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icebiker

icebiker

JORBA: Morris Trails
JORBA.ORG
Last weekend, a few us us did a 48 mile loop of 4 of northern NJ's abandoned rail lines, looking out for the remnants of the past. Other than a 1 mile road connector in Blairstown, the ride was all off road. 1st leg was rough and overgrown, rest was much easier, the whole thing was a blast. Tons of artifacts out there.

The attached "then and now" video is nowhere near Manny quality, and the stills can't match the action, mood and cheekiness of Luke, JimV and Woody's pictures respectively, but it should give you a sense of what's out there (much more than could be captured below).

Note: Best viewed in Theater mode at 1080, but not full screen (some pixelation on the vids otherwise)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MN9fmbIYhWs&feature=youtu.be
 
Nice video... Would love to do a trip like that one of this days... How long did it take to cover the 48 mile loop?
 
Nice! I've ridden the Paulinskill Valley, Sussex Branch, and LNE trails many, many times 🙂 Thanks for identifying the "Water Tower Ruins"... I've always wondered what the purpose of that structure was, but never got around to researching it. I've also been on the Lackawanna Cutoff, starting at the Roseville tunnel, but not all the way to Blairstown. Before NJ Transit announced plans to build on the Cutoff, I was hoping it would be converted to a rail-trail, since it crosses both the Paulinskill Valley's western end (at the Hainesburg/Paulinskill Viaduct - quite an impressive structure) and the Sussex Branch near Andover, but that's not going to happen now.
 
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Very nice video. I too would like a gps link and more detailed description of actual route. Showed video to Mr AM and he actually wants to try it!
 
awesome video and history lesson ! Do you know if there is hunting allowed on these trails ? - I'd like to do a couple mid-week
 
Thanks for the nice feedback all! Was actually thinking of making this at least a once-a-year thing every fall, so will post up next time we do it for anyone interested. The loop itself was 44 miles, and the "tail" of the loop (out from CO Johnson park through the tunnel to the loop and then back at the end) was 4 miles.

NJ Transit is supposed to have Port Morris/Hopatcong to Andover done by 2016, but who knows if it'll really happen by then. There's still a lot of work to be done. So maybe we have a few more years. Only thing to keep in mind is that the Cutoff is pretty rough in spots (ballast), so pick your bike carefully. The Cutoff was my very first MTB ride, back in 1991, on a rigid Giant, wearing swim trunks, and no tools/tubes/food on hand. 😱 Was great to go back better prepared 😎.

Another cool option is to keep going past Blairstown on the Cutoff and ride the Paulinskill Viaduct, then find our way down to the western end of the Paulinskill Valley Trail and ride that to Blairstown and onward. That would likely make it about a 65 mile loop vs 48.

@ Bard/A.M. :I used an old Garmin eTrex, so I can send you a .gdb file if it'll help. Only caveat is that it didn't capture the first 4 miles of leg 2 (Paulinskill Trail), so I filled it in manually on G-earth. However, the file will get you to the start of leg 2 with no problem, and then just follow the Paulinksill (it's well marked) till the gps track picks up again. PM me your email address and I'll send it to you.

@ GTChamp: It took about 8 hours. Mainly because we took lots of pics, did some exploring of the ruins, and stopped trailside for lunch at the Trestle.

@ Andy: there's also another rail trail in the area...called the Lehigh & Hudson. It's not really rideable but I hope one day we will see it resurrected as a recreational corridor. Remnants of it can be picked up by Allamuchy's Tranquility area and it continued northeast-ward and crosses over the Sussex Branch about 100 yards south of the 206 lot at KVSP. You can also see it on the eastern shore of KVSP's Lake Aeroflex.

@UnionRider: Not sure...I'm pretty sure no hunting on Paulinskill and Sussex Branch as these are well defined and marked State Park trails. Cutoff and LNE are more rugged and bordered in spots by open space. But go on a Sunday to be sure and you'll be fine.
 
Well done all around. Will put it on the calendar for next year (or the spring version!)
 
This is a great ride that most people who haven't done it will say "just rails trails....ugh"

I've done many versions of it and have versions all the way up to just under 300 miles (u read that right) that use these trails as the start, jim thorpe and down to new hope and back up d+r... about 95% off road

make this ride a regular thing!
Awesome vid!
 
Thanks for the motivation. I pulled up my old garmin files and in 2007 I rode 39 miles mostly the Sussex Branch from Waterloo to the northern end and back with a little bit of Paulinskill and Lackawanna Cutoff just exploring. Thinking of taking a day off in the next few weeks for more exploring, especially the Lackawanna part.
 
we used to moto these back in the day all the time, I remember when the cut off was still in use. Where the Blairstown Park is now used to have all the abandoned buildings where we kids hung.

I then rode the Paulinskill for training when I raced x/c back in early 90's as mountain bike was all I had. Lived in Pa. at the time and would cross the walk bridge in Portland/Columbia and pick up the trail there. Ride it all the way out to Hampton and back.

John L Blair was responsible for bringing the rail to Blairstown hence why town changed it's name from Pottstown. Not to mention founding Blair Academy.

Mom used to jump on the train in Btown and take it to Dover, NJ to go shopping, my how the times have changed...
 
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