Thompson Park and Conservation Area, NJ

ABOUT THE PARK: 

Thompson Park - Middlesex County

Thompson Park Conservation Area - Middlesex County

DIRECTIONS: 

GPS Coordinates 40.345240, -74.436829

Boat Launch Parking in the first lot on the left from the park entrance.

TRAIL MAPS: 

Thompson Park Trail Map - Middlesex County

Thompson Park Conservation Area Trail Map - Middlesex County

HIKE DISTANCE: 11.7 miles

THE HIKE: 

This hike has been in my file for several years but even though it is not that far away, there was not enough trail mileage for me.  When I checked for a more current map I found trails had been expanded and added in the Conservation Area section.  The trails are well marked and nicely maintained.  The only problem was finding the connections from one section to the other because those connections, although shown on the map, are not blazed so I had to do some searching to get from one parcel to the next.

Manalapan Lake

We headed into the park on the grassy area along the lake.  There will be no indication of where the trails start along the way.

Through parking lots keeping with the lake on our left.

We headed away from the lake to the right to check out the animal haven.

Brodie is thinking breakfast buffet.  We would check the fowl out better on the way back as some were still asleep.

Keeping with the lake on our left, the goal was to reach the circular drive ...

... then head across a field to where the white trail starts at the tree line.

At the end of white we turned left on green.

There was a footpath on the left that we checked out.  It runs parallel to green then merges back onto green.  I found that there are a lot of more circular paint markings on trees along the way but they aren't necessarily trail blazes.  

Back on green.

We squiggled around on trails on the eastern side of the park and would return on trails on the western side.

A scenic section along Manalapan Brook.

At the southern end of the park we took a side trail blazed in orange circles to the left ...

... that leads to the back of the school.  Here the blazes end so you have to know where to go.  I figured it out so here we go.  Turn left ...

... and follow the dirt road between the woods and the school field.

This puts you on to Schoolhouse Road where you continue ...

... along the tree line so you don't have to road walk.  The school is on the right now.

After crossing this entrance, it's sidewalk.

Just after the 25 mph sign, turn left and cross Schoolhouse Road into the first parking lot entrance.

Go through the parking lot then between the softball field on the left and the tennis courts on the right.

At the tree line, turn left and follow behind the bleachers at the softball field.

At the far end of the softball field head towards the suspended tire ...

... and just beyond that, ta da!  The start of the Gravel Hill Trail.

At the first intersection we turned left and would be retuning from the right later.

On my old map this was a single trail out and back but now it has been made into a loop.

At the south end of this section left on the red-blazed trail a short distance to ...

... the Monroe Township Soccer Complex.  There is absolutely no indication where to go but after a lot of searching and back and forth, I finally figured it out.  There should be an arrow here pointing left - would have saved a lot a frustration!  So what you do is turn left immediately after exiting the trail and follow along the edge of the field next to the tree line.  There will be posts with markers, you just can't see them from this point.

At the far end of the field the trail veers left ...

... then follows along Hoffman Station Road on a sidewalk.

I noticed a service road entrance on the right and decided to cross over and take that since I did not know if I would have more problems finding the trail.

The service road led directly to the red trail where we turned right.

Red is a loop and blue would take us back where we had already been. Straight would take us back to the service road so we turned right on red to see what the proper trail entrance looked like.

Here is the trailhead on Newman Station Road ...

... and looking back at it.  It would have been easy enough to see from the road walk.

It was here I notice blazes painted on the sidewalk.

At the end of the sidewalk, right to the field.

Posts with markers along the field leading back to the Gravel Hill Trail.

Killdeer

Back at the Gravel Hill Trail entrance.

At the white trail, we turned left to complete the loop.

Having completed the loop, left to retrace.

The end of the Gravel Hill Trail just before the hanging tire and softball field.

Retracing back to the main park.

Right back into the park where we had come out earlier.

Now taking trails on the western side of the park.

Heading left towards the animal haven.

They must be really used to dogs because they could have cared less about Brodie.

The geese, however, started hissing so I hurried Brodie away.

Heading back along the lake to the parking lot.

Austin T. Blakeslee Natural Area, PA

ABOUT THE PARK: 

Austin T. Blakeslee Natural Area Brochure - Tobyhanna Township

DIRECTIONS: 

GPS Coordinates 41.08315, -75.58443

Lower Parking Lot

TRAIL MAP: 

Austin T. Blakeslee Natural Area Brochure - Tobyhanna Township

HIKE DISTANCE: 3 miles

THE HIKE: 

Driving home from hiking Bald Mountain at Lehigh Gorge State Park, I hadn't been on I-80 East very long when I happened to remember that the Austin T Blakeslee Natural Area was somewhere right off of I-80.  I pulled off at the next exit to check on my phone and amazingly, I was at the correct exit and the natural area was only a mile or so away from the exit, only 20 miles from the hike I had just come from.

The trails start to the right of the kiosk.

There are no obvious trail markers at first so we headed left into the pines towards Tobyhanna Creek ...

... where we picked up the red-blazed Creek Trail.  I found that throughout there are either a lot of trail marks in a row, none at all, sometimes sporadic and the format changes from diamonds to circles to faint paint.  And there are lots of unmarked side trails but it's a small area so hard to get lost.

Tobyhanna Creek

Oh no!

But turns out this is totally doable without a bridge so on we went.

Tobyhanna Falls

We stayed with the red Creek Trail all the way to the end and would hit the blue trail on the way back.

The orange Pine Trail would be for the return route also.

At the Falls Overlook ...

... where it is actually kind of hard to get a clear view back at the falls where we had just been.

Just after this rock hop the trail ends at private property ...

... so we headed back.

At this huge pine, left on blue.

After meeting back up with red for a bit, left on orange.

Orange loops around and comes back out on red where we retraced,

Back at the parking lot.