NEW JERSEY

Dave

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Crowd Sourced! Share information and ask specific questions about this state here.

This section is focused on documenting the following:
  • Adventure Opportunities & Destinations
  • Trails
  • Campsites
  • Watercraft Put-Ins/Take-Outs
  • Local Info, Highlights & Lore
  • Local Regulations & Local Insight

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Wharton State Forest is a beautiful piece of history. My wife and I decided to go here as a last minute decision after being invited by a friend to join him. Once I got off work one Friday we decided to head out. We arrived at where we thought was the location by the address we entered on the GPS at around midnight. Little did we know that was just the start of our adventure. We got ahold of our buddy and we were on the complete opposite side of the state park. The GPS said it would take another hour to go all the way around! So we decided to cross our fingers and see if the trail on the GPS would lead us to it that across the park. We drove a few miles with the GPS yelling to make a u-turn so we began to get worried that maybe it didn't go all the way through. Eventually, it did re-calculate and we made it to camp (met by our barefoot friend). We quickly unloaded what we had to for the night and joined him by his campfire as it was beginning to get quite chilly. We chatted until about 2 in the morning before we called it a night. The next morning we explored the beautiful history of the area known as the New Jersey Pine Barrens (remnants of old historic towns including Wharton, Chatsworth, Harrisville, Weymouth, and Friendship). We found a book called Ghost Towns that was focused on this area and learned a lot of history of the cranberry farms and Eagle Tavern, followed maps to find remnants of the specific towns, and even hiked up Apple Pie Hill (which has awesome views and at one point was able to see New York City from on a clear day). Between the lillypads, open fields of wildflowers, what was left of historic buildings, and the view atop the hill, this place is stunning and has much to see and do.
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-Glad you found your way around! You made it to Friendship, Mighty Joes & a few other places. Next time be sure to check out Whitesbog, Batsto & Atsion. If you head back down, let me know.
 
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