ABOUT THE PARKS:
Herrontown Woods Arboretum - Princeton, NJ
Herrontown Woods - Friends of Herrontown Woods
Autumn Hill Reservation - Princeton, NJ
DIRECTIONS:
GPS Coordinates 40.376353, -74.640519
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| Herrontown Woods Parking |
TRAIL MAPS:
Herrontown Woods Map - Friends of Herrontown Woods
Autumn Hill Reservation - NJ Trails Association
HIKE DISTANCE: 4.8 miles
THE HIKE:
This hike links together Herrontown Woods, Autumn Hill Reservation and All Saints Preserve. It could have been somewhat longer but after over a week of rain, the trails were so wet and muddy that it did not make for as enjoyable of a hike as it could have been.
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| The red trail starts to the right of the kiosk. |
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| A short distance in, an unmarked trail splits to the right. I took the unmarked trail. |
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| That trail leads to the Veblen House. |
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| Continuing out on the Velben House drive ... |
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| ... we followed that to Herrontown Road and turned left heading to Autumn Hill Reservation. I had thought we would be road walking back to the trail on the left but that turned out not to be necessary. |
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| It's a short road walk to Autumn Hill. |
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| Leaves have only been out for a couple of weeks and these trails are already becoming overgrown at times even though the trail is well-defined. |
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| The boards were a nice thought. |
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| But on this day, it didn't much matter since most of the trail was a swamp. |
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| An old picnic table rotting and being overtaken by nature. |
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| Following an old stone wall. |
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| The sign points to an outlook. |
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| This would be it. If it weren't for the trees, we'd be looking at homes so apparently that outlook hasn't been for quite some time. |
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| Another outlook sign a little farther along. |
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| And this would be the view in the gas pipeline cut. |
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| Heading back. |
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| A really old junked car. |
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| There were so many birds around but between the camera lens constantly fogging up and the poor lighting, this was the only one I got. |
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| At least it was warm out. |
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| Heading back to the parking lot. |
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| It looked like there was a trail into Herrontown Woods directly across the street from Autumn Hill. |
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| Indeed, an unmarked trail leading right to ... |
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| ... the blue trail. |
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| Blue ends at red; we kept right. |
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| I would have just waded across to get some of the mud out of my shoes but parts looked to be more than knee deep so the log crossing it was. |
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| No owner in sight. He eventually caught up to his dogs. Sigh. |
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| At the All Saints Trail map, right on the All Saints Trail. |
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| This part, if at all possible, was even soggier than what we had hiked so far. Just too much rain. |
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| At the woods road, turn left. |
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| Then left again to come up the other side of the All Saints Trail. |
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| Is that.... the sun?!?!?!? |
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| Coming back into Herrontown Woods, I stayed straight along the creek on white/green. |
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| Then white back to red ... |
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| ... to the parking lot. |
Wow -- it looked like it was still raining while you were hiking, but I guess that was just left over from all the previous rain. I did Herrontown Woods last June, and while there were some "soggy" spots along the Red Trail, it was _nothing_ like what you experienced! The one thing about cloudy/drizzly days is that the gray actually provides a beautiful backdrop/contrast to the greenery of the trees (especially in spring, just after the leaves have either fully or near-fully grown.) That's what happened when I first visited Nolde Forest SP in PA about (wow 12 years ago) -- it was overcast, with periods of light drizzle, but hey, did some of the shots turn out great! But I digress...
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I had seen signs for the All Saints Trail, but didn't get a chance to check it out; also, didn't even know about the Autumn Hill Preserve. But I may wait for "drier times" before checking that one out! :)
But just the same, you still got some great shots; I hate that when things fog up too; I bet you would have gotten more great bird shots! At least Brodie just goes with the flow (no pun intended when it comes to crossing streams sometimes!)
Keep up the great work, and I look forward to the next adventure!
-- Jim
Thanks, Jim! I wasn't sure if it was raining or if it was water coming down off of the leaves. Either way, it was just plain wet out there. There were some glimpses of blue sky when I left at 6 AM but then it rained most of the way there, stopping just as I arrived. Brodie is getting better at stream crossings. At least I don't have to drag him in any more!
DeleteDaniela
Hello: Hiking vicariously with you and Brodie really brightens a Monday by lifting my spirits. I feel i'm out in nature when I see all the scenic pictures with and without Brodie. He seems to really have become a great hiker dog. I also prefer a trail without the intense mud and glop but it is something
ReplyDeletedifferent. Thanks for all your hard work so we can read about and see the hikes.
Bill from Clifton
Thanks, Bill! You are enabling me, LOL. Brodie is doing much better overall. His anxieties finally seem to be under control and that just makes life easier for all concerned. I would bet hiking has a lot to do with that because you should see him when he knows that we are going hiking. Where Shawnee would get excited but wait until I had everything in the car before putting her in, Brodie MUST be in the car before anything else or he will wake up the entire neighborhood. Once in the car, he is quiet until I load everything else up. I think he just wants to make sure I don't forget him.
DeleteHi looks like a nice hike but it did look muddy and wet. I give you credit for going out there. Thanks for sharing! Joanne from NJ
ReplyDeleteIt was very muddy and wet but even a shorter, muddy, wet hike is better than no hike at all!
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