Backpacking New Jersey:The Batona Trail and Wharton State Forest
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| Our 15-mile loop in Wharton State Forest. |
The Batona Trail, short for (BAck TO NAture), is a flat, meandering 49.5 mile hiking path winding through three New Jersey state forests. It was built in 1961 by the Philadelphia-based Back To Nature Hiking Club to connect Brendan T. Byrne (formerly Lebanon) and Wharton State Forests.(Visit Wikipedia and NJPineBarrens.com for more history.)
With only two of us in one car on this trip, we didn't hike the trail end to end as a shuttle trip, but came up with a low key 15 mile loop, pictured left. Our itinerary also involved an overnight at the only primitive campsite without any other registered campers.
We started from Batsto Village after picking up a $4 camping permit for Lower Forge. They're required if you want to spend the night in a state forest. The forest sees numerous boy scout troops and other groups during warmer months, and we were told we'd picked a great time to come. Batona Camp, our original destination, had over 40 registered campers while Lower Forge didn't have any.
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| Dan at the Batsto Batona Trail sign. |
The Batona Trail and most of the trails in Wharton State Forest are flat and easy, which was part of the appeal for this weekend. If you're looking for spectacular vistas and elevation change, this area isn't for you. But my goal was to drive less than an hour and spend the weekend walking around a beautiful place I'd never explored before. I wanted to stretch my legs, warm up for backpacking season, and just get out there.
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| Most of our hike looked like this. |
The Pinelands are a pretty amazing place in general, another reason for our choice of trail this weekend. The area is nicknamed the Pine Barrens because of the barren soil; crops are difficult to grow there. The soil is so full of minerals, particularly iron ore, that some of the water appears rust colored. (Though some will tell you the rivers run red with the blood of the Jersey Devil's victims! We escaped unscathed, thank goodness.)
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| Red water near Quaker Bridge on the Batona Trail. (D. Herscovitch) |
We reached Quaker Bridge around lunch time. I knew the trail would be flat and the scenery wouldn't change much, but it was still great to have a break from the sand and pine trees! We stopped for a snack, then continued on to Lower Forge Camp.
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| Happy after a snack at Quaker Bridge! (D. Herscovitch) |
We arrived at Lower Forge after crisscrossing dirt roads and found the connector trail to Lower Forge Camp. Thankfully, no motor vehicles are allowed within 1/4 mile of camp. A group of boy scouts had stopped for lunch, but after they moved on, we had the entire giant site to ourselves! We'd talked about dropping our packs and hiking up to Batona Camp (six miles away) for fun, but we'd both tired of the flat trail and spent the afternoon relaxing at camp. One of my favorite things in the world is taking the tent out on my first trip of the season.
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| Evening descends on our camp at Lower Forge. |
Dan got a great fire going after he took care to rake pine needles and other debris from around our little fire pit. The Pinelands are particularly susceptible to forest fires, and taking caution is important. We brought along some of my favorite backpacking foods, including a few Kielbasa sausages. Extra time at camp meant extra time to eat!
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| Dan's hands-free sausage roasting setup. Ingenious! |
Thanks to REI's blog, we knew we were in for a treat that night - the largest full moon in 20 years. But I fell asleep long before the moon rose high enough for photos and snapped this one of the Batsto River, which looked more like a swamp, at dusk.
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| Sun sets on the Batsto River. |
We set out the next morning back down the Batona Trail from Lower Forge to Quaker Bridge. After crossing Quaker Bridge, we picked up a green blazed connector trail. We decided green blazes should be prohibited on hiking trails in forests. And if they're allowed, they should be a different shade of green than the forest! As the trail wound through the woods, we came to an area with an above average collection of living underbrush. Most of the area was devoid of small plants and shrubs. It looked like the forest had burned and was beginning to recover.
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| Dan moving into a burned section of forest. |
The green blazed connector trail led us to the Mullica River Trail, which would take us back to Batsto Village and our car. The yellow blazes were definitely easier to see than green!
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| Presenting... a brand new looking trail sign! |
Most of the Mullica River Trail looked like the shot below...wide and a little boring! It was nice to walk side by side along the river, though. Normally, you'll spend miles just staring at the heels of your hiking companions. The highlight was passing Mullica River Camp and the canoe/kayak launches. The trail crosses over roads used by Jeep clubs and off road vehicles, and we ran into a long line of Jeeps not far from Batsto.
