Weldon Brook Wildlife Management Area, NJ - Yellow Beer Trail

ABOUT THE PARK:
Weldon Brook Wildlife Management Area - New York New Jersey Trail Conference

DIRECTIONS:
GPS Coordinates 41.016090, -74.614664

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I believe parking is on the grass across from the office park but there aren't any NO PARKING signs by the gate and enough room for 2-3 cars to park on the side without blocking the gate.

TRAIL MAP:
Jersey Highlands Trail Map 126 - New York New Jersey Trail Conference
Weldon Brook WMA, NJ - Yellow Beer Trail at EveryTrail


HIKE DISTANCE:  8.5 miles

THE HIKE:
This hike is not at all what I intended to do.  I came across a yellow-blazed trail (not on the map), also sometimes blazed with beer bottle caps, and followed that in a direction other than where I wanted to go thinking it might eventually turn.  It did not.  This is, however, a very pretty WMA so we'll just have to go back and hike what I missed another time.

The entrance.  You can either crawl under the chain on the right or...

... go to the left before the chain link fence take the trail around.

Sometimes it's a woods road, other times a trail.

Side trail to Blue Heron Lake was blocked by downed trees that are passable for humans, but would have been too difficult for Shawnee since there were multiple trees down behind the one in the front.

Got a little bit of a picture of Blue Heron Lake.

But a much better picture of the moon.

Continuing on the woods road to ...

Rose Pond

Momma Wood Duck scurrying the kids away to safety.

Wildflowers along the trail.

Sun rising through the trees. (We started at 6:30 AM.)

Hornet's Nest

Looks like mountain bikers made trails around blow downs and Shawnee is pawticularly grateful for that.  At her age going around is preferable to hurdling over

It was just before this yellow-blazed "Beer" trail that we turned left to go to Arapaho Lake but never made it because we ended up in someone's back yard.  It was too overgrown to bushwhack to the lake before the house so we had to turn back.

The yellow trail is very lovely passing through nice areas of forest.

But it also becomes very overgrown in spots.

There are plenty of blazes to follow so it's hard to lose the trail.

It does open up to a woods road...

... but where the yellow trail leaves the woods road, we decided to take a break...

...then continue on the woods road since that was the direction I wanted.  That plan failed - the woods road fizzled out into thick overgrowth.

Back to the yellow trail hoping that although it was not going in the direction I wanted, that it would eventually turn east.  It never did.

Too far in to turn back so continuing on the yellow trail.

Shortly after a creek crossing...

... the yellow trail ends at ...

... Arapaho Trail.  A left would bring us right back to Arapaho Lake, right?  Well, yes and no.  A little way in, HUGE no trespassing and private road signs.

So back the other way and turned right on Glen Road (Route 620).  There is enough room on the shoulder to walk but cars zoom by and it's not all that pleasant.

So which is it?

At least there are some interesting things to see on the road walk.

According to the map, a right turn on Angelo Drive opposite Lukoil should lead to the power cut with trails back to the WMA.  If not, I was prepared to return to Lukoil and call a cab.  Seriously!

Or maybe not.  (This was at Lukoil.)

Angelo Drive goes through a swanky neighborhood on a quiet residential street.

Doesn't matter to her.  She HATES road walking.  See that look of total boredom?

To the left, that opening, could it be?

Indeed!  The trail through the power cut!

Looking a little happier but being back in the woods would really make her day.

The power cut is actually quite pretty with all of the wildflowers.

The trail enters the woods and I should have turned left and stayed with the power cut but I thought I was already farther along the cut so I turned right.  That was wrong.

I was also distracted trying to get pictures of the turkeys!

So we bushwhacked until we ran into a woods road ...

... that took us right where we wanted to be.

Thought he was in focus.  Apparently not.

Happy dog back in the woods!

Back at the car.

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.