Sourland Mountain Preserve

places where you won't be able to wipe the wag off your dog's tail - Hillsborough NJ

The Park

Sourland Mountain is at the northeast point of a ridge of sedimentary and igneous rock that was deposited between 150 and 180 million years ago and stretches to the Delaware River. It is hard to believe walking the thickly wooded mountainside but this was once a treeless farm. After picking your way through the boulders strewn across the Preserve it is easy to imagine that the name “Sourland” comes from the farmers who abandoned growing crops in favor of grazing cows but it actually is believed to derive from the term “sorrel-land” to describe the reddish-brown colored soils.

The Walks

Sourland Mountain features three blazed trails, the star being the 5-mile Ridge Trail. The trail pushes uphill away from the parking lot - not too strenuously but expect to see your dog start panting - until it reaches a picturesque cluster of boulders. The elevation gain is about 300 feet. After this the trail flattens out and is a comfortable walk with your dog in airy woodland on a wide path. The Ridge Trail can be aborted with a walk down a cut-away for a pipeline. This is the only open-air hiking at Sourland Mountain and you can enjoy the views on the way down. On a clear day it is possible to see New York City. If the 300-foot climb seems more hike than your dog is looking for, you can still enjoy Sourland Mountain. The Maple Flats and Pondside trails break off from the Ridge Trail before heading up the mountain. The two form a stacked-loop trail that together totals less than two miles.

Where The Paw Meets The Earth: Rocky trails

Workout For Your Dog - Moderate pulls to the top of the hill

Swimming - You bet

Restrictions On Dogs - None

Something Extra

Down below the parking lot is the best canine swimming hole in New Jersey. The pond has level, unobstructed access all the way around. It is deep enough that your dog will be swimming in two steps and it is just big enough that you can’t throw a stick all the way across. Situated right beside the trail exit, it is a perfect way to end a hardy canine hike. The only thing missing is a towel rack.

Phone - None

Website 

Admission Fee - None

Directions - Hillsborough, Somerset County; from Route 206 (South Broad Street), turn onto West Park Avenue. Make a left onto Wescott Avenue. After passing under high tension wires, make an immediate right turn onto the lane that leads to the park.

hikewithyourdog.com

The Hiking With Dogs group on Facebook is the place to post photos and info on your favorite canine hikes. Also get questions answered and find advice from members: join now

Palisades Interstate Park

places where you won't be able to wipe the wag off your dog's tail - Alpine NJ

The Park

If millions of Americans didn’t already live in the area by the time we got around to setting aside land for parks it is not hard to imagine the 500-foot sheer cliffs of the Palisades being a national park right now. The cliffs formed 200 million years ago when molten volcanic material cooled and solidified before reaching the surface. Subsequent water erosion of the softer sandstone substrate left behind the columnar structure of harder rock that exists today. Today’s park meanders about 12 miles along the river - never more than a half-a-mile wide - and preserves 2,500 acres of wild Hudson River shorefront and uplands, including some of the most impressive sections of the Palisades.

The Walks

Two long-distance trails - the aqua-blazed Long Path atop the Palisades and the white-blazed Shore Path along the river - traverse the length of the park. Occasional, and very steep, connectors (sometimes using steps) connect the two that enable canine hiking loops. Every now and then the Long Path touches on the edge of the impressive cliffs and there are spots an overly-curious dog could squeeze under the fence, so be careful. On top of the Palisades the going is mostly easy but does roll through varied woodlands that will distract you from the spectacular views at times. You can also find extra trail time for your dog on cross-country ski paths if you don’t want to walk for miles along the cliffs.

Where The Paw Meets The Earth: Mostly dirt

Workout For Your Dog - Very demanding

Swimming - Small beaches at the Hudson River

Restrictions On Dogs - None

Something Extra

The iconic hike at Palisades is “The Giant Stairs” located beneath State Line Lookout. The Giant Stairs are massive boulders that have piled up at the foot of the cliffs from thousands of rock slides over millions of years. You need to scramble for over a mile to complete a 3.5-mile loop at the north end of the park. Unless your dog is light enough to lift DO NOT attempt this with your dog. Is it possible? Yes. Is it fun. NO.

