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.

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

I thought the trail was great and was really quite surprised that the route consisted of so much time spent on trails—straight through from Hilltop Reservation to Mills Reservation—rather then the massive concrete pounding I was expecting. I know some others let out cheers of joy each time we found sidewalks or asphalt paths, but I prefer the dirt under my feet.

If there is a repeat of the Lenape34 event I’m not sure I’d do it from end to end again, but the walk certainly opened my eyes to a few little parks and spots, such as the West Essex Trail and Cedar Grove that I’m eager to spend some more time exploring.

Total Distance Hiked: 33mi; Total Time Hiking: 12 hours (as tracked by RunKeeper)

Hike Recap

South Mountain Reservation

The Lenape Trail starts at the Locust Grove parking lot at the Millburn end of South Mountain Reservation and heads north through the park up, straight up to the ridge and then across past Hemlock Falls, over South Orange Ave and Cherry Lane and then continues through two other segments of the park. This was by far the most lengthy “hiking” like portion of the trail for the day, and the cool air and just starting to turn trees made a great spot for the group to start (and the most photogenic scenes for the day).

West Orange

After exiting the park the yellow blazes take a path through that forks—with a western spur heading out towards Roseland, Livingston and eventually Morris County, and an “eastern” spur going north a bit more over Rt. 280, and then behind West Orange High School, eventually leading up the hill our lunch spot and then to Eagle Rock Reservation.

Eagle Rock Reservation

At right about the 10 mile mark we entered Eagle Rock Reservation, where the trail then skirts through the park, hitting the highest elevation of the day, a few photo ops, and some great walking through the quiet woods and basalt rocks.

Verona Park

Next on the tour of parks, after winding through some sleepy little side streets in town, was Verona Park where the trail circles around the boat house and the lovely pond and out onto Bloomfield Avenue.

Hilltop Reservation

After Verona park we hit the sidewalks again for just a short while. We then skirted Hilltop Reservation and stated onto our longest stretch of continuous unpaved trail. Can’t say much about the park as it felt like the trail we were on just passed behind some houses and under the “hill” to come out and cross over to the start of the West Essex Trail.

West Essex Rail Trail

The Lenape Trail then connects to the West Essex Trail taking us on a walk through Verona and Cedar Grove, past the old Essex County Asylum property, over Rt 23 and into the reason Cedar Grove was given that name. After the similarity of the parks and trails we hit along the Watchung Range, this little clump of woods and the great route it took through the nooks and crannies of the stands of trees I thought was one of the more refreshing sites the trail gave us all day. Will certainly be back again to explore

Mills Reservation

Here I have to admit, the one park I wanted to explore more of, having only been through there briefly in the past, the group I was with somehow skirted part of the trail and must have taken a shortcut. Still, it was a well paced walk around the reservoir on our way to a well deserved break on the other side at the Mountain Ave train station.

Brookdale Park

From Mountain Ave it was a bit of asphalt pounding right through the 20 mile mark until we started passing through some of the more conventional local parks that comprised the rest of the day. First we hit a small park and pond that acted as a little oasis (construction aside) and onto Brookdale itself where we all paused and regrouped (or shuffled groups) for the final push ahead. And where we got passed on the track around the park by a bunch of high school runners making me feel like we were going all that much slower.

The Sidewalks of Nutley, et. al.

From Brookdale Park it was the longest stretch of street walking of the day, over the Garden State Parkway, through a few back alleys and utility roads and small parks on the way to Newark’s famous Branch Brook Park. Miles 22 to 27 were not anywhere near the most interesting stretch of the day, but allowed for some chit chatting among the group that left Brookdale together.

Branch Brook Park

By the time we hit Belleville Park and the norther end of Branch Brook Park we were losing light fast and the group of hikers I had settled in with were thinking about the possible ways we might finish the day. Because of the light and the end of the day approaching we didn’t get to “see” much of Branch Brook as we pushed forward to the light rail station to make the final decision on how to finish the remaining 4 or 5 miles through to Newark Penn Station. We decided to press on to the finish line, but cut around the rest of the park and along the road through the dark.

Rains and Hail of Newark

We couldn’t have asked for better weather throughout the day, but it wasn’t 15 minutes of walking after leaving the Branch Brook Park light rail station when that caught up to us with a vengeance. First a mile or so of walking in the rain had us all thoroughly soaked. Followed by a drop in temp of probably 10 or 15 degrees and a freak hail storm pounding us as we passed Broad Street Station forced us to take cover in a building lobby just minutes from our final destination. By this time not only was everyone tired the temp drop pretty much did us all in and had us just wanting to be done and home.

In the end the group I was with on and off all day—John, Lynn, Ian, and Maurice—made it to Penn Station Newark together and on the feet we started the journey with. When all was said and done, and even with the two or three deviations from the “official” yellow blazes, we covered 33 miles of trails and streets of suburban New Jersey.

Where to Learn More About the Lenape Trail

The Lenape Trail is part of the Liberty Water Gap Trail connecting Liberty State Park and The Delaware Water Gap. Official information can be found at http://www.libertygap.org and http://www.libertygap.org/lenape-trail.html.

The Lenape34 event was organized by the Freewalkers who also organized the 50 mile Big Walk event last spring. Their site is at http://freewalkers.org/ and they’re on twitter at @freewalkers.

Leading up to the hike Jen Connic, editor at Millburn Patch, wrote Lenape 34 Hike to Raise Trail Awareness covering the event and some of the backstory and history of the Lenape Trail and the Freewalkers event. Event participant, Nutley Resident, and one of the hikers I crossed the “finish line” into Penn Station with, Jon Demmer has a great story up with his experiences from the walk on the Freewalkers site in WHAT A CRAZY NIGHT!!!.

Photos

The above photos, as well as a few others can be seen in this gallery on Flickr
Prints of my photo of the the yellow Lenape Trail trail marker are available for sale.

[...] 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.

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!

NOTE: The above map and route was made with RunKeeper Pro, a GPS based activity monitor for the iPhone.

One of the nice things about the trails in South Mountain is that its easy to orient yourself based on the slope of the ridge and the nearby roads making it difficult to be lost for long and easy to wander from trail to trail. This is just what I did once I crossed South Orange Avenue into the northern half of the park. Jumping from the green trail markers to orange back to green as the terrain or pretty wintery scenes caught my fancy. Finally coming back to the yellow [Lenape] and white trail markers for the walk back to the Locust Grove lot in Millburn along the water.

For the first day of the new year the traffic on the trails was light and peaceful. The usual mix of families and dog walkers stuck to the areas around Hemlock Falls, the Dog park, and the larger parking areas, but the trails felt like they were all mine. A wonderful way to kick off a fresh year.

How did you spend this first weekend of the 2010?

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.