Spring, 2024

Warm greetings and best wishes for a season marked by renewed health and sanity. Join us in our continued exploration among the hills and valleys of Northwest New Jersey. We hope you keep the personality of the New Jersey Skylands near and dear when you need to freshen your horizon!

Here are some highlights from the region's calendar of events, along with some other suggestions for you and your family.

March 28 - April 3

Walks of Life

Make your spring break by following any number of paths and trails in Northwest New Jersey. Stretch your legs, breath fresh air and stay strong! You got the action, you got the motion!

Sticks and Stokes

Tillman Ravine (Mary Jasch)
The way to Tillman Ravine in Stokes State Forest begins on a narrow path through a dense stand of towering bare-trunked red and white pines planted by the Civilian Conservation Corp in 1932, soon followed by Eastern hemlocks over 160 years old with high, delicate foliage with only spots of greenery among their mulch of needles and bark. The path heads down to the ravine and undulates along Tillman Brook where ferns and wood asters accompany the walker. Tree species change along the stream’s path with an attendant carpet of offspring: ash, beech, oak, hickory and sugar maple.

Hacklebarney Heaven

Hacklebarney State Park is 892 acres of glacial valley, with gorges carved by the Black River and two tributaries that feed it, the Rinehart and Trout Brooks. The dogs play and we talk in celebration of meeting in these Robin Hood woods. We stand on outcrops jutting over the river and gaze in awe at the grass, moss and seedlings living in the rocks brought here long ago. Walk on...

Boulder Hops and Star Gazing

Outcrops along Jenny Jump's Summit Trail yield impressive vistas
The ancient rolling terrain of Jenny Jump Mountain provides spectacular vistas of the Kittatinny Mountains and the Water Gap to the west, and the vast panorama of the Great Meadows to the east. A haven for those who love a hike and a good view, the Park promises special rewards for devotees of geology, astronomy, mountain biking, bird watchers, bass fishing, and all season camping.

Legstretchers

At the Sourlands Mountain Preserve on East Mountain Road in Hillsborough, three trails begin at the same Trail Head across the grass from the parking lot. Grab a map in the kiosk and enter the woods for this pleasant hike in Somerset County. Take the four-mile Ridge Trail, designated with a rectangular blaze. The blazes here are carved wooden plaques in geometric shapes. Walks are always easy at the trailhead, and this one starts with a smooth gravel/dirt path under tall trees.

Karamac Candy

You’re likely to be watched as you saunter down this old railbed.
A former railbed just north of the Delaware Water Gap provides a short but satisfying taste of days past in a beautiful setting. This short route is also perfect for those who are not inclined to hike longer, more difficult trails. A perfect spring warm up!
Fill your Easter Basket with hard-to-find candies from the UK! Specializing in British foods and candy, and a wide selection of hard-to-find items, Wilbur's Country Store is the perfect source for a unique country gift. Located in a charming barn complex on Rt. 94 in Frelinghuysen (between Newton and Blairstown), Wilbur’s is the perfect destination on a drive through the New Jersey countryside.

March 20 - 27

Beware Spring!

Melinda Nye
It has arrived; the chaos that is spring! Incessant noise, obnoxious odors, persistent temptation, and relentless optimism are upon us. Keep our calendar close! It's filled with events that will help navigate this most irritating of seasons. And here's your essential survival guide to the treacherous time ahead.

Sweet Temptation

You don't have to go far for the luxury of maple syrup! You can get the real thing at Lusscroft Farm in Sussex County during this Saturday's Maple Sugaring Open House and Barn Sale (March 23, 10am-3pm). You'll see how they tap the trees, collect the sap and boil it down to that deliciously sweet and thick concoction that's so hard to resist. Then buy some to take home and pour it on! It will taste even better when you know that revenue from the maple sugaring operation benefits the ongoing maintenance of the sugar house and support the restoration of historic Lusscroft Farm, part of High Point State Park. Plus there's the added temptation to choose from a variety of items for sale in the barn and cottage sale. The event is presented by the Heritage and Agriculture Association in cooperation with the NJ Tree Program, the NJ Society of American Foresters and the DEP/Division of Parks and Forestry. 50 Neilson Road, Wantage. Click or call 973/262-4732.

Noise Complaints

Bob Thompson
It's tough to sleep late theses days with all that racket up in the trees where things are getting noisy. But look at the good side. Learning and identifying hundreds of species on the fly challenges the intellect and intensifies awareness. And for photographers and illustrators, there is no better subject. The concentration of ridges, valleys and wetlands in our area holds a fortune of interaction with the avian experience any time of year, but especially in spring.