Phone - (201) 768-1360

Website 

Admission Fee - None

Directions - Alpine, Bergen County; from I-95 take the exit for Fort Lee / Palisades Interstate Parkway (Exit 72, after the last toll on the New Jersey Turnpike). Turn left at the light at the top of the ramp. Go through several lights in succession, then the entrance to the northbound PIP is on right.

hikewithyourdog.com

The Hiking With Dogs group on Facebook is the place to post photos and info on your favorite canine hikes. Also get questions answered and find advice from members: join now

Corson’s Inlet State Park

places where you won't be able to wipe the wag off your dog's tail - Ocean City NJ

The Park

Corson’s Inlet was established in 1969 before every last inch of Jersey shorefront became developed. With its undisturbed sand dune systems and marine estuaries this is one of your last opportunities to experience the Atlantic oceanfront in New Jersey as it was before people discovered the shore.

The Walks

There aren’t many places where the hiking public is invited to walk across protected ocean dunes but Corson’s Inlet is one. Even rarer still is to find a dune system that permits dogs and again Corson’s Inlet is the place - from September 16 through March 31. The main trail (Yellow) leading away from the small parking lot beside the Rush Chattin Bridge between Ocean City and Strathmere and its two spur paths (Orange, then Red) all lead to the beach that can be used to create loop hikes on the hook-shaped peninsula. All canine hiking is on deep sugar sand and the trails are just long enough to be enjoyable without becoming laborious. If you come to Corson’s Inlet in late September or October on a hot day make sure to bring plenty of fresh water for your dog. Even though the trails aren’t long there is little shade among the dunes.

Where The Paw Meets The Earth: Sand

Workout For Your Dog - Yes, with ocean swimming and running in sand

Swimming - If the excitement of the Atlantic surf is too intimidating try the expansive crescent beach along the inlet with its calm, inviting waters

Restrictions On Dogs - No dogs between April 1 and September 15

Something Extra

America’s second-worst fire took place on a steamship called the General Slocum on New York’s East River in 1904 - more than 1,000 people perished. The steamer was salvaged and put back into service as a barge called the Maryland that sank off Corson’s Inlet on December 11, 1911. Buried beneath several feet of shifting sand searchers believe they have located the infamous General Slocum but there has been no definitive recovery.

Phone - (609) 861-2404

Website 

Admission Fee - None

Directions - Ocean City, Cape May County; from the Garden State Parkway use Exit 82 - Route 37 East/Seaside Heights. Take the jughandle to Fischer Boulevard and head north. Go right at the fourth light onto Cattus Island Boulevard; parking lot is on the left.

hikewithyourdog.com

The Hiking With Dogs group on Facebook is the place to post photos and info on your favorite canine hikes. Also get questions answered and find advice from members: join now

North Brigantine Natural Area

places where you won't be able to wipe the wag off your dog's tail - Brigantine NJ

The Park

The Brigantine Bay and marsh complex includes the open water and tidal wetlands of, from north to south: Little Bay, Reed Bay, Somers Bay, Absecon Bay and Channel, Lakes Bay, and Scull Bay between the mainland coast of New Jersey and the barrier islands from Little Egg Inlet southwest to Great Egg Harbor Inlet. The complex includes the undeveloped segments of Little Beach and northern and southern Brigantine Island. This portion of the New Jersey backbarrier lagoon estuarine system is very significant for migrating and wintering waterfowl, colonial nesting waterbirds, migratory shorebirds, and fisheries.

