REI Opening Paramus Store: 8/26-27

REI has plans to open a few stores in the NY/NJ area in the next year, and August 26-27, 2011 will see the grand opening of their store in Paramus, NJ. Giveaways, t-shirts, and other goodies will be given out, as well as a chance to check out all the shiny new gear. REI Paramus store details.

REI East Hanover & Marlboro Events

Not to be left out, REI’s stores in East Hanover and Marlton offer gear demos and other instruction (GPS, hiking, backpacking, cycling) both in store and on location in local parks and rivers.

Freewalkers Endless Summer Walk: 10/1

The long distance walking group the Freewalkers (see Lenape Trail Hike Report) are back with another great event—a one day, 30 mile walk along the Jersey Coast from Keyport to Asbury Park on October 1, 2011. The trip goes through some great shore towns and trails around Monmouth County and Sandy Hook. Like past walks, check the schedule for points along the way to start or leave the group if you don’t think you can make the whole distance. Bay2Ocean30 / Endless Summer Walk web site.

BaseCamp Adventure Outfitters Group Hikes: Weekly

BaseCamp Adventure Outfitters, an outdoor gear outfitter located in Bernardsville, offers weekly group hikes around Morris County and surrounding parks. Upcoming hikes include Lewis Morris Park on 8/23, Hackelbarney State Park on 8/30, and Turkey Mountain on 9/12. BC Upcoming Hikes Listing.

Hudson River Valley Ramble: 9/10-25

Relayed from the New York-New Jersey Trail Conference newsletter, the 12th Annual Hudson River Valley Ramble starts September 10th with hiking and historical events all month, and up and down the Hudson from NYC to Saratoga.

Did I miss anything of note? Got an event you want to share? Post away in the comments!

National Trails Day was started in 1993 by the American Hiking Society and has been held the first Saturday in June ever since as a celebration of our natural surroundings. Here’s a sampling of the events around NJ. Follow @HikeNJ on twitter for updates and other event announcements.

Official AHS Events List

The motherload of this weekend’s events can be found on the American Hiking Society’s New Jersey Events page. The 20+ events listed across NJ span from volunteer cleanup crews at Bass River State Forest or Black Run Preserve, to cycling in Freehold, to outdoor classes at the EMS store in Paramus. Check the event descriptions for details, directions, and registration information.

Wild and Scenic Environmental Film Festival

The Wild and Scenic Environmental Film Festival again returns to the Schiff Nature Preserve in Mendham, NJ this Friday and Saturday. The festival acts as a benefit for the Schiff Natural Lands Trust and tickets each night are only $20. The event also includes a hike or hay ride through the park to the theatre, actions, and activities for children. Film schedule, tickets, and directions can be found on the Film Festival site. Here’s a two of the films, a trailer forThe Best Country: People Restoring Rivers, and a short mocumentary The Majestic Plastic Bag:

NY NJ Trail Conference at Bear Mountain, NY

The NYNJTC will be celebrating National Trails Day with a dedication of a wheelchair accessble portion of the Appalachian Trail at the summit of Bear Mountain with hikes for all experience groups, live music, and more. The Summer Meeting 2011 page has all the details.

And if you’re attending or organizing and event not mentioned here, please leave the details in a comment or contact me via twitter.

Hike 1: Summit Field to Washington Rock

The morning started with a early hike out to Washington Rock and the overlook to the south at the Watchungs. The walk wandered a bit covering some unofficial trails and looping back along side Crest Drive. Attendance was light, but it made for a nice warmup for the day.

Hiking south towards Washington Rock

The southern view of Watchung from Washington Rock

Hike 2: Summit Field to Hemlock Falls

This hour and a half or so, slow paced hike to the falls and back was attended by a nice crew of people. With the falls raging from the recent endless rain it was a great day to go down there. The hike mixed it up between the roads/bridal paths and the red/white falls loop trail with the highlight visiting then walking over the top of the falls.

The group hiking towards Hemlock Falls

Enjoying the view at Hemlock Falls

Walk 3: Wildflower Preserve Tour

With 2 knowledgable tour guides we wandered the enclosed wildflower preserve learning about the native plant life and doing a little bird (and woodchuck) watching.

