Cape May Point State Park

Wow, it has been a minute since I posted anything travel-related, but earlier this month, we took a short vacation to Wildwood and Cape May, New Jersey.  My grandparents lived in Wildwood Crest for a good portion of my life, so we spent many summer weekends there when I was a child.  I have so many happy memories from those times, so it was nice to be able to spend an extended amount of time there after being away for so long.  My sister invited us along on her vacation, and we were lucky to have mostly beautiful weather while we there, especially the day we decided to go for a walk at Cape May Point State Park!

 

Cape May Point State Park has a little something for everyone - bird watching, trails, beaches, dunes, ponds, a WWII bunker, and the Cape May lighthouse, which you can climb for a small fee.  For more information about the park, visit this site.  The park has three trails: Red (0.5 miles), Yellow (1.5 miles), and Blue (2 miles).  They somewhat overlap, so we started with the Blue Trail, with the dunes on one side and two ponds on the other.  The trail here is a sandy, rocky mix.

The beach is just on the other side of the dunes and there is a connector trail.

There are great views of the lighthouse from everywhere along the trail!

Once we moved away from the dunes/beach, the trail turns into a combination of boardwalk and dirt path, and the feel of the park sometimes even feels like forest.

The Red Trail is a short offshoot from the Blue Trail and is quite shady until you reach a bird blind/viewing area.  There are a couple other bird blinds/viewing areas along the Blue Trail.

These flowers called swamp rose-mallows were in bloom during our visit.  They were enormous and beautiful and everywhere!  Even though the trails weren't long, Cape May Point State Park was a great place to meander for a little while.  The trails are all flat, making them easy for all levels of walkers/hikers.  There's also no entrance fee, which is nice.  Definitely a must-see when you're in the area!

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!

Rutgers Gardens and Frank G. Helyar Woods

Rutgers Gardens is a place I never would have known about if I hadn't seen it on another blog, but when I found out that this botanical garden wasn't too far from us, we decided to check it out.



For more information about Rutgers Gardens and Helyar Woods, including maps, visit their website here.

Rutgers Gardens is open 365 days a year, and there's no entrance fee!  Not only do they host public events like farmers markets, but the Gardens also provide educational opportunities for Rutgers students.

Although it was smaller than I thought it would be, there was still plenty to look at.  There are several small gardens and groves of different tree types.  Cute benches are strategically located throughout the property.  We started at the bamboo garden and then headed to the shrub garden.  In a memorial garden we found these two massive Adirondack chairs, which Tom refused to climb in so I could get a picture of him (JK!).  There were also a couple lovely gazebos.

We then went over to Frank G. Helyar Woods, which is attached to the botanical garden.  Although there are smaller blazed trails, we stuck to the main Pond/Forest Trail (we tried one of the smaller trails, but it was overgrown with lots of downed trees).  The main trail was really easy to walk and pretty flat except for one drop down into a ravine.  At some points we could see glimpses of Westons Mill Pond.

After the pine forest the trail opens out into a meadow, and there's actually a small maze carved into the brush.  At this point in the year, the plant growth was probably about 3 feet high, so it would be fun for kids to run through while still being able to see them.

The main trail is less than a mile, so it didn't take us long to finish.  Although it was a short visit, I'm glad we checked out Rutgers Gardens.  And since it's free, I wouldn't mind coming back at different points during the year to see the flowers changing with the seasons.

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. 

Greenwood Gardens

Last Sunday was a beautiful day, and Tom and I were looking for something to do.  I started Googling "New Jersey hidden gems" and came across Greenwood Gardens.  Since it wasn't too far from our house, we decided to check it out!



Greenwood Gardens, located in Short Hills, Essex County, New Jersey, is a fairly new 28-acre public garden, located next to South Mountain Reservation.  Formerly a private estate, the last family to own the property established Greenwood Gardens as a public space in 2003.  The main house and terrace have been restored, and work continues on the gardens and other structures.  There is a $10.00 entrance fee.

A Georgian Revival-style home looks out onto the main lawn.  From here we walked down into the gardens.  There are so many little pathways to take, with something new to see down each one.  I think my favorite part of Greenwood Gardens was seeing all these little structures and details everywhere.  It was so quaint and charming!

The Summerhouse

It was so appropriate that I had just finished reading Heartless by Marissa Meyer when we visited, because dotting the landscape were lifesize chess pieces, like this guy!

The Teahouse

The estate used to have many water features, like The Cascade below, that are now used for plantings.

These gorgeous colored tiles can be found in many places around the estate, and they add such a sense of whimsy - really beautiful!

Although Greenwood Gardens isn't huge (we were probably there for an hour and a half), it really was a magical place to visit.  Check their website for information about hours of operation and tours!

Leaf Peeping!

One of my favorite parts of fall is seeing the leaves change colors - bright yellows, deep reds, vivid oranges.  Each year my husband indulges me as we drive around our area and I take too many pictures of trees.  Today I wanted to share with you the beauty of autumn in our area of New Jersey.  I hope you enjoy some of my favorite leaf peeping snaps of this year!

 

I just love this perfect heart-shaped leaf that showed up on our front doorstep!

Cheesequake State Park

We recently checked out Cheesequake State Park, located in Middlesex County, near where Tom grew up.  He hadn't been there since he was a kid, and this was my first visit!


For more information about the park and to get a map, visit the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection's Division of Parks and Forestry here.

This park is unique - the trails range from dirt to gravel to boardwalk to even sand!  In addition to all the trail types, visitors experience forest, marshes, and open fields.  The ocean is only a few miles away from the park, and I definitely got a beachy feel from the sand trails and even the types of trees in the park.

We started at the trail head, where all the trails converge.  We split off onto the Blue Trail and went past a small pond.  When the trails met up again later, we took the Green Trail around the southeastern perimeter of the park.  Our total hike was 3.5 miles.

The trails, ranging from 1 mile to approximately 3 miles, are well-marked and there are even distance markers along the way.  The trails we went on ranged from easy to moderately difficult with some changes in elevation.

The park is a pretty popular place - even though we were there on a cloudy, damp day, there were lots of other hikers and the campground we passed was pretty full.  All in all, Cheesequake State Park was a beautiful place to spend a couple hours hiking!

Duke Island Park

Duke Island Park is a beautiful park in Bridgewater, Somerset County, New Jersey.  We liked it so much that we actually visited this park twice over Labor Day weekend!


To get more information about the park and download a park map, visit the Somerset County Park Commission here.

When you first enter the park, you see these lovely wide open spaces.  There is a large playground for kids and some ball fields.  Several large covered patios house picnic tables, which would be perfect for a barbeque.  The park also hosts concerts at its bandstand.

Raritan Power Canal

 The park really is an island, bordered by the Raritan Power Canal and the Raritan River.

Raritan River

There are two main types of trails in the park.  A dirt and gravel path lies along the canal, and a paved bike path neighbors the river and travels through some of the park interior.

Canal Trail

Bikeway

This park is perfect for taking a long walk or bike ride - the trails are flat and the park is so picturesque!