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| Looking south from the Allamuchy Ridge |
The 10 mile hike to the summits of Allamuchy and Allamuchy North - two peaks on the NJ 1000K list - had all the makings of a pleasant - and non-strenuous - ascendant adventure. Well-graded trails, mixed woods, glacial rocks, ruins, multiple wildlife sightings, and total solitude with not a single hiker, biker, or hunter on the trail. The only problem - the incessant road noise from nearby I-80. You can't hear it so much in the valleys, but at the higher elevations on this hike the din is outright loud.
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| Parking Area off Tranquility Farm Road |
I pieced this hike together using limited details that I found online and the official state park map. The trail head can be found north of Hackettstown just off Route 517. Once across I-80, look for a small brown sign that says "trailhead" and make the next right on an easy-to-miss a dirt road called Tranquility Farm Road. The parking area and trail head are at the end.
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| Summit |
Following good blazes, we took the Orange (Switchback Loop) Trail to the Purple (Cardiac/Ditch) Trail to the Allamuchy Mountain ridge. I have no idea why it is called "cardiac" as the trail is very tame the entire way up. The Geodetic Survey marker on the Allamuchy summit is embedded into a rock outcropping at the true summit, which you reach by taking a short spur trail off of the Purple Trail.
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| The White Trail to Allamuchy North |
From the summit, the Purple Trail descends to the White (Waterloo) Trail which we took to reach the Allamuchy North. Though blazed, the White Trail can be a little tough to follow as it descends to a low point and then turns southeast, passes the Green Trail, and starts to climb again. On the border of land owned by the Boy Scouts (evident by their overkill of no trespassing postings), a spur trail with an old wooden sign reading "Ice Cream" comes in from the right. This is the trail that takes you to the Allamuchy North summit ridge. It skirts Boy Scout lands the entire way to the top, so be sure that you stay on the trail or to the right.
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| Descending from Allamuchy North on the "Ice Cream" trail |
For the return, we took the White Trail all the way back to the parking area... passing the intersection with the Purple Trail which we had come down on earlier in the morning. The final stretch of the White Trail, located just before the parking area, took us to within sight of the ruins of a late 19th century estate. The ruins are strange, profane, and a little eerie... probably why they made it into Weird New Jersey.
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| Profanity House in Allamuchy State Park |
Peaks: Allamuchy and Allamuchy North
Elevation: 1,240 and 1,222 feet
Distance: 9.7 miles, out and back/partial loop
Route: Orange Trail, to Purple Trail, to White Trail, to Ice Cream Trail
Conditions: Partly Cloudy turning Cloudy, 40 degrees F
