Sunday, October 17, 2010

Mount Tammany - Delaware Water Gap/Worthington State Forest, NJ

ABOUT THE PARK: 
Hiking Mount Tammany - National Park Service

TRAIL MAP:
Hikes at the Gap - National Park Service
NY/NJ Trail Conference Southern Kittatinny Trails Map 120

DIRECTIONS:
GPS Coordinates:   40.97237,-75.125159

View Larger Map
From NJ, I-80 West, exit for Dunnfield before Exit 1, pass the picnic area on the right, next right is Dunnfield parking at Dunnfield Creek Natural Area.  The parking lot will be PACKED if you don't get there early.  At 1 pm the lot was full and cars where hovering for my spot when they saw I was going to leave. This picture was taken at 8 am.  Also, starting early pretty much guarantees you will avoid the crowds and have the views all to yourself.

HIKE DISTANCE:
This hike was 8.1 miles but I will give options for a 4 mile and a 6 mile hike.

HIKE DIRECTIONS:
Start the hike by walking as though you are leaving the parking lot.  The red dot trail to Mount Tammany is on the left just before you leave the lot and will start out with steps built into the incline eventually becoming stones to step up on.

At .45 miles arrive at the first overlook.
The Delaware River and Mount Minsi, PA from 1/3 way up Mount Tammany.
The trail will become rockier the rest of the way.


At 1.30 miles, arrive at the summit of Mount Tammany (1,527' - New Jersey 1K Club Peak)
Mt. Minsi, PA as seen from Mt. Tammany, NJ
Looking west into Pennsylvania from Mount Tammany.
Where the red dot trail ends, continue on the blue trail.  You can catch a couple of views looking east into New Jersey.

At 1.60 miles stay left on the blue trail as the unmarked Mount Tammany fire road goes right.
At 3 miles turn right on the mint green-blazed Dunnfield Hollow Trail.
(For the 4 mile hike, turn left on the joint mint green/blue-blazed trail which will run into the white-blazed Appalachian Trail.  Turn left on the white-blazed trail back to the parking lot.)

Dunnfield Creek will be on the left.
Shortly after a rock hop over Dunnfield Creek, turn left on the red-blazed Holly Springs Trail at 4.0 miles.
At 4.50 miles arrive at the white-blazed Appalachian Trail where the red-blazed trail ends.  Cross straight over the Appalachian Trail to pick up the start of the yellow-blazed Beulahland Trail.  The yellow-blazed trail is an easy grassy woods road.
(For the 6 mile hike, turn left on the white-blazed Appalachian Trail which goes straight to the Dunnfield parking lot.)
At the end of the yellow trail at 5.85 miles, turn left on Mine Road and carefully walk along the road for a very short distance.
There will be two parking lots ahead, Fairview on the left and Karamac on the right.  Turn right into the Karamac parking lot.  Continue through the parking lot towards the information board, beyond which begins the unmarked Karamac Trail.
The Karamac Trail descends down to the Delaware River,
As the trail reaches the river, it turns left and follows closely along the river eventually becoming an old rail bed.
Nearing the I-80 bridge into Pennsylvania towards the end of the Karamac Trail.
The trail ends in a parking lot at the stop light at Mine Road and the I-80 bridge over the Delaware River.
Walk along the right shoulder of the road under I-80 (there is a wide shoulder to walk on).  At 7.25 miles the white-blazed Appalachian Trail joins in on the shoulder from the bridge ramp on the left.
You'll get great views of Mount Tammany and Mount Minsi along this stretch, a view you normally just get a flash of driving on I-80.

Pass the visitor center on the right then a boat docking area and picnic tables.  At 8.00 miles the AT turns left under the I-80 bridge.
Once on the other side of the bridge follow the road to the left and you will see the Dunnfield parking area on the right.

LITTER REPORT:
It's been a while since I featured litter, mainly because I haven't found any.  This litter could not be missed.  It was smack in the middle of the summit of Mount Tammany where people stand for views - a used baby diaper!  My dog never poops on hikes but I carry poop bags anyway just for cases like this.  I had to carry this with me for 4.5 miles until fortunately there was a trash can at the Karamac parking lot.  If you can haul a baby up Mount Tammany, you can haul out the dirty diaper.



HIKE SUMMARY:
[ 0.00]  Red dot trail at southeast end of parking lot.
[ 0.45]  Arrive at first overlook
[ 1.30]  Red dot trail ends at the summit of Mount Tammany; views; continue on blue trail
[ 1.60]  Turn left on blue trail; Mt. Tammany fire road goes right
[ 3.00]  Right on mint green-blazed Dunnfield Hollow Trail
            *** for 4 mile hike turn left on blue/green then left on white back to parking lot***
[ 4.00]  Left on red-blazed Holly Spring Trail
[ 4.50]  Cross white-blazed AT to continue on yellow-blazed Beulahland Trail.
            ***for 6 mile hike, turn left on the white-blazed Appalachian Trail back to parking lot***
[ 5.85]  Turn left on Mine Road; right into Karamac Parking Lot, through lot to Karamac Trail
[ 6.00]  Karamac Trail arrives at the Delaware River and turns left.
[ 7.00]  Karamac Trail ends at Mine Road; continue along shoulder of road under I-80
[ 7.25]  White-blazed AT joins road from bridge ramp on the left
[ 8.00]  White-blazed AT turns left under I-80 bridge then left after bridge.
[ 8.10]  White-blazed AT turns right into Dunnfield parking lot

11 comments:

  1. My Shepherd (Orion) and I have done Mt. Tammany twice and I (we) cannot wait to go back this year!

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  2. This was so incredibly helpful! Thank you! I am really bad with finding my way around so the detailed directions with pics and options for shorter hikes is invaluable! :)

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  3. excellent, thank you!

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  4. did your dog have any trouble on the rocks?

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    1. No, she has never had any problems on those rocks. There is nothing vertical where you have to assist, it's more like steps.

      Daniela

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  5. Beautiful hike! We saw a Northern Flicker and later a Timber Rattlesnake just sitting out on Beulahland Trail. I think this was the third blog post of yours we used as a guide and all have been very helpful. Note that Karamac Trail is currently overgrown (with poison ivy in the mix) so we had to backtrack and take Old Mine Rd. all the way back to the parking lot. This wasn't so bad as we saw lots of woodpeckers and were protected from a sudden but short rainstorm by a few giant tulip poplars growing along the road. Thanks again!

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    1. Thanks! And thanks for the update on the Karamac Trail. It was pretty overgrown when I was there so I can imagine it is much worse now.

      Daniela

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  6. Looks beautiful, we plan to do this one very soon. I've recently discovered your blog and am so thankful for it. You've really given me and my family some great hiking ideas. Do you use trekking poles?

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    1. Thanks, Jenn. I use one trekking pole because I have to have a free hand for the dog and two would just be too much for me to deal with. Even using just one helps relieve stress on the knees and helps balance when crossing creeks on rocks.

      Daniela

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  7. I am planning to go hiking there in 2 days. Thanks for all the details. One question, how many hours should I plan if I would like to take the 8-mile trail? Thanks!

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