The Walks

It may change due to concerns about nesting plovers but this undeveloped area at the northern tip of Brigantine is open to dogs. You can hike north on the shore, ducking out of the way of surf fishermen, and take the hook along the inlet and head back. If the Atlantic waves are too intimidating for your dog, the gentle surf of the bay will be a perfect place to swim. This entire hike up and back - completely on sand - will take about an hour if you keep moving and don’t linger for too many swims.

Where The Paw Meets The Earth: Sand

Workout For Your Dog - Racing on sand and jumping in the ocean will tire any dog

Swimming - Absolutely

Restrictions On Dogs - None

Something Extra

This is a rare Jersey shore destination for dogs throughout the year.

Phone - None

Website - None

Admission Fee - None

Directions - Brigantine, Atlantic County; take Route 30 into Atlantic City from Route 9 and head north on Brigantine Boulevard through town and all the way to the end.

hikewithyourdog.com

The Hiking With Dogs group on Facebook is the place to post photos and info on your favorite canine hikes. Also get questions answered and find advice from members: join now

Norvin Green State Forest

places where you won't be able to wipe the wag off your dog's tail - Bloomingdale NJ

The Park

This area supported active mining through the 1800s but officials began eyeing the Wanaque River as a potential water source as far back as the 1870s. Construction on the Wanaque Dam began in 1920 and a decade - and $25 million and 70 homes - later New Jersey communities began tapping into the some 30 billion gallons of water held in Wanaque Reservoir. The state forest is named for its donor, Norvin Hewlett Green. Most of the trails across the 4,210 acres of forest were cut by the members of the Green Mountain Club in the early 1920s.

The Walks

The attraction at Norvin Green are numerous viewpoints on hilltops ranging to 1,300 feet, most reached via some of the best, albeit rugged, canine hiking in New Jersey. There are many places to spend the day with your dog in the northern highlands and if this isn’t first on your list it should be in the discussion. Past the mines the climbing begins on sometimes rocky and rooty woods trails. High Point, at 960 feet far from the tallest peak in the park, rewards you with 360-degree views after a steep last ascent. If you choose to penetrate deeper into Norvin State Forest there is a Coney-Island type rollercoaster trail to Carris Hill and more views in every direction. Down the hill on the White Trail is the split plunge of Chikahoki Falls.

Where The Paw Meets The Earth: Rock-spiked dirt

Workout For Your Dog - Many energetic climbs

Swimming - The mountain streams are suitable only for splashing but a detour can lead to the shore of Wanaque Reservoir

Restrictions On Dogs - No dogs on the Weis Environmental trails

Something Extra

The nearest destinations to the parking lot are the remainders of the mining era of the 1800s along the Red/Yellow Trail. A short detour climbs to Roomy Mine that you can actually explore with your dog in the warmer months when bats are not hibernating. Bring a flashlight and you can enter for 50 feet or so. Up the trail is the flooded Blue Mine that produced tons of ore before the encroaching water could not be abated in 1908.

Phone - (973) 835-2160

Website 

Admission Fee - None

Directions - Bloomingdale, Passaic County; take I-287 to Exit 57. Follow Skyline Drive to Greenwood Lake Turnpike to West Brook Road to Snake Den Road. Follow signs to Weis Ecology Center. Park in the lot before the center or along Burnt Meadow Road and Glen Wild Road.

hikewithyourdog.com

The Hiking With Dogs group on Facebook is the place to post photos and info on your favorite canine hikes. Also get questions answered and find advice from members: join now

Island Beach State Park

places where you won't be able to wipe the wag off your dog's tail - Seaside Park NJ

The Park

Henry Phipps, compatriot with Andrew Carnegie in U.S. Steel, purchased the island in 1926 with visions of a grand shore resort but the stock market crash halted his assault after erecting a handful of rambling houses. The Phipps estate sold the property to New Jersey in 1953 and the park opened to the public in 1959. Island Beach State Park protects 10 miles of dunesland that have survived virtually untouched as they have always been.

