5 miles in about 2 hours and 45 minutes. (Click on the thumbnail to bring up a bigger image in a pop-up window)
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Kiosk at parking area |
Huge parking lot |
Newman's Lane closed at bridge |
Heading into woods on Blue |
First view of Middle Brook |
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Middle Brook |
Gorgeous narrow path |
Igneous basalt along parts |
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Continuing west |
Now on the MBT |
Bench over Middle Brook |
Sturdy bridge over Middle Brook |
But there's no path! |
Middle Brook from bridge |
View east |
[Photo by Laura] |
Beautiful purple damselfly |
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MBT wet in spots |
Boardwalk in wet area |
Heading to Tullo Road |
Busy bee |
Gate on Tullo Road |
Bridge over stream |
Middle Brook west of Tullo |
View north |
[Photo by Laura] |
MBT blaze in park |
MBT map |
MBT closed west of Crim Road |
Crim Road soccer fields |
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Tullo Road bridge over Middle Brook |
Golden rod |
A cicada! But not Brood II |
Middle Brook |
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Amorous Japanese beetles |
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Climbing Blue |
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Ascending on Blue |
Red cedar |
Lovely ... |
... meandering path |
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Huge uprooted tree |
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Short boardwalk |
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Tiny stream |
JORBA obstacle |
JORBA bridge |
[Photo by Laura] |
Basalt |
Beautiful ... |
... boulders |
Abandoned car |
Interesting rock patterns |
Construction sign |
View to pedestrian bridge |
Photographs and content copyright © Dan Balogh Web design by Dan Balogh |