After visiting with my husband’s family in MD, we continued north to visit my family in NJ. This was yet another “working vacation” for us, but in many ways it was more of a vacation than Lake James because we had family there to help entertain the kids. My parents live about 3.5 miles from the beach and belong to a beach club in Sea Bright, NJ. The boys spent most afternoons at the beach with my mom, enjoying the ocean and the pool and, most importantly, time with their grandmother.
I (of course) still tried to mix things up a bit and get some other activities in too. I desperately wanted to go to the Pine Barrens and spent a good bit of time researching options there. I had finally settled on a plan when Hurricane Isaias blew through. It was a minor storm by most measures but left a ton of downed trees and power outages in its wake. (My parents’ power was out for almost a week but they had thankfully invested in a generator after Hurricane Sandy in 2012.) With all the trees down, many trails across the state were closed, including the ones I was eyeing in the Pine Barrens.
But fear not! There are always options if you just keep looking. I used the AllTrails app to find some hiking trails nearby and Hartshorne Woods Park in nearby Atlantic Highlands came up as highly rated… and it was open. I figured the kids were more likely to buy into a hike 15 minutes away over one 2 hours away anyway so our extended family group (including all 5 cousins) made the quick trip over the Oceanic Bridge.
Hartshorne Woods sits on a peninsula in Monmouth County NJ, and is part of the county park system. At almost 800 acres and 14 miles of trails, it boasts the most extensive and challenging trail system in the area. The park is really popular with mountain bikers for its difficult trails (as the 25-year old scar on my brother’s elbow can attest) and also has horse trails and some historic sites as well.
Since we had a large group including 5 kids, we wanted a trail that was rated easy and was for hiking only. Especially with some younger kids in the group, we didn’t want to be sharing the trail with mountain bikes. We parked at the Buttermilk Valley Entrance, which is the inland side of the park and followed King’s Hollow trail to Candlestick trail.
King’s Hollow is an easy 0.7 mile loop trail. Shortly after the entrance to the trail, the slightly longer Candlestick trail branched off to the left. We followed that, planning to complete the 1.5 mile loop.
The trail was ranked as easy but was actually more of a moderate trail in my opinion. It was pretty hilly, although perhaps the August heat and humidity made the hills seem steeper than they actually were. The trail was sandy at the beginning but became more dirt and tree roots the further in we got.
We came to the fork where the trail became a loop and followed the path to the right. After a bit, we came to a sign for an overlook. Kids being kids, they always want some sort of pay-off on a hike so they all immediately took off down the path to see what they could see. We followed after them, glad that they were excited about it.
With no mile markers on the sign posts, we assumed the overlook was just around the corner. It was actually a good ten minute hike to get there. But where was “there”? We got to the end and wandered around, looking for a vantage point. There was nothing. Literally nothing. There was a split-rail fence that marked the end of the trail so we peered over the fence. It was just more woods. Not an elevated viewpoint. Not a clearing. Nothing. The adults all literally laughed out loud that this was marketed as an overlook. The kids were not so amused.
So we headed back to the main trail to complete the loop, the kids grumbling a bit on the way. The disappointment, coupled with the heat, was threatening to derail this outing. But… there are few things in a child’s life that can’t be made better by ice cream. We mentioned stopping at our favorite ice cream place on the way home and they all perked up and completed the hike.
Hartshorne Woods was an easy outing and a great way to get a quick dose of nature. In this section of the park at least, it is exactly as it is named – woods and nothing more. This is a hike purely for the pleasure of hiking and being out in nature. The surrounding woods are beautiful and peaceful, and if a lovely stroll through the woods is what you are looking for, this is the place for you.
