Berkshire Valley Wildlife Management Area, NJ

ABOUT THE PARK:
Berkshire Valley WMA - New York New Jersey Trail Conference
Berkshire Valley Management Area Trail - TrailLink.com

DIRECTIONS:
GPS Coordinates to Gordon Road Parking 40.909909, -74.617063

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PEAK BAGGING:
Mount Arlington - NJ 1K Club
Mount Arlington - Peakery.com

TRAIL MAP:
Jersey Highlands Trail Map 126 - New York New Jersey Trail Conference
Berkshire Valley WMA, NJ at EveryTrail


HIKE DISTANCE:  6.7 miles

THE HIKE:

The trail begins at the far end of the parking lot.

A 4-way intersection a few steps in.  To the right is the return route coming from the old rail bed, the summit of Mount Arlington is to the left.

The trail looks overgrown at first ...

... but it opens up to a woods road ...

... and is blazed with some red smiley faces although just in this area and near the summit, not all along the way.

Crossing Stephens Creek which is pretty much dry right now.

Lots of forks and intersections (and no more red smiley faces) but it's not very hard to figure out with a GPS.

Bushwhacking to the summit of Mount Arlington but it is fairly clear so it's easy going

At the summit!  Shawnee turns 13.5 sometime this month and she just bagged her 22nd NJ 1K'er!

Bushwhacking back to another woods road we saw on the way to the summit ...

... which turns out to be blazed with those red smiley faces.

There is lots of old rusty stuff around.

There was a pretty long section of woods road covered in broken dishes, broken bottles and shards of glass.  I kept getting glass stuck in the treads of my hiking shoes.  How I managed to maneuver Shawnee through that minefield of broken glass without her getting cut was nothing short of a miracle.

Fortunately the walking surface eventually cleared but then we entered an overgrown section.

I saw movement to the right - domestic cat or something else?  It was gone by the time I tried to get a second shot.

Ruins in the woods.

The trail ends at a residential area but following the GPS, I kept turning right until...

... a trail entered the woods at the end of a paved road and ...

... led straight to the Berkshire Valley Management Area Trail where I wanted to be.

This old rail bed leads all the way back to the parking area, gradually downhill with a nice breeze.

An old railroad tie off the trail.

A railroad tie left in the trail.

The only bird shot of the day.

Paulinskill Wildlife Management Area, NJ - Hyper Humus Marshes North

ABOUT THE PARK:
Hyper Humus Marshes - NJ Audubon
March 1956 Hyper-Humus Ad

DIRECTIONS:
GPS Coordinates 41.090907, -74.705954

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Continue up the long drive to the parking area just before the gate.  This is looking back towards the entrance from the gate.

TRAIL MAP:
Hyper Humus Map
Paulinskill Wildlife Management Area, NJ - Hyper Humus Marshes at EveryTrail


HIKE DISTANCE:  6.2 miles

THE HIKE:
This hike is amazingly gorgeous but be aware that there is no shade for about 2/3 of this hike and even on a cool, mostly cloudy day, when the sun comes out it gets HOT!

Starting at the gate from the parking area, take the road named "Dirt Road" on the map.

The dirt road meets up with the Paulins Kill on the left.

Gray Catbird

Dirt Road

Marshes, then ponds on the right.

Great Egret

Beautiful ponds with lots of wildflowers.

Leaving the dirt road on a path between the ponds.

Eastern Phoebe?

It was getting hot in the sun so a cool down was just what she needed.

Red-winged Blackbird

At the other side of the ponds a woods road leads through a shady, wooded area to...

Reynold's Lake with a startled Great Blue Heron taking off.

A mowed path goes to the right...

... but ends at a broken bridge.

A woods road goes to the left ...

... and ends at a house with a mowed lawn.  There were no private property signs but it looked like someone's house and yard to me so this was where we turned around.

Early leaf change. (Way too early.)

On the way back between the ponds I was taking pictures of this Great Egret and had no idea a cormorant was sharing the tree with him until I uploaded the pictures!

Changing branches.

Shawnee is very close and the Great Egret is not worried.

But when I got to where Shawnee was, the Great Egret became worried about me and took off.

Back to the dirt road crossing a bridge over ...

Paulins Kill

Dragonflies were doing a great job of keeping the marsh area mosquito-free.  (But there were plenty of mosquitoes on the rail trail where dragonflies don't hang out.)

Dirt Road becomes a path.

Getting hot and lagging in the sun so lots of water breaks were needed when shade was available.

We actually weren't going to hike this weekend because it was supposed to be a washout but at 8:30 AM on the first day of the weekend storms the rain stopped.  At that moment the forecast changed to "storm moved out" so we scrambled to be on our way to hike and yes, I forgot the chicken jerky.

But I did have some Pill Pockets in my backpack that I give her Tramadol with when we are hiking so she got all of those instead.  I think all is forgiven.

A Cedar Waxwing hiding his head behind a leaf.

I was surprised she tried to walk across this bridge but she soon realized what she was walking on and scurried back.

Not paw friendly :(

The bridge goes over the Paulins Kill but there is nothing on the other side so this is a turnaround point.

Waiting for mom to come back over that horrible bridge.

The path ends at the Sussex Branch Trail.

Sussex Branch Trail - all shaded and breezy.

Looking back at Hyper Humus from the Sussex Branch Trail.

The intersection with the Paulinskill Valley Trail where we turn left.

Cross Route 663 and continue through the Paulinskill Valley Trail parking lot.

In under half a mile, turn left...

... back to the parking lot.

HIKE SUMMARY:
[  0.00]  Continue on road beyond the barrier
[  0.80]  Keep straight when bridge goes left; proceed between two ponds
[  1.10]  At the other side of the ponds, woods road veers left
[  1.40]  Make sharp right turn at intersection
[  1.50]  Turn right at intersection to Reynolds Lake
[  1.70]  Retrace at broken bridge
[  1.90]  Turn right and follow woods road along left side of Reynolds Lake
[  2.10]  Retrace at end of woods road near residence
[  2.30]  Right on woods road retracing back to path between ponds
[  2.75]  Continue on path between ponds
[  3.00]  Turn right and cross wooden bridge
[  3.80]  Turn right on path between ponds
[  3.90]  Bridge with metal grate; retrace
[  4.00]  Continue straight with pond on right
[  4.15]  Turn left on Sussex Branch Trail
[  5.60]  Cross Route 663
[  5.75]  Turn left on Paulinskill Valley Trail
[  5.85]  Cross Route 663
[  6.20]  Turn left back to parking