2018 - Hike 18 - June 3 - Stokes State Forest (NJ)
Stokes State Forest
Blue and white trail mostly
Posted by Chris 6/3/18
Posted by Chris 6/3/18
Basics:
Length - 8.5 miles
Elevation gain - Unknown - We estimate 800 feet?
Elevation gain - Unknown - We estimate 800 feet?
Nearest city - Sandyston, NJ
Difficulty - Moderate
The day:
We started the day by heading to Firehouse Bagels in Hamburg NJ. Breakfast was great (and huge and inexpensive) and off we went to the trailhead. Luckily by feeding in the GPS coordinates from the New York-New Jersey trail conference guide, I was able to get a handy starting address from Google maps. I'm glad these are becoming more common because it seems like most trail books or guides are written assuming you are coming from whatever your regions biggest city is. While it isn't impossible to adapt these instructions, without going to a mapping site or using the GPS coordinates, the easiest adaptation I could have made would have been to go to the exit on I-80 the guide described but then I'd have to backtrack a substantial amount of east west travel I didn't need to do.
The trail:
The hike was well described by its guide. It started off along a forest road and soon began a moderate well graded climb. The first few miles of the hike were mostly uphill but there were good breaks in the climb so it didn't seem too difficult. The biggest challenge overall on this hike were the many areas of rocks and tree limbs to struggle and trip over. Today was a mild but humid day and some of the rocks and almost all the foot bridges were very slippery. We saw only 1 other hiker all day and he was on an ambitious 19 mile hike and had already encountered two bears and unbelievably, a wolf on his solo trek with his 2 dogs.
It was a wonderful day overall. The mild weather was a plus. Only bumping into one other hiker in 8.5 miles was a plus and listening to the nearly always present birds and brooks made this a supremely relaxing hike.
Pics from Chris.
Difficulty - Moderate
The day:
We started the day by heading to Firehouse Bagels in Hamburg NJ. Breakfast was great (and huge and inexpensive) and off we went to the trailhead. Luckily by feeding in the GPS coordinates from the New York-New Jersey trail conference guide, I was able to get a handy starting address from Google maps. I'm glad these are becoming more common because it seems like most trail books or guides are written assuming you are coming from whatever your regions biggest city is. While it isn't impossible to adapt these instructions, without going to a mapping site or using the GPS coordinates, the easiest adaptation I could have made would have been to go to the exit on I-80 the guide described but then I'd have to backtrack a substantial amount of east west travel I didn't need to do.
The trail:
The hike was well described by its guide. It started off along a forest road and soon began a moderate well graded climb. The first few miles of the hike were mostly uphill but there were good breaks in the climb so it didn't seem too difficult. The biggest challenge overall on this hike were the many areas of rocks and tree limbs to struggle and trip over. Today was a mild but humid day and some of the rocks and almost all the foot bridges were very slippery. We saw only 1 other hiker all day and he was on an ambitious 19 mile hike and had already encountered two bears and unbelievably, a wolf on his solo trek with his 2 dogs.
It was a wonderful day overall. The mild weather was a plus. Only bumping into one other hiker in 8.5 miles was a plus and listening to the nearly always present birds and brooks made this a supremely relaxing hike.
Pics from Chris.
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