Highlands Trail - New York New Jersey Trail Conference
Highlands Trail Section 12 - New York New Jersey Trail Conference
DIRECTIONS:
GPS Coordinates 40.61464, -75.15303
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| Musconetcong Gorge Preserve Parking on Cyphers Road |
TRAIL MAP:
Highlands Trail Map 1 - New York New Jersey Trail Conference
HIKE DISTANCE: 8.1 miles
THE HIKE:
With everything frozen solid under 4 - 12 inches of snow and ice and high temps in the teens on weekends it has become impossible to hike. With the high temp hitting in the 30's on a Tuesday a vacation day was in order. But where to hike? It occurred to me that this would be a good time to do a road walk portion of the Highlands Trail that I had been putting off. Roads all plowed and cleared but way too much road salt for Brodie's paws so he stayed home.
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| From the parking lot left on Cyphers Road which is actually the orange trail for the Musconetcong George Preserve. |
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| At the intersection right on Bellis Road which is the route of the teal diamond Highlands Trail. |
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| There was a blaze on the right early on but I missed it and it took a while before I saw ... |
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| ... another teal Highlands Trail blaze. They are there but because of private property along the way they can be scarce at times. |
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| Passing by Musconetcong WMA. It looks like there is a path to the Musconetcong River but with the parking lot plowed with snow and ice piled at the entrance of the path and the path under a foot of snow I did not check it out. |
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| The road follows the Musconetcong River for a while. |
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| Coming up on this intersection, it's worth going a short distance to the right ... |
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| ... to the bridge over the Musconetcong River. |
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| Musconetcong River upstream and ... |
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| Musconetcong River downstream. |
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| Heading back to Bellis Road it becomes Mt. Joy Road where I turned right to continue. |
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| There is some nice scenery along the way. |
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| Right on Riegelsville Milford Road. |
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| Especially with the snow there is no place to walk off the traffic lanes but traffic was very light. |
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| I would be coming back on Firehouse Lane later. |
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| I would be turning on Old River Road on the way back. |
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| For now across the bridge over the Musconetcong River. |
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| Left on Riegelsville Warren Glen Road. |
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| Right on River Road ... |
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| ... then left to the bridge over the Delaware River. |
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| Delaware River to the south. |
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| One lonely little female common merganser in the water. |
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| I went on across the bridge into Pennsylvania ... |
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| ... and veered right to the Riegelsville Inn where there was a clean spot in their parking lot to set my backpack down and get a drink. |
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| Heading back. |
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| Delaware River to the north. |
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| Just after crossing the Musconetcong River ... |
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| ... right on Old River Road. |
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| Catching a river view at the end of the boat ramp. |
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| Walking along Old River Road with Delaware River views. |
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| Left on Firehouse Lane ... |
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| ... then right on Riegelsville Milford Road back on the Highlands Trail. |
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| Left on Mt. Joy Road. |
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| I had seen this honey stand on the way out and wanted to stop there on the way back. |
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| You can pay with Venmo |
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| Honey purchase made and continuing on. |
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| Passing by that bridge ... |
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| ... where the road now becomes Bellis Road. |
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| A John Deere tractor mailbox and a real John Deere tractor. |
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| Left on Cyphers Road. (The Highlands Trail continues straight into Musconetcong Gorge Preserve.) |
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