Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge, DE

ABOUT THE PARK:
Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge - US Fish and Wildlife Service
Entrance fee can be paid at the visitor center or at the beginning of the auto tour.

DIRECTIONS:
GPS Coordinates to Visitor Center Parking 39.259600, -75.473709

View Larger Map

Visitor Center Parking

TRAIL MAP:
Public Tour Route Map (page 5) - National Wildlife Refuge Auto Tour (this map is better than the trail map)
Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge, DE at EveryTrail


HIKE DISTANCE:
There really are no hiking trails, just a few short mowed paths/boardwalks to overlooks.  I hiked two loops and an out-and-back linking them together in the car on the auto route.  If Shawnee were a couple years younger and hadn't already hiked 15 miles in the past week (yikes!) I would have hiked the whole thing but it would have come to over 11 miles.  This is how it breaks down:
Raymond Pool Loop (park at visitor's center) - 3.5 miles
Bear Swamp Pool Loop (drive to Bear Swamp and park at trail entrance) - 3.4 miles
Parson Point Trail (finish driving tour and park at trail entrance on way to exit) - 1.2 miles

THE HIKE:

Hang a left out of the visitor center and follow the signs as though in a car, but on foot!

Today's hiking trail.

On the left, the parking area and trail to the Raymond Observation Tower.

A wide mowed path leads the way.

Shawnee waiting while I climb the observation tower.  I am terrified of heights but I was climbing these towers like nobody's business.

Views from the tower.

This tower was crowded with birders so I did not stay long.

On to the Boardwalk Trail.

On the Boardwalk Trail, a red-bellied woodpecker...

... eating ...

... breakfast.

Yum.

Raccoon and assorted critter tracks in the mud off of the boardwalk.

Tree Swallow (recently arrived from wintering in Mexico/South America/Caribbean)

Red-winged Blackbird

Back on the auto tour route.

Shovelers

Lots of shovelers.

Snow geese in the distance.

To the Shearness Tower.

Great, nobody there!

Shawnee waits patiently.  She is only tied to my backpack but it does not move an inch.

More snow geese in the distance.

Finishing the loop back to the Visitor Center.

Driving the loop we just walked.

Common Merganser

American Coots

Greater Yellowlegs

Parking at the Bear Swamp Trail.

Bear Swamp Trail.

Bananas?

Views from the observation tower.

Hiking the Bear Swamp Pool loop.

Savannah Sparrow (?)

This is where all of these snow geese are congregating.

Great Blue Heron

Lots of nests everywhere.

More snow geese arriving.

Somebody is getting tired.

Back to the car for a break while we finish the auto tour.

Driving the loop we just hiked.

Those last snow geese flying over had joined the others - there were noticeably more geese.

What is that big bird over to the left?

WOW!  A bald eagle!  I took many, many pictures but he was far away and with the zoom on my camera as far as it would go, the pictures were not very clear.  This is the best one.

I parked at the Parson Point Trail and considered leaving Shawnee in the car since it was cloudy and cool but she was having none of that so she came along.

A huge old tree at the end of the Parson Point Trail.

Not much to see on this trail and it's kind of overgrown at the end so no good views.

But it's a nice walk through the woods for a change.

Batona Trail - Pakim Pond to Franklin Parker Preserve, NJ

ABOUT THE PARK: 
Brendan T. Byrne State Forest - NJ Division of Parks and Forests
Franklin Parker Preserve - New Jersey Conservation Foundation
New Batona Trail Section Debuts - New Jersey Conservation Foundation

DIRECTIONS:
Pakim Pond picnic area parking lot:
GPS coordinates 39.880188, -74.533664


TRAIL MAP:
Brendan T. Byrne State Forest Trail Map - NJ Division of Parks and Forests
Batona Trail Re-Route - New Jersey Conservation Foundation

HIKE DISTANCE: 8.3 miles

THE HIKE:
We had just hiked a different section of the Batona Trail 2 days before.  What a difference 2 days of temperatures in the 40's and 50's makes.  The snow was almost gone!  And thanks, Jim, for the recommendation.  This is a very lovely section of the Batona Trail!

The half moon was visible throughout the entire hike.

Started at the far left corner of the parking lot.

Trails to the left, restrooms and Pakim Pond to the right.

Pakim Pond

To the trails.

A short distance ahead, turn right on the Batona Trail which follows the white Mt. Misery Trail.

Swamp on the left,

Pakim Pond on the right.

The Mt. Misery Trail leaves to the left, the Batona Trail to the right.

The other side of Pakim Pond where we started.

Through a swamp on boardwalks.

Sometimes she thinks being up on the boardwalk is a better idea,

sometimes not.  But just wait, this comes back to bite her in a bit.

After the swamp the trail dries out, amazingly dry after two days of snow melt.

We would have used this sign the other day when we went the wrong way.  But just as well because we came back to much less snow.

The re-route of the Batona Trail starts at Route 72 leaving Brendan Byrne State Forest and entering Franklin Parker Preserve.

The trails follows Route 72 on a woods road for a short distance before heading right into the woods.

Done for this season, thank goodness, but FYI in the future.

Another swamp where you alternate between tree roots and boardwalks.

Dry again for a bit.

Until this section of wobbly, floating (?) boardwalks.  They sink when you step on them so Shawnee figured, what the heck.  At one point we both stepped on the same section and sank.

A log bridge over a creek.

Cranberry bogs to the right.

And quite a bit of snow and ice still along the cranberry bogs.

OK, this is where it happened.  Shawnee's indecisiveness about whether to bridge/boardwalk or whether not to got her in big trouble.  At the end of this bridge there are trees in the middle and it's tricky to get around then you have to jump over water into a large animal hole before you hit solid ground.  Shawnee stepped to the right where the foam is and as I yelled NOOOOOOOO she stepped off completely.  One minute she was there, the next minute completely gone.  I will forever remember SEEING HER HEAD UNDER WATER as she struggled to the surface.  Thank goodness for the handle on her harness.  That made hauling her out much easier, otherwise I would have been going in after her.

Totally, 100%, completely, every single strand of fur soaking wet.

Not too far after the cranberry bogs, the trail was totally flooded out and our mileage was getting a little long so we turned around to head back.

Where the Batona Trail turns right on the way back, I kept straight thinking I could go around the cranberry bogs a different way and meet back up with the Batona Trail.  Unfortunately, that way was flooded out, too, so we had to retrace.  (I saw later looking at my track in satellite view that had I slogged on through, I was almost at the turning point and would have ended up on a path to Laurel Lane and could have taken that a short distance to where the Batona Trail crosses over.) 

This is the view of that bridge where Shawnee stepped off as we headed back.  She once again tried to go that same way - I suppose the foam looks like solid ground to her - but this time I forced her to the right of those trees in the middle and she got over without going in.  That water is DEEP!

Just ask her.

The cranberry bogs on the way back.

At this point I noticed her limping and when she stopped she held her left paw up.  Oh no, now what?  I thought maybe she did something to her leg during her ordeal but when I checked her paw, she had a thorn stuck in her pad.  Once I yanked that out, all was well once more.  Not a good Friday the 13th for Shawnee :(

A spot of warm sunshine!

We took a break and let Shawnee's harness and fur drip dry for a bit.

Back through the swamp.

Crossing back over Route 72.

Back through Brendan Byrne State Forest.

The Batona Trail along Pakim Pond.

Chicken jerky makes everything better.  Except the wet swamp dog smell during the drive home.