Miles: 11.4 miles
Time: 7.25 hours
Year to date miles: 326.7
Parking: Large parking area at intersection of Continental Road and Route 17A.
A short distance from the parking area is Bellvale Farms Creamery which is great place to stop by for ice cream on a hot day.
Rest rooms: None.
Hike directions:
Take blue trail from parking lot.
Turn right on AT (southbound).
Hike to NJ State border (noted in spraypaint on a rock at the border).
Retrace steps.
Map: Appalachian Trail Conservancy New York / New Jersey Appalachian Trail Guide and Maps
Hike description:
Not too hot today, but muggy. This hike was described as not having much elevation gain, but has steep sections. It sounded easy. Like we'd be going 2 miles an hour. Not. The middle of the hike was very rocky. There were 3 places where rock scrambling was required, including one with a metal ladder attached to a rock face. So yes, flat but steep. We only saw a handful of hikers, and the hike didn't have any road crossings once you got on the AT. I let both dogs hike off leash when it started getting rocky (much safer for all of us). There is a trail register at the NY/NJ border - we took a look at some of the entries. There were a few south bound thru hiker entries from yesterday. A few were complaining about the rocks in this section (though one noted that they aren't as bad as the rocks in PA). Unfortunately, the rocks ended up being hard on the dogs - the rocks were very rough, not smooth. The dogs had a lot of scrambling to do too (and yes, somehow we airlifted them while at the same time going up/down the ladder). Both dogs ended up with torn pads on their front two feet. They started walking very slowly on the way home. If we do this hike again, I'd put boots on my dogs.
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| Kiosk at Continental Road |
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| Maybe 30 years from now, we will have section hiked the whole trail :) |
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| Yes, our dogs had to climb up that! Luckily they are light enough we can help lift them. |
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