Hike New Jersey » Guides

Small Parks: Loantaka Brook Reservation

Chris Casciano — Thu, 12 May 2011 19:18:44 +0000

Last weekend I had a nice little bike ride through the densely wooded, paved paths at Morris County’s Loantaka Brook Reservation. Adjacent to Chatham, Harding & Morris, the park is 570 acres and includes 8+ miles of all purposed paved trails, at least 6 miles of dirt hiking trails, a pond, ballfields, and picnic areas. Located near the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge and Lord Stirling Park the terrain is a similar fairly flat roll through woods and wetlands.

Park Information

For more information on Loantaka Brook Reservation, Direction and Trail Maps see these sites:

Trip Photos

View additional photos on Flickr.

My Reading List: Warding Off Cabin Fever

Chris Casciano — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 20:18:28 +0000

A new stack of guide books for local trails just landed on my doorstep.

Winter in the northeast is great for winter fun – hiking, snowshoeing, downhill or cross country skiing, or just sledding with the kids. When the end of winter comes quicker then expected we can look fondly back on days like we had last week.

Then there are days like yesterday–full of slush, cold rain, and–where you don’t want to go out unless you absolutely must. Though I hope those days are short I’ve picked up a bunch of new or updated guide books to flip though and dream up new adventures come spring as well as spark ideas for this site. I will try and review some of them down the line, but you can check them out for yourself on Amazon:

Hiking New Jersey by Paul DeCoste and Ronald Dupont Jr
60 Hikes Within 60 Miles: New York City by Christopher & Catherine Brooks from the AHC
AMC’s Best Day Hikes Near New York City and AMC’s Best Day Hikes Near Philadelphia from the AMC
New Jersey Walk Book by Daniel D. Chazin from the NY/NJ Trail Conference
Take a Hike New York City by Skip Card
Best Hikes with Dogs New Jersey by Mary Jasch

New Jersey Monthly does the Appalachian Trail

Chris Casciano — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 16:38:10 +0000

Just in time for fall where the trail may be a bit less congested and the views of foliage near peak New Jersey Monthly carried quite a nice writeup of a typical day on the Appalachian Trail as it winds through New Jersey from the Delaware Water Gap to the New York border. In it the author, David Caldwell, catches up with a few hikers and trail maintainers, and describes his day hike and sites along the trail. Experienced hikers may find themselves nodding along or getting the urge to go out themselves, but its also a good intro for what to expect if you haven’t been to the area.

The story is now a month or so old, but I saw it making the rounds again, and this site wasn’t up earlier to cover it then. And its worth a read.