Black Brook Park, NJ - East Coast Greenway

 

ABOUT THE PARK: 

Black Brook Park - Explore Union County

East Coast Greenway

DIRECTIONS: 

GPS Coordinates 40.684548, -74.298775

Black Brook Park Parking

TRAIL MAP: 

HIKE DISTANCE:  3.5 miles (1.75 miles each way)

THE HIKE: 

A family hike on a very cold and windy March day.

The grandkids.

Cousins by Adoption

Ducks in Shallcross Pond

To loop around the pond first we turned right on the paved path.  There is no paved path that loops around so left on the grass ...

... to a footpath along the far side of the pond.

It's not very stroller-friendly over on the far side.

Back on the paved path, we crossed road to continue on the East Coast Greenway.  Fortunately there was no gunfire because we know how Brodie feels about that.

Northern Mockingbird

Children running wild.

White-breasted Nuthatch

Our turn around point at Kenilworth Boulevard.

On the way back, a right on a dirt path for an out and back to the dam.

We were being watched.

The dam is down to the right but it was steep and muddy so I didn't go down.

Back to the paved path

There were a bunch of white-throated sparrows digging around in the leaves for dinner.  These two have different coloring, one bolder with black stripes and the other duller with brown stripes.  Turns out there are two color morphs and this picture has one of each.

Back at the road crossing ...

... over to Black Brook Park.

Oak Ridge Park, NJ - Perimeter Loop

 

ABOUT THE PARK: 

Oak Ridge Park - Explore Union County

DIRECTIONS: 

GPS Coordinates 40.608349, -74.342108

The new athletic field parking lot where hardly anyone parks when there are no events at the field.

Or the main lot where everyone parks, just a short distance from the new lot.

TRAIL MAP: 

Oak Ridge Park - Union County Parks (map not updated)

My updates on the original map, perimeter loop in orange.

HIKE DISTANCE:  2.8 miles

THE HIKE: 

I used to come here often when this park first became a park, converted from a golf course.  Nobody knew about it for a long time but word got out and it became overly popular so I hadn't been for a few years.  But now with working from home allowing enough lunch hour time, it warranted a visit during the week.

We walked out the parking lot exit and turned right on the path parallel to Oak Ridge Road.

The path turns right heading into the park.

The path loop around coming back towards Oak Ridge Road ...

... and the main parking lot.

The trail continues at the far end of the main parking lot just before the archery range.

It can get a little busy spots.

There are trash cans everywhere but wouldn't you know this is the one time Brodie did not poop.  I was so looking forward to not having to carry his poop bag.

Someone was hiding behind a branch.

There she is!  A female downy woodpecker.

We had a lot of snow melt and rain so I expected a section to be flooded out.

It's easy enough to backtrack to where it is dry and cut across the grass.

Coming up behind the athletic field.

A section of trail used to go right through what is now the athletic field.  Turning left at the crosswalk ...

... a new path goes between the two parking lot sections ...

... and continues as a path after the parking lot entrance crosswalk.

Some Canada geese taking a break from their migration.

The path loops around heading back towards the parking lot along Oak Ridge Road.

The crosswalk at the parking lot entrance ...

... then the second crosswalk at the parking lot exit back to where we parked.

There they go continuing their journey.