Example Book Proposal

PROPOSAL FOR A BOOK ON HIKING IN THE NORTH JERSEY HIGHLANDS

Submitted to the Publications Committee of NYNJTC on June 20. 2002
George Petty

 

  1. Title: Hiking the Highlands: Woodland Trails in Northern NewJersey
  2. Classification:This is a Hikes book, according to the categories listed in the NYNJTC BookProposal guide.
  3. Scope: It will contain descriptions of 20 hikes in the Highlands,with details of sights and landmarks along the way.
    • Geographical area: The New Jersey Highlands, as geologically defined. An area of precambrianridges extending from Sterling Forest and Bearfort Mountain at the New Yorkborder to the southwestern end of the ridges at the Delaware River.
    • Theme: Hiking trails in your backyard
    • The intended reader includes New Jersey families looking for outdoor exercise near their homes, teachers and scout leaders interested in group hikes for young people, and more experienced hikerswho would like to know of trails to enjoy close to home. Not intended for athletes seeking tests of skill, or woodsmen interested in off-trail challenges
    • Outline: (See accompanying Table of Contents) Each hike description will includen on-technical comments on geological features, animals, birds, and plants;cautions and encouragements about the walk; frequent notes on mileage and time,discussion of options for cutting or extending the hike, and where appropriate comments on the history of the trail. The hikes are classified according to difficulty: Starters, Climbs and Scrambles, and Challenges. Information on transportation to the trailhead will be provided in a box at the top of thehike description. Innovations include locating the hike on a small schematic map of North Jersey at the top of the hike description; placing in the marginsof the description a small icon of flora and fuana to be seen at that place inthe hike, and providing eight pages of color pictures of typical Highlands geological features, birds and flowers. The marginal icons are line reductions of these pictures.
    • Introductory material: The Geology of the Highlands; Brief general history of Highlandstrails from old maps, records of early settlements, forestry records, mining histories, and their description in the first edition of the Trail Conference's New York Walk Book (1921); typical animals, birds, trees, shrubs and flowers;weather and seasonal change in the Highlands
    • Background material: one or two paragraphs of background as applicable to each hike will be provided at the beginning of the hike description.
  4. Illustrative Materials: Photographs of at least one significant landmark on each hike, and watercolors of typical geological features, animals, birdsand flowers found on thesse hikes. Photography by Marilyn Katz and Robert Whitney. Watercolors by Annette Collins. Schematic maps by Mike Siegel.
  5. Proposed time frame: 2 years from contract date.

 

Hiking the Jersey Highlands:   Wilderness in Your Backyard

 

Table of Contents 

  • Introduction
    • Trails in Highlands
    • History
    • Geology of the Highlands
    • Highlands Habitats
    • Wildflowers, Shrubs and Trees
    • Wildlife
  • Starter Hikes (Up to 4.6 Miles,3 hours)
    • Ringwood State Park: The Manor Loop (2.2 miles, 1 hour)
    • Allamuchy State Park: Deer Park Pond Loop (3.0 miles, 1 ½ hours)
    • Wawayanda State Park: Laurel Pond Loop  (2.1 miles, 1 ½ hours)
    • Hacklebarney State Park: Boundary Loop (4.2 miles, 2 hours)
    • Morris County Park: Pyramid Mountain Loop (4.2 miles, 2 ¼ hours)
    • Norvin Green State Forest: High Point Loop (3.5 miles, 3 hours)
    • Pequannock Watershed: Bearfort Mountain Lookout (4.6 miles, 3 hours)
  • Climbs and Scrambles (Up to 6miles,  4 hours)
    • Norvin Green State Forest: The Tourne Loop (1.6 miles, 1 hour)
    • Wawayanda State Park: Wawayanda Mountain (2.5 miles, 1 ½ hours)
    • Wawayanda State Park: Terrace Pond Loop (3.8 miles, 3 hours)
    • Norvin Green State Forest: Carris Hill Loop (4.5 miles,  3 ¾ hours)
    • Norvin Green State Forest: Buck Mountain Loop (4.7 miles,  3 ¾  hours)
    • Abram S. Hewitt State  Forest: Surprise Lake Loop (4.7 miles, 4 hours)
    • Jenny Jump State Park: Ghost Lake Loop (6 miles, 4 hours)
  • Challenges (up to 12 miles, 8 hours)
    • Wanaque Wildlife Mangement Area: Horsepond Mountain (5 miles, 4 hours)
    • Rockaway River Wildlife Management Area: Lost Lake (6.5 miles, 4 ½ hours)
    • Norvin Green State Forest: The Viewpoint Circle (8 miles, 6 hours)
    • Pequannock Watershed: The Highlands Trail (8.3 miles, 6 ½ hours)
    • North Jersey District Water Supply Commission: Stonetown Circular (9 miles, 7 hours)
    • Farny State Park: Split Rock Pond Circular (12 miles, 8 hours)

Competition 

  1. 30 Walks in New Jersey Kevin Dann,Gordon Miller / Paperback / Rutgers UniversityPress / July 1992 $14.95
  2. New Jersey Walk Book. New York : New York-New JerseyTrail Conference, 1998
  3. Scofield,Bruce. Circuit hikes in northern New Jersey / Bruce Scofield. Mahwah,N.J. : New York-New JerseyTrail Conference, 2001.
  4. Scofield, Bruce. 50 hikes in NewJersey : walks, hikes, and backpacking trips from the Kittatinniesinto Cape May / Bruce C. Scofield, Stella J.Green, H. Neil Zimmerman ; photographs by the authors. Woodstock, Vt.: Backcountry, c1997.
  5. Zatz, Arline, 1937- Besthikes with children in New Jersey / by Arline Zatz and Joel Zatz ; photographsby Arline Zatz and Joel Zatz. Seattle: Mountaineers, c1992.
  6. Lonely Planet New York, NewJersey and Pennsylvania Tom Smallman, David Ellis, Michael Clark / Paperback / Lonely Planet Publications;  2000 $17.59.
  7. Appalachian Trail Guide to NewYork-New Jersey Appalachian Trail Conference/ March 1998DanielD. Chazin (Editor) / Paperback / $17.95,
  8. Day Walker: 32 Hikes inthe New York Metropolitan Area  New York-New JerseyTrail Conference,  December 2001 $10.75,
  9. Iron Mine Trails Edward J. Lenik  New York-New JerseyTrail Conference; 1997; $8.95
  10. Great Rail-Trails of New Jersey: The Essential Outdoor Guide to theGarden State's Best Multi-Use Recreational Trails Built on Abandoned Railroad Grades; Craig P. Penna, Craig P. Della Penna, Valerie Vaughan (Editor); New England Cartographics; 1999; $15.25
  11. Hikes in the Mid-Atlantic States: Exploring theAppalachian Trail; Glenn Scherer, Don Hopey; 1998; $17.95
  12. Enjoying New Jersey Outdoors : A Year-RoundGuide to Outdoor Recreation in the Garden State and Nea rby Helen Lippman, Patricia Reardon; Rutgers University Press; 1991; 15.00
  13. Natural Wonders of New Jersey: ExploringWild and Scenic Places Hope Gruzlovic, Amy Cradic McGraw-Hill; 1999 $14.95
  14. New York and New Jersey : A Guide to the State and National Parks Barbara Sinotte; Hunter Publishing Inc; 1996; $11.95