ABOUT THE PARK:
Wharton State Forest - NJ Department of Environmental Protection
Bass River State Forest - NJ Department of Environmental Protection
Harrisville Village Video Tour - Pinelands Preservation Alliance
DIRECTIONS:
GPS Coordinates 39.665251, -74.524247
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| Parking at Harrisville Pond |
TRAIL MAP:
Batona Trail Map - NJ Pine Barrens Forum
Wharton State Forest Map - NJDEP
Bass River State Forest Map - NJDEP
Harrisville Podcast Tour Map - Pinelands Preservation Alliance (only shows Harrisville Pond area)
HIKE DISTANCE: 11.5 miles
THE HIKE:
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| Finding the blue-blazed Lake Trail is a little (a lot) tricky if you don't know where to go. It is not on the Wharton State Forest map and there are no signs. So walk out of the parking lot and turn right on Rt. 679. Walk a short distance then turn right at the Canoe Landing sign just beyond the guardrail. |
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| Walk straight ahead veering slightly left to the brown post which is ... |
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| ... the blue-blazed Lake Trail. |
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| There are several spots with nice views of Harrisville Pond. |
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| At the pink Batona Trail arrow ... |
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| ... turn right and cross the bridge to ... |
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| ... the Batona Trail. We turned left first because I wanted to get that little section to ... |
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| ... Route 679. There is parking on the other side and that is where I'll be parking to finish my last section of the Batona Trail at another time. |
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| This was just to get this little piece out of the way so back where we came off of the Lake Trail and there is not only one but there are two "Lake Trail" signs here. |
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| Continuing straight (south) on the Batona Trail. |
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| There are mile markers every half mile. |
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| Oswego River |
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| Martha Bridge over the Oswego River |
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| The trail had been very dry up to this point even with snow/sleet/rain the day before. Once on sand roads there were huge puddles but it was possible to get around all of them. |
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| Entering Bass River State Forest. |
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| I did not lose Brodie. Apparently there was a shooting range in the vicinity (far, far, away and I could barely hear the gunfire). We were heading towards the gunfire, which he is TERRIFIED of. Thunderstorms, fireworks, no problem. But with gunfire he hides behind me and puts me in the line of fire. Shawnee would have never. Just sayin'. |
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| In a sit/stay for the camera. Under duress. Note the ears pointed towards the where the far away gunfire is coming from. |
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| There were lots of birds around but only got one in mid flight. |
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| He's back in the lead! Just in time for ... |
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| Ives Pond |
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| We found a little side trail with a log to sit on along the side of Ives Pond. Gunfire has not ruined his appetite. |
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| Heading back the way we came. |
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| Up front and center now that the gunfire is fading away behind us. |
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| Where the Batona Trail turned right, we continued straight on a sand road called Calico Road. |
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| Oh, look what we have over here. |
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| Balloon #2 of the year. |
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| At the fork we stayed right. |
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| Here we found balloon #3 of the year. |
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| We merged left onto Martha Road following along the canal. |
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| Right on Route 679. |
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| It's not a far road walk back to Harrisville Pond but there is more to see along the way. |
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| On the left, the old Harrisville paper mill ruins. |
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| On the other side of Route 679 is what used to be North Main Street ... |
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| ... with gristmill ruins. |
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| I thought that the woods road might lead back to the parking lot which is over there at the far side of the pond but no, there's another dam that is fenced in so we had to backtrack ... |
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| ... and continue the road walk on Route 679... |
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| ... across the dam at the bridge ... |
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| ... and back to the parking lot. |
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| Brodie was quite loaded down with litter which we picked up along the Batona Trail. It's the sand roads where vehicles are allowed to drive that there are beer bottles and beer cans everywhere! It's really quite sad where this is otherwise such a pretty area. |
