Where: Mahlon Dickerson Reservation
Features: This loop hike passes through upland forests and the
unusual Pine Swamp and goes over the highest point in Morris County.
Length:
4.1 miles.
Difficulty: Easy to moderate.
Time: About two and one-half hours.
How to get there: Take Interstate Route 80 to Exit 34B. Proceed
north for 5.0 miles on N.J. Route 15, and get off at the exit for Weldon
Road and Milton. After about 1.5 miles on Weldon Road, you will pass a
sign indicating that you have entered Mahlon Dickerson Reservation.
Soon, you will pass the entrance to Saffin Pond on the right. Continue
for another mile, and you will pass an entrance to a camping area on the
left. Just beyond, you will pass another entrance on the right. Turn
left at the next park entrance -- this one, an entrance to a picnic area
on the left -- and continue ahead to the parking area.
Map: Morris County Park Commission Mahlon Dickerson Reservation
map
Description:
From the end of the parking area, follow a service road marked with the
teal blazes of the Highlands Trail. You will pass a fitness center and a
water pump, and in about 500 feet, the pavement ends. In 0.2 mile, you
will reach a junction with the white-blazed Pine Swamp Circular Trail.
Turn right, now following both white and teal blazes, head downhill
across a brook, then turn left. Continue along the Pine Swamp Circular
Trail, making sure to follow the white and teal blazes at each
intersection. In about two-thirds of a mile, you'll cross another brook.
Soon afterwards, the blazed trail bears left at a fork, and you'll enter
a mountain laurel thicket and encounter the first major wet area on this
hike. Just past this wet section, follow the white-and-teal blazes to
the right, as a yellow-blazed trail goes straight ahead.
After crossing a small brook in a wet area, you will reach a trail
junction near a road. Here, the Highlands Trail, with its teal blazes,
leaves to the right, while the white-blazed Pine Swamp Circular Trail
turns left. You should continue to follow the white blazes, which lead
through pleasant woods. In about a quarter of a mile, you'll come to the
other end of the yellow-blazed trail. Just beyond, the white trail
enters the Pine Swamp.
The Pine Swamp, with its tall spruce, hemlock, rhododendron and
mountain laurel, is remote and gives a feeling of deep wilderness. A
good view of this interesting natural area may be had from a rocky ledge
to the left, about 200 feet beyond the end of the yellow-blazed trail.
Follow the white-blazed trail through the swamp. It crosses a small
brook and ascends slightly to another junction, where you should bear
left. The trail now climbs gradually to the highest point in Morris
County (1,395 feet), marked by a sign placed by the Morris County Park
Commission. From here, the trail descends, reaching a junction in about
half a mile. Turn left at this junction, then left again in another 75
feet. The second turn marks the beginning of the green-blazed Boulder
Trail, which runs concurrently with the white-blazed trail. This trail
is named for the interesting large boulders which can be seen on both
sides of the trail.
After half a mile along the green-blazed trail, the white blazes turn
right onto a footpath B a welcome change from the woods roads that the
trail has followed until now. The Pine Swamp Circular Trail soon rejoins
another woods road and, after a few more turns, it arrives at the start
of the trail, completing the loop. Turn right and follow the service
road back to the parking area.
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