What's That Smell?

The "fresh" liberating aroma on a walk through the forest in early spring is, for a biologist, the odor of gases emitted by billions of tiny organisms in the newly thawed earth, releasing nutrients vital to the approaching bloom of wildflowers. The first to pop above the layer of wet, dead leaves is always skunk cabbage, able to spontaneously generate enough heat to propel it through the frozen ground.

Attitude adjustment

Trish Romano
Most of all, beware the contagious epidemic known as "spring fever," where everyone suddenly becomes unbearably cheerful and optimistic about life and the promise of the season. Go vernal!

Call of the Mild!

Superbly camouflaged against the dormant meadow floor, the woodcock probes the soil with its long bill in search of a meal.
These mild days stir the blood, along with the sound signals that the new season is upon us. The surest sign that warmer weather is here to stay is the mating call of the Spring Peeper, a tiny tree frog with a big, jingle bell voice fills the forest. Or, wanna go see some male woodcocks show off for females by creating loud, nasal "peent" calls and performing dazzling aerial displays struts and launch into the air for a spiraling, zigzagging flight? Whaddya think? Go take a walk, it's spring!

Rare Herps

When the first early spring rains come, thousands of salamanders, frogs and toads emerge from their winter slumber to make short stealthy migrations through the forest to breed and lay their eggs in vernal pools. The journey is often treacherous. (Photo: MacKenzie Hall)
As the season eases into milder temperatures at the onset of spring, all manner of creatures stretch their bodies and move more freely, searching for food and mates while they patrol their home turfs. Among these creatures are some of the most rare, interesting, and beautiful animals in the Garden State. Though they often go unnoticed or are misunderstood, reptiles and amphibians are vital to the balance of our fragile ecosystems—and some of them are in pretty big trouble.

Tavern Tracking

Frenchtown’s National Hotel retains a precious old-time elegance.
Early settlements in northwest New Jersey typically grew around a mill, which provided sustenance for the body; a church, which offered sustenance for the soul; and a tavern, which delivered sustenance for both. In Hunterdon County, hundreds of the oldest taverns are now mostly forgotten. Many remain however, some hidden in plain sight, having been incorporated into later additions and renovations, evolving into establishments still in service. So, in celebration of spring's arrival, it would certainly be sensible to do your own research by visiting some of these places.

Along the Western Front

Fort Ellison
This small stone building is believed to be the ruins of Fort Carmer, one of a line of forts from the French and Indian War.
Two decades before the American Revolution, the Royal Province of New Jersey prepared itself for the culmination of seventy years of bickering between the French and the English colonists. During the French and Indian War, the government was forced to take measures to protect New Jersey's northwestern frontier along the Delaware River from the increasing threat of marauding Indians, allies of the French armies. A line of forts and blockhouses were commissioned from Belvidere, in Warren County, through what is now the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, to Port Jervis, New York, with soldiers patrolling between them. Get out your hiking shoes, pump up your bike tires, or warm up the car and trace this line of forts!

Digging Deep

Picatinny Peak rises above Picatinny Lake, once known as Clifford Pond.
The Cultural Resource Program at Picatinny Arsenal has documented dozens of historic and Native American archaeological sites that tell a story that spans centuries in the New Jersey Highlands. More...

The Ides of Patrick

A good sign that spring will be here soon is upon us, as daylight savings time begins this weekend. The weeks ahead will be packed with adventure, so keep an eye out for our virtual efforts to keep you informed. But, beware the fickle month of March and unpredictable weather!
The Irish tradition in Northwest New Jersey goes deep. In fact, St. Patrick's Day has been celebrated in Morristown since the days of the Continental Army. The big Morristown parade takes place this Saturday, March 9. And on Sunday (March 10 ,3:30pm) the 15th annual parade in Hackettstown, moves down Main Street with Irish dance groups, Irish bands, community groups, bagpipes and drums, Centenary University and Hackettstown High School teams and clubs, and area fire departments and rescue squads. You can even bring your dog!

Foggy Mountain Breakdowns

Although there may have been as many as ten plane crashes along the Kittatinny Ridge in Sussex and Warren Counties, few people are aware of them. Due to the very rugged nature of the area's mountainous terrain, some of the wreckages have never been completely salvaged, and pieces still lie there. For example, the scant remains of an old airframe, possibly from an early Army biplane trainer, rest close to the Appalachian Trail near the top of the mountain, overgrown with brush. Without modern instruments, the ridge could be treacherous for aviators. Read more!!

