Explorer's Guide 50 Hikes in New Jersey: Walks, Hikes, and Backpacking Trips from the Kittatinnies to Cape May (Third Edition) (Explorer's 50 Hikes) [Paperback]

Bruce C. Scofield (Author), Stella Green (Author), H. Neil Zimmerman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 6, 2006 | Series: Explorer's 50 Hikes

This completely updated treasury of trails takes you to the best wild places in the Garden State.

New Jersey holds much for hikers to explore, and this completely updated edition leads the way along the Appalachian Ridge; over the ragged Wyanokies; through the hauntingly remote pine barrens; and into the marshes, dunes, and sifting sands of the seacoast. With excursions from 1.5 to 28 miles in length, accompanied by driving directions, trailhead information, difficulty ratings, and detailed maps, this roster of hikes will suit everyone from families out for a nature walk to adventurous backpackers up for challenge.

Known more for its urban areas than its green spaces, the Garden State is actually a crossroads for major interstate trails including the Maine-to-Georgia Appalachian Trail, the 150-mile Highlands Trail, and the 60-mile Delaware and Raritan Canal State Park Trail. Local trail networks crisscross the state and the authors offer their choice picks, sharing the geology, lore, and natural and human history along the way. 51 black-and-white photographs, 51 maps

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Bruce Scofield, a New Jersey native, is a freelance writer, photographer, and astrological consultant. Among his books are 50 Hikes in New Jersey, Hiking the Pioneer Valley, High Peaks of the Northeast, and Short Escapes in New England. He lives in Amherst, Massachusetts.

Stella Green is the past vice-president of the New York-New Jersey Trail Conference. She lives in Woodcliff Lake, NJ.

H. Neil Zimmerman is past president of the New York-New Jersey Trail Conference. Zimmerman lives in New York City.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Countryman Press; Third Edition edition (June 6, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0881507024
• ISBN-13: 978-0881507027
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #104,006 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Bruce Scofield (b. 7/21/1948) lives in Western Massachusetts, emigrating from New Jersey in 1989. His writings span several subjects including trails and hiking, astrology, history and science. He began studying astrology in 1967 and in 1980 began a private practice from which he has earned a living as an astrological consultant. In the early 1980's his first hiking and astrology books were published and he also passed astrological certification tests from both the American Federation of Astrologers (AFA) and the National Council for Geocosmic Research (CA-NCGR). During the 1990's he was the national education director for NCGR. He is on the faculty of Kepler College (www.kepler.edu) and often speaks at astrology conferences and meetings and is a frequent writer for the Mountain Astrologer magazine and the Llewellyn Moon and Sun Sign books, and has had articles published in the NCGR Journal, Dell Horoscope, American Astrology and many other astrological magazines and journals. His interest in Mesoamerican astrology has a major online presence (www.onereed.com). Bruce has several other interests including science, hiking, photography, music (myspace.com/brucescofield), history and archaeology and has had articles, books and creative works published in those areas as well. He holds a BA in history from Rutgers University, an MA in social sciences from Montclair University and a PhD in geosciences from the University of Massachusetts where he teaches cosmic evolution and Gaia Theory.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book for day hikes in and about NJ., March 24, 2000

By 

J. Hui (NJ, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: 50 Hikes in New Jersey: Walks, Hikes, and Backpacking Trips from the Kittatinnies to Cape May (50 Hikes in Louisiana: Walks, Hikes, & Backpacks in the Bayou State) (Paperback)

In the first weeks of owning the book, I have done 3 of the hikes so far, Governor's Mtn, Manor circular, and Carris Hill, although I was already familiar with the parking lots, trailheads through many years mtn biking and hiking in the area, I found the descriptions to be top notch and accurate. Using those descriptions and a simple NYNJTC topo map (with GPS coordinates!) navigation is a snap. GPS is practically unnecessary since most of the trails are well marked. Even though I have only done three of the trips in there, I am very familiar with most of the places mentioned there, the Palisades, Wawayanda, Jockey Hollow, etc. as I've hiked or biked there before I got this book. The book is an excellent day trip for the beginner to intermediate day tripper, fits nicely even in small camelback type devices. My only wish is they included the trail blaze color in the maps they provide, makes for faster quick reference when hiking.

Jay

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Top-notch guide, May 29, 2000

By 

Gandalf "travel-ace" (Metuchen, NJ USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: 50 Hikes in New Jersey: Walks, Hikes, and Backpacking Trips from the Kittatinnies to Cape May (50 Hikes in Louisiana: Walks, Hikes, & Backpacks in the Bayou State) (Paperback)

I love the way this book is organized. Rather than describe a series of hiking opportunities in New Jersey, the authors carefully culled through hundreds of trails and picked out the most exciting hikes in the state. They even patched together multiple trails in within most parks so you would get the best bang out of the time invested. The descriptions are accurate and fun to read. I tried three of them so far and look forward to doing the other 47.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Like to hike in NJ? Then this is the book to get, January 14, 2011

By 

Jeffrey Jotz "You'll know him when you find him" (Rahway, NJ USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Explorer's Guide 50 Hikes in New Jersey: Walks, Hikes, and Backpacking Trips from the Kittatinnies to Cape May (Third Edition) (Explorer's 50 Hikes) (Paperback)

The author divides his book into different regions on NJ and then describes his favorite hikes in each region. Unlike other NJ hiking books, this book thankfully includes a map of each hike, although they are in black & white.

The vast majority of these hikes are day-hikes, although a few overnight trips are included as well. All lengths, features and skill levels of hikes can be found in this book.