The Walks

There are a series of short nature trails (less than one mile) as you drive down the main park road to its end at Barnegat Inlet but once your dog gets that whiff of salt air in her nose, she may not be in any mood to tarry. Get to the beach! This is one of the few places in New Jersey you can enjoy the Atlantic Ocean with your dog in the summer. Parking is limited, however, and if you don’t arrive early enough you will be shut out. In the off-season this is not a problem so don’t confine your visits to the novelty of summer at the beach with your dog. There is some shade for your dog in the dunes and the thickets behind the dunes when it is hot but make sure you bring plenty of fresh water. From the last parking lot to the southern tip of the island is a hike of over one mile on the piles of white sand.

Where The Paw Meets The Earth: Sand everywhere

Workout For Your Dog - Long hikes on soft sand are tough

Swimming - Ocean swims are why you come

Restrictions On Dogs - No dogs in the swimming areas or near shorebird nesting areas

Something Extra

Henry David Thoreau wrote about beach heather after visiting Cape Cod in 1849, describing how local residents called the low-growing mossy plants “poverty grass” because it grew where nothing else did. Island Beach State Park is home to the greatest expanse of beach heather in New Jersey. In late May the heather balds, as patches of the plant are called, explode in a carpet of yellow in the secondary dunes.

Phone - (732) 793-0506

Website 

Admission Fee - Yes, higher in summer

Directions - Seaside Park, Ocean County; from the Garden State Parkway use Exit 82 - Route 37 East/Seaside Heights. Once on the island make a right onto Route 35 South to the park entrance.

hikewithyourdog.com

The Hiking With Dogs group on Facebook is the place to post photos and info on your favorite canine hikes. Also get questions answered and find advice from members: join now

Sourland Mountain Preserve

places where you won't be able to wipe the wag off your dog's tail - Hillsborough NJ

The Park

Sourland Mountain is at the northeast point of a ridge of sedimentary and igneous rock that was deposited between 150 and 180 million years ago and stretches to the Delaware River. It is hard to believe walking the thickly wooded mountainside but this was once a treeless farm. After picking your way through the boulders strewn across the Preserve it is easy to imagine that the name “Sourland” comes from the farmers who abandoned growing crops in favor of grazing cows but it actually is believed to derive from the term “sorrel-land” to describe the reddish-brown colored soils.

The Walks

Sourland Mountain features three blazed trails, the star being the 5-mile Ridge Trail. The trail pushes uphill away from the parking lot - not too strenuously but expect to see your dog start panting - until it reaches a picturesque cluster of boulders. The elevation gain is about 300 feet. After this the trail flattens out and is a comfortable walk with your dog in airy woodsland on a wide path. The Ridge Trail can be aborted with a walk down a cut-away for a pipeline. This is the only open-air hiking at Sourland Mountain and you can enjoy the views on the way down. On a clear day it is possible to see New York City. If the 300-foot climb seems more hike than your dog is looking for, you can still enjoy Sourland Mountain. The Maple Flats and Pondside trails break off from the Ridge Trail before heading up the mountain. The two form a stacked-loop trail that together totals less than two miles.

Where The Paw Meets The Earth: Rocky trails

Workout For Your Dog - Moderate pulls to the top of the hill

Swimming - You bet, see below

Restrictions On Dogs - None

Something Extra

Down below the parking lot is the best canine swimming hole in New Jersey. The pond has level, unobstructed access all the way around. It is deep enough that your dog will be swimming in two steps and it is just big enough that you can’t throw a stick all the way across. Situated right beside the trail exit, it is a perfect way to end a hardy

canine hike. The only thing missing is a towel rack.

Phone - None

Website 

Admission Fee - None 

Directions - Hillsborough, Somerset County; from Route 206 (South Broad Street), turn onto West Park Avenue. Make a left onto Wescott Avenue. After passing under high tension wires, make an immediate right turn onto the lane that leads to the park.

hikewithyourdog.com

The Hiking With Dogs group on Facebook is the place to post photos and info on your favorite canine hikes. Also get questions answered and find advice from members: join now