Red Columbine

Indigo bunting visiting the preserve

Watching a woodchuck run off into the woods

Learn More

Learn more about South Mountain Reservation at the Hike NJ park page, or at the Conservancy website. You can also visit the Essex County Environmental Center in Roseland, NJ. The photos above can all be seen in this gallery on Flickr.

How about You?

What did you do this past weekend? Did you hike the 50 miles of NJ2NY50? Did you hike around High Point or visit a lake?

NJ2NY50

Hikers crossing the Garden Sate Parkway on last year's Lenape34

The NJ2NY50 is a 50 mile walk along the East Coast Greenway and Liberty Water Gap Trails from NJ Transit’s Metropark Station in Iselin to New York City (via short ‘hike’ on the PATH) and continuing the walk on the east side to Penn Station (where you can get a train back to the starting point). The hike goes through some suburban and more urban areas, but also meets up with the Hudson and some nice views across the river at New York and then back at New Jersey.

This event is part of the ongoing Cross-Jersey Walking Challenge, a trek of 100 total miles from Trenton to NYC, and organized by the same folks that brought you last fall’s Lenape Trail thru hike.

2nd Annual Mayapple Festival

50 miles along trails and sidewalks wasn’t insane enough for you the trail runners in South Mountain Reservation will be looping around the park to race in distances up to 100k in the 2011 Mayapple Ultra. If you’re interested, race registrations close Wednesday 5/18.

A recent scene at South Mountain Reservation's Diamond Mill Pond

For those not interested in running (and I don’t blame you!) the Mayapple Festival event caters to families, walkers, hikers and nature lovers of all types with an art fair, guided hikes to Hemlock Falls or through the wildflower preserve, and, as an addition this year, live music all afternoon in the Summit. Having missed the festival last year, I’ll be around this year with a camera over my shoulder checking out a little bit of everything.

For more information on the Mayapple Festival, and directions to South Orange, NJ, see the South Mountain Conservancy, or the official Facebook event page.

How will you be enjoying the local parks this weekend? Attending one of these events? Have plans for another trip or event?

Live alphorn music at the 2010 festival stop in NYC. Photo by Chris Casciano.

The Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour makes two stops in our area thanks to Chestnut Mountain Productions next month and tickets are starting to go on sale.

Wednesday, March 2, 2011 – Lafayette Theater, Suffern, NY [Ticket Info] [Film Lineup]

Sunday, Monday, & Tuesday, March 6, 7, 8, 2011 – Peter Norton Symphony Space, New York, NY [Ticket Info] [Film Lineup]

If you’re attending the film festival, say hi in the comments section and I’ll look out for you.

[...] inspires the public and trail enthusiasts nationwide to seek out their favorite trails to discover, learn about, and celebrate trails while participating in educational exhibits, trail dedications, gear demonstrations, instructional workshops and trail work projects.

I encourage everyone across the state to find a local trail [or not so local trail] and enjoy the parkland, and maybe see something new, or find a work crew and help give back a little. If you’re looking for a local event to meet other people, or maybe find a guide for a trail you’re unfamiliar with here are a few of note:

• Parsippany: guided hikes, bike rides & trail maintenance opportunities at Central Park
• Millbrook Village: Hike to Save The Delaware Water Gap sponsored by the NJ Sierra Club
• Oaklyn: REI Marlton sponsored trail cleanup in Saddler’s Woods
• Morris County: I previously posted about the film festival Friday: Wild & Scenic Environmental Film Festival
• Ocean County: 3mile hike in Cattus Island County Park
• Bear Mountain, NY: Celebrate the reconstruction of the
  original section of the Appalachian Trail!, NY-NJ Trail Conference’s event with activities, guest speakers, music and more
• More at: AHS National Trails Day New Jersey Listing

If you’re hosting or know of an event this weekend that I didn’t mention please leave some information and a link in the comments section of this post.

And if you’re looking for more to do outdoors this summe check out the article The great Morris outdoors: 10 local activities you need to try this summer in the Daily Record for some ideas.

