Hiking at Hacklebarney

I had an opportunity today to explore what was once described as the most beautiful park in New Jersey, Hacklebarney State Park. It had been suggested that I wear my hiking boots. A glance at the website told me that it was no exaggeration.

Our hike started out innocuously enough.


Um, okay. So where is the steep ravine? The rushing river? The glacial morain?

Found it!






Click on the above photo to enlarge. Note the size of the boulders compared to the people.

Despite the hot weather (80F, 27C) I’m glad I wore my hiking boots. Because the trail went from this:


To this:


To this:


Yes, that is a “trail”.

There were lots of wildflowers and plants along the way.

Skunk Cabbage
Violets
Jack in the Pulpit
Sanguinaria
Ferns
Fungus
I know, it’s not a plant but I thought it was really neat.

The views along the river were spectacular.



We couldn’t resist the lure of the river. We ate our lunch on a boulder in the middle of the rushing waters.


I took off my boots and socks and dangled my hot feet in the cold, glacial stream.

After lunch, we explored all five miles of trails, clambering over rocks along the river and up and down the sides of the ravine.


The rugged beauty captivated us.

You can see more photos of our hike on Flickr.