Tuesday, September 25, 2018

Sourland Mountain Preserve


Ever since we moved to our new house last year, I've been wanting to check out the nearby Sourland Mountain Preserve, and we finally got a chance to!



Sourland Mountain Preserve is a 4,000 acre preserve located in Hillsborough. For more information about the park and to get a trail map, visit the Somerset County Park Commission here.

The preserve has a couple major trails and then a few connector trails that you can take to visit other areas or make your hike shorter or longer.  Our plan was to take the 5-mile Ridge Trail around the outer limits.  From the trailhead, we started moving up the eastern portion of the trail.  It had a pretty steady incline up to Devil's Half-Acre Boulders.  The trail had an outcropping of rocks and roots through this entire climb, so we definitely had to watch our footing.


Just a small portion of Devil's Half-Acre Boulders

Once we passed the boulders, the trail mellowed out a bit and we were able to move a lot quicker.  Even though there were a lot of cars in the parking lot, we only came across a group of Boy Scouts and it was really quiet most of the way.  That's something that always surprises me when we hike - even though I know we're in the middle of a pretty populated area, it can feel entirely isolated and peaceful.


Unfortunately, the trail conditions weren't the best the day we went (it had rained a lot the night before, so it was pretty muddy), so instead of doing the entire Ridge Trail, we took advantage of a connector trail that basically bisected the preserve.  Coming down a pipeline, this trail had a pretty good view of the area and was somewhat steep - going downhill can be just as hard as going uphill sometimes!

Connector Trail
We ended up doing almost 3 miles, and we're definitely planning on going back and hitting the rest of Sourland Mountain Preserve!

22 comments:

  1. Wow, that must've been such a gorgeous hike!

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  2. You are killing me with these posts! I am so jealous that you have such beauty in your backyard. Hopefully I can experience some of those gorgeous trails myself someday. :)

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    1. Haha, thank you! Yeah, we are really lucky to have so many places nearby!

      I hope so, too!

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  3. It’s so green and pretty! Our trees have lost a lot of their leaves already. Fall doesn’t last long around here.

    Aj @ Read All The Things!

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    1. Well, these are from a couple weeks ago, but it's still pretty green around here. I've seen one orange tree. A couple more weeks, I think, until the fall colors arrive!

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  4. That is really nice! And I agree that sometimes coming down is as tough as going up. Beautiful views!

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    1. I know, you'd think it'd be faster, but it's not!

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  5. You always find the most beautiful places to hike!

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  6. You keep going to places that are really close to where I live. Looks like you had a lovely day out there!

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    1. We did! I wish the trails had been a little less muddy, but we can always go back!

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  7. Oh no! Sucks that it was muddy and gross, but otherwise, lovely pictures and I'm glad you had a great time there, Angela!

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  8. Oooh! I love these photos!! It looks like you had a great day of exploring!

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I'm so glad you stopped by, and I would love to hear your thoughts! Comments are always greatly appreciated!