Jonathan's Woods, NJ

ABOUT THE PARK:
Jonathan's Woods - POWWW
Hog Pen - POWWW
Curtis Trail - Daily Record

DIRECTIONS:
GPS Coordinates for parking at Hedwig Avenue cul-de-sac at the trail head for the Curtis Trail:  40.913381, -74.481456

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Hedwig Avenue cul-de-sac parking - there are no driveways to the cul-de-sac and the Curtis Trail starts at about the center into the woods.  Look for red on white markers and a kiosk further into the woods.

TRAIL MAP:
Jersey Highlands Trails Map 125 - New York New Jersey Trail Conference
Jonathan's Woods Trail Map - POWWW
Jonathan's Woods, NJ at EveryTrail
 

HIKE DISTANCE:  6.75 miles

THE HIKE:

From the cul-de-sac, red on white markers lead into the woods towards a kiosk.

It's pretty rocky along the Curtis Trail.

The Curtis Trail smooths out just before ...

The red-blazed Ford Road Trail.

Start of the blue-blazed Hillcrest Trail to Bald Knob.

Shortly after the gate and kiosk ...

... Bald Knob which probably offers a much better view when the leaves are down.

There is a house right at the overlook.

A partial view.

After retracing on blue to the intersection with yellow, took the sharp right turn on unmarked which seemed well-defined enough, to get to green.

Not so well-defined any more.

It did open back up and went through a swampy area just before meeting up with ...

... the green-blazed Little Bear Trail.

Intersection with pink to Hog Pen.

Arriving at Hog Pen.

Taking red from Hog Pen.

The trail follows a ridge so there should be views when leaves are down.

A slug having lunch.

Another slug having lunch.  That must be a really tasty mushroom.

Hornet's nest.

And a resident.

As the red trail nears Ford Road and The Pines, Sandy damage begins.

Until very recently she would sail over downed trees with the grace of a gazelle.  Getting old is no fun.

A bench overlooking ...

Beaver Brook

Red ends at Ford Road.

A right on Ford Road leads to ...

The Pines.  These are The Pines post-Sandy.

Courtesy of Dan Balogh, The Pines pre-Sandy on 11/12/11.

On the green-blazed trail from the Pines to Ford Road.

Colorful wildflowers before ...

... a nice water view.

Heading south on Ford Road.

The gate at Ford Road with parking for a couple of cars.

Instead of retracing through the woods, we continued on Ford Road through quiet, shady residential areas.

Turn left on Kitchell Road to find the historic Kitchell Homestead on the left corner.

Only one car passed on Kitchell Road.

Hang a left on Alpine.

Thought this was a lawn ornament until she moved her mouth to chew.

Then turn right on Charlotte the left on Hedwig at the cul-de-sac parking.

HIKE SUMMARY:
[  0.00]  Take the red-on-white Curtis Trail from the Hedwig Avenue cul-de-sac parking
[  0.60]  Turn right on red
[  1.20]  Turn right on blue
[  1.30]  Straight on blue when yellow and unmarked start on the left
[  1.65]  Balk Knob with seasonal views; retrace
[  2.00]  Just before yellow turn sharply right on unmarked woods road
[  2.30]  Turn left on green
[  2.40]  Keep left on green at fork (not marked)
[  2.65]  Turn left on pink
[  2.80]  Hog Pen; left on red
[  2.95]  Straight on red when yellow starts on the left
[  3.20]  Stay on red when purple starts on the right
[  3.45]  Stay on red when orange starts on the right
[  3.70]  Stay on red when blue starts on the left
[  4.30]  Stay on red when red-on-white Curtis Trail starts on the left
[  4.90]  Right on gravel Ford Road
[  5.05]  The Pines on the left (retrace as this area is currently closed per Morris County Parks)
[  5.20]  Right on green to pond; retrace **
[  5.55]  Right on Ford Road
[  5.80]  Proceed beyond gate on to paved Ford Road
[  6.15]  Turn left on Kitchell Road with Kitchell Homestead on left
[  6.55]  Turn left on Alpine
[  6.65]  Turn right on Charlotte
[  6.75]  Turn left on Hedwig to cul-de-sac parking


**  Green can be accessed from an unmarked trail into The Pines, the first unmarked trail on the left heading to The Pines from red.  I missed this so I entered the green trail from Ford Road and did an out-and-back instead of a loop.