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| Batsto Historic Village |
What are some of your favorite easy, low key backpacking trips? Have you been on the Batona Trail?
Comments
(side note: Snooki is actually not from NJ, I'm proud to say...)
Don't take the word of these people wanting your money, learn the truth from someone whom supports their agenda.
Every year, thousands of people descend on portions of the Brendan Byrne, Wharton, and Batsto forests, causing massive amounts of erosion,damaging rare plants, and bothering wildlife. For years, people have been hiking along the Batona Trail, with absolutely no oversight. Thousands of acres are literally destroyed as people and groups trample plants and flowers,compact the soil, and leave litter and trash. This has been happening for many years, and without some intervention,the damage will continue unchecked.
The only remedy that makes sense is the complete closure of the Batona Trail, and let it return to its natural state. This is a blight upon our landscape that must me corrected. We do realize that there is a need for research and observation of our most sacred outdoor resources. Therefore, anyone wishing to observe these species can apply to the DEP 90 days in advance, with a specific agenda for observation. Any group or individual venturing into the former Batona Trail area must be accompanied by a DEP recognized expert with at least a Masters Degree in Horticulture, (but Doctorate level is preferred). Casual nature observers could utilize one of the many city parks, such as the one located in Camden, at Admiral Wilson Boulevard.
The damage must be stopped. In fact, other responsible user groups, such as enduro and Jeep clubs have removed thousands of pounds of trash and litter, and restored acres of trampled plants and flowers. The unabated usage of the Batona Trail must be immediately stopped, or there will be nothing left for our children.
There were a fair number of Jeep caravans roaming around, but they were always slow moving and on established ORV trails. As a backpacker, I would have preferred not to hear to all the engine noise, but when you enter a multi-use area you have to accept that fact. I am also a mountain biker, and as such I support multi-use trails, and multi-use areas with different trails designated for different uses. White Clay Creek State Park in Delaware is a good example of a well maintained trail system that is shared between hikers, mountain bikers, and equestrians.
Any well used area will experience some wear and tear, but unless it is in very bad shape, the solution is not to close it off. The only way to get people excited about conservation is to get them outside, and places like the Pine Barrens are excellent for that because they are so accessible.
There's a reason why people are leaving NJ in droves.. Because fascist control freaks like you are ruining this state. Keep your control freak BS to yourself, or move to NYC where control freaks like Bloomberg live!
You seriously want to denial access to nature to the public, just because the trail doesn't look good enough for you?? It's a trail for crying about loud! Of course the soil is going to get compacted and of course it's going to show signs of use. You're acting like people are torching the place, dumping gallons of toxic waste and building condos on the trail.
Control freak, big government types like you are killing this state and sucking the life out it. We hardly have any freedom in this state, since people like you have regulated everything, to the point people and businesses no longer want to live here. You want to denial access to nature, one of the few spots in this over-crowded, over urbanized and over-regulated state that people can go to appreciate nature?
The people here have it bad enough with the highest car insurance and corruption in the nation, and you want them to get government permission to go on a trail?? How will anyone even appreciate nature in this state if control freaks like you want to make going to a state park or trail a complicated producer?
People like you only care about preserving "nature" because you just want a clean habit, a clean trail space just for special people like you, because you know, you're special. I bet you're a typical rich NJ Liberal.
I guess you're special because for everyone else, they should just utilize crummy, dangerous city parks such as one in one of the most dangerous cities in the US to experience nature??? Yeah experience nature in a place where people will get mugged, raped and murdered. City parks are not nature! You cannot expect people to experience nature in some crappy urban park in a ghetto!
Control freaks like you also always bring up cliche phrase such as, "think of the children", or "for our children's future".. Every fascist in history used this too.
You said "unabated use of the Batona Trail must be immediately stopped, or they will be nothing left for our children". First of all, if people need to get special government permission to go to visit a state park or to just go on a trail, how are the children of the future you speak about going to even know the trail or even nature exists in this State? They won't even be able to see it!
Please get out of NJ and take your control freak cronies with you! NYC, China, North Korea and the UK welcome you! You'll feel right at home!