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June 26 - July 2

Easy Living

Summer life on a Morris Canal boat looks like a good time. After all, the mules did all the work, right? If you think it wasn't as simple as that, you're probably correct!
Summertime and the living is easy! So says DuBose Heyward's poem etched so deeply in our minds with the music of George Gershwin. Well, let's hope so!
Spread your wings and reach for the Skylands. Take advantage of a schedule full of intriguing things for you and your family to enjoy. Or choose among dozens of natural attractions or outdoor activities suggested on our website. Pay attention, the days are already getting shorter!

Stowing Away The Time

Join the celebration on Saturday, June 28 (rain date June 29) as Warren County marks its Bicentennial with a full day of free, family-friendly fun at Warren County Community College from 12 noon to 9 p.m., capped by fireworks at 9:15 p.m. The event is part of a year-long series of events marking 200 years since 1824 legislation created a new county in 1825. The county was named for Joseph Warren, a major figure in the Patriot movement in the early days of the American Revolution who was killed at the Battle of Bunker Hill on June 17, 1775.
Event activities and attractions will include live music by eleven bands with local roots on two stages, free rides and games, a beverage garden with Warren County’s own breweries & wineries, free tethered hot-air balloon rides, food trucks, and vendors from all walks of Warren County life. Parking is free and there will be shuttles from designated off-site lots. Bring chairs or blankets, but leave tents and umbrellas, pets and outside alcohol or coolers at home. Warren County Community College is located at 475 Route 57 West just west of Washington Borough. For more information and updates, check here.

Short Walks on the Long Trail

The Appalachian Trail, which stretches over two thousand miles from Georgia to Maine, enters New Jersey at the Delaware Water Gap, heads north along the Kittatinny Ridge to High Point, then east through the Pochuck Valley. You can explore the midsection of New Jersey's Appalachian Trail as it traverses two of our most celebrated state parks — High Point and Stokes Forest — and the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, along a 45-mile route along the Kittatinny Ridge through Sussex and Warren counties. Country lanes or park roads every few miles intersect the entire stretch so that you can plan any number of modest day hikes along the AT. Or take a couple of days to walk the whole distance. Elevation in this section ranges from 350 to 1,685 feet, and, if you prefer to walk downhill most of the time, hike north to south. You can conquer the Trail this summer by taking these suggested day hikes.

Station to Station

The Hunterdon section of the Columbia Trail includes occasional interpretive signs which relate the area's history.
Rail trails are a legacy of some of the many railroads that once thrived in northwestern New Jersey in an era when trains had names, each with its own character and personality. You don't need a whole lot of hiking know-how or aerobic virility to enjoy a rail trail. You can walk for miles without the struggle of an uphill climb or the danger of twisting an ankle on a protruding rock on the soft cinder dirt that makes up the surface of most rail trails.
While Hunterdon County's system of rails was not as intricate as farther north, where mining was more prevalent, the county was home to many spur lines used to transport passengers and products to charming villages and hamlets. Exercise for the body and mind!

Wet and Wild

Boat launch near the spillway dam at Echo Lake
The Pequannock Watershed, which weaves through and around Newfoundland and West Milford, has been called one of the New Jersey’s last wilderness areas. To call it wild might seem exaggeration, and yet, with an extraordinary amount of land undeveloped and restricted, the word applies. A swath of forest crisscrossed by trails, some rough or unpaved roads, occasionally punctuated by development, the territory is familiar in places; rugged in others. There are miles of trails up, down, and around a mini-range of mountains, through woods, past rocky streams, still lakes and reservoirs, with glimpses of the ruins of a stone castle and abandoned iron mines, all framed by dramatic shears, sliced by the Wisconsin Glacier ages ago. Get familiar this summer!

Planet Jersey

Photo by Dave Zolla
Who has not been enchanted by the mysterious hummingbird? With wings that beat too-fast-to-see, it seems to stand still in midair. If you can get closer you can hear the buzz of drone-like precision, sparkling like a gem in the sun encased by flashes of green, red and gold. Then it suddenly darts like a tiny spaceship to another zone where it may hover again for your inspection—or not. Close encounters of the hummingbird kind don’t have to be rare occasions. You can turn your backyard into a hummingbird paradise, a place where these beautiful creatures will become regular visitors. Don’t let them pass you by!
Thanks for joining us in our appreciation of Northwest New Jersey and all the brilliant ways to get out and enjoy the pleasures of the season. Tap our calendar for the best events for you and your family, or check our current stories. Pick from a multitude of daytrip itineraries and watch out for our virtual efforts to keep you informed. For the more aerobically inclined, the Outdoor Map shows the way to go, or choose among dozens of natural attractions or outdoor activities suggested on our website.
Like many other small, independent and specialized information sources, our operation will increasingly rely on reader donations. Help us keep you informed about all the great stuff to do in and around Northwest New Jersey! If you like what we offer, we hope you'll consider a contribution.

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