Lenape Park to Black Brook Park, NJ

ABOUT THE PARK:
Union County Parks - Union County, NJ
East Coast Greenway through Union County - Union County, NJ
Link to East Coast Greenway Opens in Union County - nj.com

DIRECTIONS:
GPS Coordinates 40.674338, -74.315034

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If your GPS tells you to turn on County Road then go off road, don't listen to it because you can't get to the parking lot that way.  There is a park entrance with the sign directly off of Kenilworth Boulevard.

TRAIL MAP:
Lenape Park Map - Union County, NJ
The map only shows the paved trails. There are some dirt trails off of the paved trail.  The map shows a paved connection to the East Coast Greenway - there is no paved connection.
Black Brook Park Map - Union County, NJ
There are a couple of dirt trails not on the map.

Lenape Park and Black Brook Park, NJ at EveryTrail


HIKE DISTANCE: 6 miles

THE HIKE:
I headed west to Echo Lake Park previously and discovered some dirt trails so this time I headed east to Black Brook Park in search of dirt trails off of the paved trail.  There is such a missed opportunity in Lenape Park.  It's huge for this area, you can go from one park to another in a linear route but the trails are disjointed and not connected where it seems trail connections could be made for a nice long loop within Lenape Park. 

If you head east from the parking lot on the mowed grass and through this fence opening ...

...  you should be on a paved trail that crosses over the Rahway River according to the map.  That is not the case.

I suppose you could walk across that concrete thing to the other side but I was not going to do it with 2 dogs.  We'll be crossing on that bridge up head which is Kenilworth Boulevard and get a better shot of this concrete whatever-it-is.

In the meantime, there are some pretty views of the Rahway River back in this part.

Heading out the entrance to Kenilworth Boulevard.

Turn left and cross the bridge over the Rahway River.

This is that white concrete thing from earlier.  It's not exactly a bridge - the top is somewhat rounded.

A little further along Kenilworth Boulevard, the entrance to the East Coast Greenway path but there are no signs.  It shows as being right after that bridge on GoogleMaps but that is not where it is.

The path curves to the left at a woods road ...

... the crosses a bridge over a side stream.

Right after the bridge the paved path veers right.  To the left is a path that leads to ...

... the Rahway River with the Kenilworth Boulevard bridge we just crossed up ahead.  To the right is a path that leads to where you would come out had you crossed that concrete thing.

Retraced from there and continue on the East Coast Greenway path that has mile markers every quarter of a mile.

We were excited to find a path off to the left between the 1/4 and 1/2 mile markers,

but it only went in a short distance to a loop.

An East Coast Greenway sign at a left turn.  Straight goes a short distance to a residential street.

A helmet attached to a tree marks the spot where a construction worker died while working on the path.

The two bridges along this route are pretty beefy considering they bring you over a smallish side stream.

Coming up on Springfield Road where the path connects to Black Brook Park.

Black Brook Park

At the far end of the pond, a dirt trail leaves the paved path heading away from the pond and goes steeply uphill.  It leads to the water tower which is private property but before that point, the trail forks and a left brings you down to a mowed area with the paved path on the other side.

The path crosses Michigan Avenue and continues a short distance before ending.

You can continue on Fairway Drive, a quiet residential street with Galloping Hills Golf Course on the right.

Returning to Black Brook Park, there is a dirt path on the side opposite the paved path.

Back in Lenape Park ...

Shortly after the construction worker's helmet an unmarked trail leaves to the right.

The trail alternates between well-defined to almost completely overgrown.

This unmarked trail follows along the Rahway River and is much more scenic than the paved path.  I was able to follow it for about 3/4 of a mile before I completely lost it and had to bushwhack back to the paved trail. 

Back on the paved path, being watched by baby deer and momma deer.

Coming up on Kenilworth Boulevard.

An East Coast Greenway sign at the exit.