St. Michaels Farm Preserve was formerly the site of an orphanage. Set on the northern slope of the Rocky Hill Ridge (though not quite at the top), most of the fields overlook attractive views of the main Sourland ridge, a … Read More
The Hunterdon County Sourland Mountain Preserve is located roughly 5 miles to the southwest of a Somerset County Park with a confusingly similar name. Both share the same ridge of Jurassic diabase, an intrusive igneous rock. The Somerset County park … Read More
For years I’ve heard about the Griggstown Native Grasslands Preserve but was never motivated to visit. Frankly, “Grassland Preserve” may be accurate, but it’s terrible branding for a woodland hiker who loves slopes and finds most meadow hikes as boring … Read More
Omick Woods, which opened in 2014, is yet another lovely, small hiking preserve created by recent, private preservation activity, in this case by D&R Greenway Land Trust. One of D&R’s crack trail construction crews laid out a perfect hiking loop … Read More
Drexel Woods is a flat hike in a tiny preserve that barely contains a mile of trails. It’s one we would normally consider of interest only to locals. What provides broader significance is the 2/10 mile section bordering the Shabakunk. … Read More
Mt. Rose Preserve provides nothing less than a pleasant, 2 mile walk in the woods, but not much more (excepting a pleasant, much shorter walk in a meadow). The preserve’s trail “system” is simplicity itself. It supports two hiking routes: … Read More
If you’ve ever driven south of Trenton on Rte. 29, you’ve probably noticed that the interchange with Interstates 295 and 195 is built in the midst of a major wetlands. The area, known alternately as the Abbott Marshlands, or on … Read More
This is a town park that offers everything you’d expect, plus a surprisingly pleasant, if slightly surrealistic, woods-walking experience. We’re evaluating this as a woods-hike, and as such it’s OK, but there are much better places to walk in the … Read More
Woosamonsa Ridge is possibly the most beautiful, small hiking preserve local to the Princeton-Trenton corridor, and compares to more distant favorites like Zega-Lockatong and Wickecheoke Creek. Those other preserves provide access to much larger and more dramatic streams. Woosamonsa Ridge … Read More
On its own, this is a charming, fairly steep little climb of about 120′ vertical elevation up and over the southernmost ridge in the Sourlands. It is the northernmost section of the Watershed Preserve’s main trail, but except for the … Read More