Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge

Tom and I recently took a walk through Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge.


For more information, visit this website. 

The Great Swamp is an almost 8,000-acre wilderness area and refuge for many species of birds.  From the Wildlife Observation Center, you can take a boardwalk trail over the swamp out to observation/photo blinds to unobtrusively observe the nature and wildlife.

Then we ventured to another area of the refuge to walk some nature trails through the swamp.  The trails were definitely not what I expected - at best, they were very narrow, trodden paths; at worst, the paths were almost completely overgrown with barely a suggestion as to where we should head.  At least this area is very flat; it would have been pretty treacherous to climb up or down in these conditions.

I'm so glad I wore long pants the day we went.  At times, it felt like we were forging our own path and Tom said he couldn't even see me sometimes because the overgrowth was so tall.  My clothes were covered in leaves and any bare skin was scratched up by the time we were done.  Here are two pictures that show how crazy the trails were:

The trail runs right down the middle

We took the Orange Trail and on the way back veered off onto the Green Trail, which offered some relief.  The Green Trail conditions felt more familiar: more forest and wider trails, with some nice views out into the swamp meadows.

Despite the tough trail conditions, the Great Swamp was beautiful and peaceful - so much greenery and many different types of trees. 

Hacklebarney State Park

Hacklebarney State Park is a small but beautiful park located in Chester, Morris County, New Jersey.


For more information about the park and to get a trail map, visit the New Jersey Division of Parks and Forestry here.

The trails here are quite short; the longest trail is the Riverside Trail at 1.8 miles, but all the rest are less than a mile.  We started our hike on the Main Trail and then veered off onto the Riverside Trail, which travels along the edge of the park and down along the Black River.  Before getting down near the river, the trails are semi-paved and gravel.

Trout Brook

Once you get down to the Black River, much of the trail is large rocks and we really had to slow down and watch our footing.  The area is so pretty, though!

Black River

Rocky trail along the Riverside Trail

Once we reached the end of the Riverside Trail, we got onto the Windy Ridge Trail, which, coming up from the river, is a pretty steep climb in some places.  This trail was really quiet and tucked into the woods.

Windy Ridge Trail

 

This park had some cool features; there were picnic tables at many places along the trail, including down by the river.  It would be a beautiful place to have lunch.  There are also benches at various scenic locations. 

Loantaka Brook Reservation

Loantaka Brook Reservation is located in Morris County, New Jersey.


For more information about the park and to get a trail map, visit the Morris County Park Commission website here.

This park has over 8 miles of trails, both paved and unpaved.  On this visit, we took the Blue Trail and part of the Red Trail for a total walk of 3.8 miles.

We really enjoyed this park, and it seems like lots of other people do, too!  We saw many walkers, joggers, and bike riders, but it didn't feel crowded.  The paved trails were great and very flat.

Tom said he would love to come back to Loantaka Brook Reservation and walk some of the other trails.  Definitely adding this one to our list of places to visit again!