Cloverdale Farm County Park, NJ

ABOUT THE PARK: 

Cloverdale Farm County Park - Ocean County Parks 

Cloverdale Farm County Park Brochure - Ocean County Parks 

DIRECTIONS: 

GPS Coordinates 39.75852, -74.27885

Small parking lot with room for about 10 cars.

TRAIL MAP: 

Cloverdale Farm County Park Map - Ocean County Parks

HIKE DISTANCE: 

Cloverdale Farm County Park - 2 miles

     hiked together with

Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, NJ - Cedar Bonnet Island - 1.5 miles

     12 miles/16 minutes away

THE HIKE: 

Went to take the first picture and got the "no memory card" error message.  EGADS!  Forgot to put the memory card back in the camera.  I always keep a spare in my backpack for just such an occasion, however, I haven't been wearing my backpack on these short hikes.  So iPhone photos it is.

There is supposed to be an orange-blazed 1.4 mile trail and the only thing I saw from the parking lot that looked like it might be the trail was this post and a sign for the visitor center.  That was not it, but for lack of anything better, that is the way we went.

You  might not want to go this way from June to September.

We did run into trails and benches but no blazes.  No problem, we are always game to explore and nice that there were additional trails.

The trail loops around and comes at the reservoir.

Right on a dike between the cranberry bogs on the left and the reservoir on the right.  Turns out this is part of that orange trail but never saw any blazes.  Then again the bright sun was in my eyes so can't swear they weren't there.

Reservoir on the right ...

... cranberry bogs on the left.

After the gate the trail turns left along the cranberry bogs but I could hear voices that way so I took an unmarked trail up a bit on the right.

Higher up with no other people around.

Those people that were on the lower trail passed by as we came back to that trail along the bogs and looking to the left - there is the orange trail! 

And there are the blazes.

Since the people who were on that trail were now gone, we just backtracked on the orange trail along the bogs.

Taking another dike towards the visitor center.

Looping back around to where we found the orange trail.

We followed some bike tracks and footprints off trail but they didn't lead anywhere.

So backtracking on orange and staying with orange the rest of the hike.

Three out of focus deer with the lousy zoom on the iPhone.  Kicking myself again for forgetting the memory card.  Of course on this gorgeous day there were a ton of birds around but not even worth trying with the iPhone.

So there is the parking lot and here we are on the trail.  How did we miss getting on the trail?

The trail continues its loop past the parking lot.

To get to the lot it's a few steps over to the left.

Looking back, there are no signs at all and you would never know that is the trail.  To access it, you need to go between the shrubs where those people are coming off of the trail to the left of the parking lot drive.

Barnegat Branch Trail, NJ - Dudley Park to Hebrew Park

 

ABOUT THE PARK: 

Barnegat Branch Trail - Ocean County Parks

DIRECTIONS: 

GPS Coordinates 39.869722, -74.170319

Parking at William J. Dudley Park

TRAIL MAP: 

Barnegat Branch Trail Map - Ocean County Parks (we hiked from number 8 to number 9 on the green section)

HIKE DISTANCE:  2.75 miles (can be made longer staying on the Barnegat Branch Trail)

THE HIKE: 

With 18 inches of snow in my neck of the woods, I had to find a snow-free place. After consulting the snow depth map, I headed to just south of Toms River where it was 95% snow free!  As a bonus, there is so much parking space yet there were very few people around on a sunny and warm 49 degree day.

A trail from the parking lot leads to the Barnegat Branch Trail.

But first I spotted a side trail to the right at a fork and took that to see where it went.

Little did I know it would loop me around to the main park road.

We just had to continue on and start again.

Back through the parking lot to the trail.

A short side trail to the left leads to Cedar Creek.

Then a pretty boardwalk ...

... to the Cedar Creek Trestle.

Turning right here leads to additional miles of the Barnegat Branch Trail in this completed section but we turned left ...

... over the trestle.

Coming up on the South Street parking lot on the left and Hebrew Park on the right.

This section of the Barnegat Branch Trail ends just to the left but to the right an opening in the fence to the trail around Hebrew Park.

We turned right to loop counter clockwise.

Having completed the loop, back through the opening in the fence to retrace on the Barnegat Branch Trail.

Back at the parking lot.

From the parking lot, a short walk over to Cedar Creek for a look.

Two mallards that don't look the same.  Apparently the one of the left is called a bibbed mallard.