Hike Location: Morristown National Historical Park
Geographic Location: southwest of Morristown, NJ (40.77231, -74.52797)
Length: 2.7 miles
Difficulty: 4/10 (Easy/Moderate)
Date Hiked: August 2019
Overview: A loop hike through a Revolutionary War campground
with a distant view of Manhattan.
Park Information: https://www.nps.gov/morr/index.htm
Hike Route Map: https://www.mappedometer.com/?maproute=769581
Photo Highlight:
Directions to the trailhead: In northern New Jersey,
take I-287 to Harter Road (exit 33).
Exit and go west on Harter Rd.
Drive Harter Rd. west 0.9 miles to US 202 and turn left on US 202. Drive US 202 south 2.2 miles to Tempe Wick
Road and turn right on Tempe Wick Rd.
(Note: if you are coming from the south, you can also reach Tempe Wick
Rd. by taking the Maple Avenue exit from I-287 and driving US 202 north 1.8
miles.) Drive Tempe Wick Rd. west 1.4
miles to the signed park entrance on the right.
Turn right to enter the park, then drive the park’s Tour Road to the New
York Brigade parking area, where this hike begins.
The hike: The
date was December 1779 when Patriot General George Washington led his
struggling Continental Army into Jockey Hollow near Morristown, New
Jersey. In that era armies rarely fought
during the winter due to difficulty of movement and scarcity of supplies. Washington chose Jockey Hollow as his winter campsite
that year because it was close enough to British positions in New York City to
keep an eye on the enemy but far enough away to discourage a direct
confrontation.
In a matter of weeks thousands of acres of trees in Jockey Hollow were
felled, and more than 1000 log huts rose in their place. Each hut housed 12 soldiers, and each hut had
to be built to precise specifications.
Any hut failing to meet the specifications was torn down and had to be
rebuilt.
The winter that ensued was one of
the harshest and coldest on record; at least 20 snowstorms fell on Morristown. After more than three years of war, the
Continental Congress could not fund the army, and even necessities such as food
and clothing were in short supply. Washington
later wrote that the help his army received from local people at Morristown
“saved the army from dissolution, or starving.”
In May 1780 word came that France would help the Patriots, and in June
the Jockey Hollow camp was dispersed when Washington’s army went off to fight
for another summer. While the American
Revolution was not won at Morristown, the salient fact is that it was not lost
there either.
In 1933, Jockey Hollow was preserved
as part of Morristown National Historical Park, which was America’s first
national historical park. The Civilian
Conservation Corps (CCC) worked here during the 1930’s to build many of the
trails and structures we use today. The
Wick House located near the Visitor Center preserves the farm of Henry Wick,
one of the hollow’s few permanent residents during the Revolutionary War era,
and the park offers a loop road that passes many of the hollow’s historic
sites.
 |
| The Wick House |
For hikers, the park offers an
extensive system of color-coded trails, and several good dayhikes present
themselves. The 6.5 mile White Trail
forms a grand loop around the hollow, while the 2.25 mile Yellow Trail stays
close to the loop road and focuses on the hollow’s historic sites. This blog entry describes the Blue Trail,
which forms a 2.7 mile loop around the northeast corner of Jockey Hollow and
passes a scenic east-facing overlook. Be
warned that bugs are fairly bad here during the warmer months, so be sure to
wear bug spray in season.
 |
| Trailhead for Blue Trail |
The trailhead for the Blue Trail is
located behind the restroom building at the New York Brigade parking area. Marked with rectangular blue paint blazes,
the trail descends gradually first through sunny young forest and then through
more mature forest with some large oak and tulip poplar trees. At 0.3 miles, the White Trail joins from the
right just before you reach Cat Swamp Pond.
A bench beside the pond makes a nice place to sit and do some wildlife
viewing provided the bugs are not too bad.
 |
| Cat Swamp Pond |
The White and Blue Trails run
conjointly for a few hundred feet until the White Trail exits left. The Blue Trail continues on an eastward course
as it climbs the north side of Mount Kemble, which rises to your right. The difference between maximum and minimum
elevations on this hike is only about 200 vertical feet, so none of the climbs
on this hike are too strenuous. Ignore
trails that exit right or left to stay on the outer loop of the Blue Trail.
 |
| Hiking through mature forest |
At 0.8 miles, you reach the top of
the hill and intersect a gravel road, where the blue blazes tell you to turn
right. Private property comes close on the
left as the wide trail heads south following the contour line of Mount
Kemble. Near 1 mile into the hike, you
reach a stone and mortar monument to Stark’s Brigade encampment site, a
reminder of the soldiers who spent the winter of 1779-1780 here.
 |
| Stark's Brigade encampment site |
Across from the monument sits the east-facing overlook that marks the
scenic highlight of this hike. Forested
ridges make up the majority of the view, but on a clear day you can see
Manhattan some 30 miles to the east.
When I came here on a hot and hazy afternoon in early August, I could
just barely make out Manhattan’s skyscrapers although they are not discernible
in the photo below. Noisy US 202 below
you provides another reminder of your proximity to New York City. A bench here makes a nice place to sit, rest,
and enjoy the view.
|
| East-facing overlook |
Past the overlook, the wide dirt
trail continues to follow Mount Kemble’s contour line as it circles the south
side of the mountain. As the trail
curves right, ignore a side trail that exits left as you begin to descend. At 1.6 miles, the Blue Trail’s Inner Loop
enters from the right as the Outer Loop descends a pair of mild switchbacks to
begin following the Old Camp Road. An
interpretive sign tells you that this road was built by the Continental Army to
connect two other roads. Imagine being a
soldier slogging through knee-deep snow while walking on this road.
 |
| Hiking the old road |
The Old Camp Road crosses the
outflow of Cat Swamp Pond on a wide wooden footbridge that marks the lowest
elevation of this hike. The White Trail
crosses your route before you begin a gradual climb. At 2.35 miles, the Old Camp Road ends at a
gated intersection with the paved park loop road. To continue the Blue Trail, walk around the
vehicle gate, cross the paved road, reenter the forest on the other side of the
road, and then turn right where the Orange Trail exits left.
The last 0.3 miles are a gradual to
moderate climb with the park loop road close on the right, and this section is
by far the least scenic part of the hike.
Soon the restroom building for the New York Brigade parking area comes
into view across the road, thus signaling the end of the hike. Be sure to check out the film and exhibits in
the Visitor Center and the adjacent Wick House before you leave if you have not
already done so.
No comments:
Post a Comment