I've had this area on my To Hike list for years, ever since I saw it on the NYNJTC North Kittatinny Trails map #122. But for several reasons we never got around to it.
First, it's relatively from our house (about 75 minutes). Second, repeated Google searches yielded no photos from the area (aside from trail wands). Third, though
hikers are welcome, it's a trail system used predominantly by equestrians. But after discovering that Daniela and Shawnee hiked this area
last week, and seeing their awesome photos, I decided to head
out there today. Instead of doing the nearly 12 miles that those gals did, however, we limited it to under 8 miles on a hike suggested by Daniela.
Instead of parking at the large horse trail lot off Conashaugh Road we parked at a tiny pull-off on Zimmerman Road, a woods road (of dirt and mud along stretches, gravel elsewhere) denoted as #5 on this map. We headed west to #4, through a beautiful gorge with lots of Sandy damage, then north to Zimmerman Road which we took west to Conashaugh Road. The stretch along this road was on pavement and though traffic is allowed (this is the way to get to the horse trailer lot) not a single car passed us the entire 20-25 minutes we were on it. We continued into the woods south of Long Meadow Road at #2. Though not shown on the aforementioned map there is a beautiful lake to the west of the trail along this stretch, with a huge beaver lodge far west and a sunken structure on the northern side. Continuing on the trail south we passed through large stretches hugged by beautiful boundary walls on both sides before finally arriving at a nice vista over the Delaware River, also not denoted on the map. Continuing counter-clockwise we took a spur to the Marie Zimmermann Farm Complex and then decided to continue further south to Marie Zimmermann's house (not on the map). Amazingly, when we got to the house one of the men restoring it volunteered to give us a quick personal tour of the inside, which won't be open officially for tours until June 29. How cool is that? After our personal tour of the Zimmermann house we backtracked through the farm and continued north at #3. This section contains a brutal climb, especially on this humid 90 F afternoon. At #4 we headed east back to the car at #5, but not before surprising (no kidding) a couple who were doing what the cicadas are doing this weekend in New Jersey ... mating. We thought we had seen everything there was to see on a hike. Until today, that is. Needless to say, the two of them, sprawled in the vegetation in nothing but their birthday suits just off the trail, were as surprised as we were! Alas, there are no photos of this encounter. Total distance hiked today was 7.3 miles in just under 4 hours. (Click on the thumbnail to bring up a bigger image in a pop-up window)
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Pull-off on Zimmermann Road |
First bridge crossing |
Two frogs in a well |
Gorgeous vegetation |
Everything is green |
Lush |
First views ... |
... of the gorge |
Lots of Sandy damage |
And lots of ferns |
Millipede |
Grumpy toad! |
Sporadic blaze disc |
Climb along gorge |
Trail intersection |
|
Explosion of green |
Lots of saplings |
Tiny eft |
Pine needle floor |
Entrance gate |
On Zimmermann road west of #9 |
On Conashaugh Road |
Laura and "fighting" trees |
Open field east |
Butterfly sunning |
South on Conashaugh |
Old growth ... the tree! |
Swampy area |
Swallowtail |
Back in the woods |
Heading south to ... |
... gorgeous lake |
Drowned trees |
View west |
Sunken shack |
Close-up of sunken shack |
Beaver lodge at other end |
Lovely reflections |
Stone wall |
Sturdy boundary wall |
Wildflowers ... |
... along trail |
Gorgeous greens |
Horse prints |
Pine saplings |
Wall detail |
Now descending |
To a vista ... |
... looking south to ... |
Dan & NJ [photo by Laura] |
Delaware River |
Stink bug |
View over Delaware |
Continuing descent to ... |
... Marie Zimmermann's farm |
Stone barn through trees |
Various structures |
Stone barn |
Silo and barns |
Washing machine |
View from barn |
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Driveway to Zimmermann house |
Through the entrance |
Up the driveway |
Side view |
On back porch |
Living room |
Fireplace |
Heading upstairs |
Marie's bedroom |
Her library |
Inside the turret |
Marie's garden |
Front of house |
Side view |
Barn against mountain |
Heading back to farm |
Waterfall |
Three eggs in nest |
Red and Black Beetle |
More above a mushroom |
Deer |
Back in the gorge descending |
Cleared Sandy damage |
Near the mating couple |
Dan on bridge [photo by Laura] |
Photographs and content copyright © Dan Balogh Web design by Dan Balogh |