My Eduvacation

Peters Valley
The serene atmosphere at Peters Valley invigorates a diverse community of artists.
Are you looking to explore your creative potential? How about a class or workshop at Peters Valley Crafts Center? One of only six craft schools of its type in the country, and unique to Northwest New Jersey, it has grown from a small artists' collective in the early 1970s to a nationally recognized center for craft education. Here's what happened one summer...

Run of the Mills

The restored grist mill at Millbrook Village.
Grist mill technology came to our country with the earliest settlers. Streams flowing from the New Jersey highlands made the geography of the northwestern section of our state ideally suited to the early mills, and by the middle of the 19th century the area was dotted with these self-contained, water-powered, grain-grinding factories. More efficient power sources and mass production quickly overwhelmed the small local grist mills and working mills were a rarity by the mid-20th century. The mills, however, remain prominent in our landscape.

Best of Friends

The farmhouse and barn at the Kennedy Martin Stelle Farmstead are busy making people happy.
Friends groups, as we know them in relation to many of our parks and precious historic sites, are surely bound by their commitment to community and stewardship. Always not-for-profit and volunteer driven, with the occasional paid executive director, Friends groups connect people to natural places, as well as to our heritage, while enhancing the role of public lands in local communities. If you’re looking for things to do this spring, investigate the event schedules of dozens of Friends groups in Northwest New Jersey. Better yet, look into joining!

February 28 - March 6

Skip A Beat!

Photo by Dan Bacon
Four annual cycles passed, and now we find an extra beat, a leap year bonus in the cosmic syncopation. But, no matter how you count the days, Spring is less than a month away! Sputtering spurts of winter are enveloped with warmer days, and the maple sap is flowing!
The weeks ahead will be packed with events, so keep an eye on our calendar and watch out for our virtual efforts to keep you informed. Forge ahead and face the music!

Learning Lenape

For Archaic peoples, rock shelters, consisting of natural overhangs or hillside depressions, were temporary stopovers that offered protection from the rain and snow. In winter they might have been closed in with windbreaks made from skins or brush.
The native people of northwestern New Jersey had no written history. In fact, they had no writing except for the use of pictographs, some of which were carved on stone. Much of what we do know about New Jersey's prehistory is a result of work done by archaeologists, or from early accounts by explorers and travelers, along with journals kept by missionaries and settlers in the 1600s and early 1700s. For over 12,000 years the Lenape and their ancestors occupied northwestern New Jersey, successfully adapting to climatic changes in their environment. But, after a little more than a century following European colonization, only a few Indians remained. Arrowheads, stone axes, pottery and other objects are still occasionally found in a farmer's field or along a riverbank, but only a rough sketch of a robust culture remains; we know nothing of the human deeds and dramas that occurred. More...

A Silk Purse

The four-story plant built by Pelgram and Meyer on Monroe and Lincoln Streets in Boonton employed 500 people until it shut in 1927. It is now home to Kanter Auto Products.
For over two centuries a prolific iron industry wielded huge influence over the development of many communities in Northwest New Jersey. In particular, the forges, furnaces, and mines of Dover, Wharton and Boonton, all located along the banks of the Rockaway River, were intimately connected from the early 1700s through the heady times of the Morris Canal and the subsequent railroads. There are sites to see; take a look around!

Railroads of Knowlton

The Warren Railroad was the first to lay track in Knowlton Township when, in 1856, John I. Blair completed its link to the Delaware, Lackawanna, and Western Railroad and the lucrative eastern markets for coal and iron products from Pennsylvania. A century of busy railroading followed.

Cast Production

Serious fly-fishermen are almost as busy in February as on opening day in April. Winter is for preparation - the tying of flies. Fishing for trout with flies is like solving a puzzle. The current, the fish, the bugs under the surface and in the air all seem indecipherable. But slowly, with much patience, and relying upon an ever-expanding body of experience collected over a series of seasons, the code can sometimes, although by no means always, be broken.
Bobolinks and other birds thrive in the farm's woods and grasslands.
Bobolink Dairy and Bakehouse produces regenerative and sustainable foods that nourish people in harmony with nature. You'll find 100% grass-fed raw cow's milk cheese; pastured meats and charcuterie; wood-fired rustic breads.
Visit their website to learn more about our farm store, farmer’s markets, classes, events, and shipping. And visit the farm and store at 369 Stamets Road, Milford NJ.

Schedule your trip along the Appalachian Trail by snowshoe, a hearty visit to a brewery or winery, or dinner and a show! The Warren County Wanderings newsletter is your weekly guidepost of discovery and a nexus of community in a culturally rich and environmentally singular area.

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