Our first trip of spring 2016! It hasn’t been long but it sure feels like it. I found Jenny Jump State Forest after some wondering for green spaces in google maps. It’s 2 hours away from Philadelphia (our home base), features hiking trails with scenic views and an observatory!, plus we were able to book one of the two larger group sites for only one night.
Navigate to the park office first (to check in) and also make sure to pick up a map! It contained the mileage for the trails which I couldn’t find elsewhere. The camp site can be accessed from the road leading behind the park office, on Orchard Trail (white blazes). You’ll pass a clean, well maintained “modern digesting” camp toilet on the way in, and the site is on the hill above the trail in the woods next to it. The road leading up to the site is slightly steep and narrow but we estimated you could fit 3+ cars, and more if you park along the road. The site contained a fire ring, fire barrel (for coals we were assuming), a grill, 2 picnic tables (one x-long) and a lantern hook. There was no water source here, not that I looked that hard because it wasn’t needed. However I did see one at the campsites 20-30 at the top of the hill within walking distance. There were three obvious tent pad sites but you could certainly find or clear more smaller level spots. It’s worth mentioning that there is also a sturdy bear box. We were prepared to lock up our food and string up a bear bag, it was very convenient to find the box when we arrived. We were also lucky to find plenty of dry logs around, although it is early spring. I didn’t pull out the tree identification book this time, but we recognized ash trees - and it is always exciting to burn something other than pine!
Pictured: This weekends woods away from home. Not pictured: The camp box that continues to thwart us.
Someone from the park came to check on the toilet on Sunday while we were packing up, otherwise there were no other cars on the road. I could hear occasional daytime car traffic from a different nearby road and I could see some headlights in the distance at the site, but I think when the brush grows in later in the season they won’t be visible. We were hiking a good portion of the day on Saturday, but when we were at the campsite we only saw 2 quiet groups pass by on the trail. At night, we had a cat visitor sniffing around the edge of the lantern light we suspect came from the farm near the park office.
Things to do:
We met up at the campsite early Saturday to park the cars and repack our day packs then hit the trail. The Swamp/Spring Trail head is an easy walk from the campsite. You pass the shelters (which are really cabins like everyone else says) and a washroom with showers. The shelter/cabins all looked booked and there were a fair amount of cars in the parking lot at the trail head. On the way up the trail, we passed two tent sites. It gets steep quick, we reached the first scenic view point within 10 minutes. It is to the right off of the trail.
Pictured: Scenic view. Not the first viewpoint but one I had particularly liked. There’s an interesting tree in the left corner with the red cone flowers - it had fuzzy branches, my guess is pussy willow.
I have been in hibernation this winter so we decided to take a break and have half our lunch right on the rocks at this point. The rest of the hike was rocky but not ankle busting. The are lots of interesting large boulders and since there wasn’t too much tree canopy we were able to see a lot of both sides of the ridge. I didn’t keep track of mileage or time very well, but it took us about an hour until we reached the intersection with Ghost Lake Trail, taking into account our multiple stops and slow pace. You could pick up the Spring trail again here or we decided to continue onto the GLT. It was downhill to the lake, which was gradual with one steeper descent towards the bottom. No scenic views on the way down but plenty of interesting trees, rocks and some flowers. There were lots of huge hawks flying right above us too. The trail does get less rocky towards the bottom near the lake.
Pictured: Lilly pads growing from the bank off of the land bridge dividing the lake.
The lake is beautiful, there’s a land bridge dividing it into two sections. One side is accessible by the road and has a boat launch. There were beautiful lily pads beginning to grow, we spied some fish in the clear water near the bank and a turtle! I finished the second half of my lunch here near some rocks on the other side of the bridge and was disappointed to see the many beer bottles scattered about. Unfortunately I didn’t have a way to dispose of them. Enjoy your beverages but take your trash with you please! We dawdled at the lake for maybe 20 minutes and went back up the mountain VERY slowly, I estimate it took us 2.5 hours to get back to camp making our total hiking time 3 hours. Our favorite camp champing companion estimated we hiked about 6 miles all together. We took GLT all the way back past Summit Trail, then past the campsites at the other end of the park. I observed sites 30-33 were all very close together, would be good for a group of friends (or when we return this year with our siblings!). They were all still too close together and to the road for our comfort, although honestly they were probably farther apart than most of the campsites we are used to in the Wharton State Forest. There was no brush either so later in the season may offer more privacy. We walked past another restroom with showers, the water pump I mentioned earlier, and a playground.
We originally planned on driving to the observatory after having dinner at the campsite, but had too much fun sawing wood and cooking leisurely. The skies were clear and it was easy to see the bright moon and Jupiter featured in the sky, as well as a few constellations. I made sure to drive up to observatory the next day to see if it’s worth checking out on a future trip - and it definitely is. The observatory is open to the public from 8:00-10:30 pm April through October. There was an awesome rock that would be perfect for star gazing and offered an amazing view during the way. Will be returning!
Pictured: The observatory site. It was closed while we were there but it appears the roofs slide off and reveal the telescope. I’ll post more photos of the views from here.
Camp Champ Chomps:
Saturday lunch: sandwiches on the trail, snacks
Saturday dinner: easy dutch oven chicken marsala (stay tuned for the recipe), brownies for desert
Sunday breakfast: “egglish” muffins (that’s what the champs call ‘em) pre-made at home and frozen
If you need to stay connected: AT&T, T-Mobile and Sprint all had reception and internet connections.
Useful maps: Remember to visit the Jenny Jump State Forest website for the most up to date information!
Jenny Jump Mountain Summit Trail Description and Maps by the New York New Jersey Trail Conference
