Monday, May 05, 2008

MJ's NJ Summer Wishlist

When I was writing the New Jersey tent camping guidebook in 2004, I kept running across things I wanted to do here in NJ. But I was on deadline and then I moved to Spain, then went to work at a day job, then to Africa, and so on.

Roberta, Kraiger, and I climbed Mt. Tammany a few years ago, but I never got to do all the other things I wanted to do. What things?

  • Hike the Batona Trail, a flat, sandy, 49.5-mile trail through the state parks of the Pine Barrens.


  • Go on a Jersey Devil "hunt" and camp-out.


  • Visit Wildwood to see the neon.


  • Spend a night and day at Cape May.


  • Camp along the Delaware River in a walk-in space at Bull's Island.


  • Canoe in the Pine Barrens.


  • Bike the D&R Canal towpath.


  • Walk the JC section of the Morris Canal.


  • Camp at the most urban campground in, perhaps, the USA. And if I don't like it, I can walk the half-mile home.


  • Hike some of the NJ Appalachian Trail.


  • Canoe the Meadowlands.


  • I'm going to try to do as many of these as I can this year. I'm off to a good start; I have reservations for the June 21 Meadowlands canoe trip.

    3 comments:

    Marie Javins said...

    Clearly, I need some kind of bi-monthly column in a local newspaper to feed my Jersey obsession.

    Stuart Moore said...

    I haven't been to Wildwood since I was ten or so. All I remember is acres and acres of pink and purple motels.

    And while I've never gone after the Jersey Devil, my school used to take us camping a lot. We used to lure scared little kids out into the forest on "snipe hunts." Or wait...was I one of the little kids...?

    Anonymous said...

    growing up in NJ sadly my parents were not 'outdoorsy' so i've done nothing on ur list except I did spend a weekend at Cape May at a gorgeous b&b. I had an awesome time even though it was early spring & wet & rainy & cold the whole time - I love Victorian architecture & the ocean so I was super happy just bumming around... I hear it's jumpin in the summertime and the Xmas tours are supposed to be fab - I think they do some sort of Dickensian(?) themed functions. As an "adult" I did do a bit of camping here and there but mostly they were related to SCA stuff when I was into that. (Society for Creative Anachronism -- Mediaeval recreation grp.)...All of the things on your list sound really cool! and I love neon - too bad I never visited Wildwood. DUH! I hope you get to everything on your list!!!
    Paula B.