ABOUT THE PARK:
Monmouth Battlefield State Park - New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection
DIRECTIONS:
GPS Coordinates 40.26307, -74.32105
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| Huge parking lot by the visitor's center. The park opens at 8 and I arrived at 7:15. There are some spots for parking before the gate if it is still closed but on this morning the gates were open so I drove on in. |
TRAIL MAP:
Monmouth Battlefield Brochure and Map - New Jersey DEP
HIKE DISTANCE: 8.4 miles
THE HIKE:
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| We started on the path around the parking lot, heading in the direction of the park entrance, hoping to get to the red trail. |
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| And there it is, just before the park road. |
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| Brodie sees something. |
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| This would be what he saw. |
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| When the other trails starts merging in with red from the right ... |
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| The trails are nearing the end. It's only these trails in the vicinity of the visitor's center that are actually marked. |
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| Cross over the bridge to the left and nothing is marked even though the map shows different trail colors. |
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| We just kept to the left and followed around the fields. |
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| Balloon #1 of the day, #7 for the year. |
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| A short side trail down to Spotswood Middle Brook. |
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| Sleeping orchards across the way. |
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| Coming up on Battleview Orchards. |
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| Under the railroad tracks ... |
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| ... with balloon #2 of the day, #8 of the year. |
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| It looks like a trail continues directly across Route 522 but it dead ends. I vaguely remember following that to the dead end with Shawnee 8 years ago. |
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| What you are supposed to do is turn right then cross left at the crosswalk. |
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| That leads to a wide mowed path with some ruins. |
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| There used to be markers. |
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| A red-tailed hawk was sitting right there but he flew away before I could get a shot and a bluejay immediately took the hawk's place. How brazen of him. |
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| Craig House |
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| Behind the Craig Barn ... |
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| ... balloon #3 of the day, #9 of the year. |
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| Again following the perimeter of fields. |
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| We turned left at this hedgerow instead of doing the entire perimeter because winter slime was on its way and I wanted to be finished before it hit. |
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| Conover-Perrine House |
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| And we had to come this way to retrieve balloon #4 of the day, #10 of the year. |
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| Retracing ... |
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| ... back to the crosswalk ... |
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| ... and heading back the proper way. |
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| Rotten apples everywhere in the orchard. |
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| A different bridge over Spotswood South Brook heading back to the visitor's center. |
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| Spotswood South Brook |
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| But first, taking the blue trail to the left to loop around back to the visitor's center and parking lot. |
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| And for balloon #5, 11th of the year. |
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| Then a short distance later, balloon #6, 12th of the year. I swear I wanted to finish with my eyes closed. These balloons were filled with ice and I could carry no more. |
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| Back at the visitor's center. |