Friday evening, June 4th 2010, the Wild and Scenic Environmental Film Festival will make a stop at Mendham’s Schiff Nature Preserve and show a selection of films from this year’s film festival which took place in January. Highlights of the night’s films include a summary cut of PBS’s National Parks: This is America series and films of local interest including Legacy of the Land a film about the Schiff natural Lands Trust narrated by Bill Moyers with busic by Moby and GrowTown Motown about building a Morristown community garden. Get full list of films, location information and ticket info.

Tickets for the event, which begins at 5:30PM, begin at $15.50 though additional donations towards the Schiff Lands Trust are encouraged and can be purchased online at the the event’s website. BaseCamp Adventure Outfitters of Basking Ridge and other local vendors are sponsoring the event and showing off their wares.

EDIT: Apologies to South Jersey, but I hadn’t initially noticed that the Film Festival’s following stop is June 11 from 6:00PM – 10:00PM at The Wetlands Institute in Stone Harbor, NJ. Tickets are $25 with proceeds going to The Wetlands Institute. Here’s all the information.

And don’t forget two events celebrating the outdoors and NJ’s great parks this upcoming Saturday, May 22nd — South Mountain Reservation’s Mayapple Festival and The Big Walk.

Finally, if you’re an outdoor organization in New Jersey looking for coverage of your hikes or events chase me down at @HikeNJ on Twitter or leave a comment here with information.

Sponsored by the South Mountain Conservancy and the Essex County Parks Department this one day event is at South Mountain Reservation in New Jersey (Hike NJ SMR Park Info Page) the festival has something for everyone — from an ultra-marathon to walks through the new wildflower preserve to an ultimate frisbee game. Most activities will take place or originate in the Summit Field area located off of South Orange Ave. (Map).

The following info was taken from SOMOCON’s email newsletter:

Events Overview

• Art Show and exhibits – Summit Field, 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
• Nature Creative Writing Session – Summit Field, 2:30.
• Ultra-marathon – Locust Grove, 6:00 a.m. -10:00 p.m.
• Special Hikes – originating at Summit Field — 10:00, 12:00, 1:30, 2:00

Organized Hike Schedule

• 10 a.m. to 11:30: Washington Rock by a different route: We will walk at a moderate pace on some seldom used trails to and from Washington Rock, having a tour of some of the sites there and monuments. Meet at the south end of the Summit Field picnic area.
• 12:00 to 1:30: Quick Stroll to the Falls: A medium paced stroll using part of the newly extended red dot trail and a new section of the Lenape to Hemlock Falls. Meet at the south end of the Summit Field picnic area.
• 1:30 p.m. to 3: Origins of the Park Historical Tour: Meet at Bramhall Terrace overlooking NYC to see areas related to the founding of the park in 1895 and the years immediately after as well as some old, abandoned mines where Maplewoodians of the early 1800′s hoped to find copper.
• 2:00 to 3:00: The Wildflower and Forest Preserve: Join Tricia Zimic for a tour of the new trails in the Wildflower and Forest Preserve. Meet at the south end of the Summit Field picnic area.

I’m not able to attend, but if you do make it out I’d love to hear from you here about how it went & what you enjoyed about the first year of this event, so come back and leave a comment or link your photos!

On Sunday May 23, 2010 hikers and long distance walkers from around the area will take part in a free one day 50 mile walk — The NJ2NY50 — along the East Coast Greenway from the Metro Park rail station in Edison, NJ and northeast through green spaces and suburban and urban communities winding up in midtown Manhattan.

Organized by the East Coast Greenway Alliance and other civic and pedestrian minded groups the event intends to highlight recreation areas, commuting alternatives and a small part of the 3,000 mile multi-use East Coast Greenway trail system.

For more information on the walk’s route, registration or pre event trial walks or activities see http://www.nj2ny50.org/, and be sure to check the East Coast Greenway site for more information on the trail system that goes from Key West, Florida up the coast to Canada. Both can also be found on Twitter at @NJ2NY50 and @ECGreenway.

Unfortunately, I will be out of town that weekend, but if you are one of the urban hikers that weekend good luck and please report back here how it went!