After
hiking the Hamilton Ridge and Pioneer trails recently, I continued on to the nearby Van Campens Glen Trail. It takes you along the mountainside near the gorgeous Van Campens Brook, past a multitude of beautiful waterfalls, through the forest parallel to Old Mine Road, and theoretically, up to Millbrook Village. As you'll see, things didn't turn out quite as I expected.
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| Van Campens Glen National Park |
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| Van Campens Glen Trailhead |
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| Van Campens Glen Trail Map |
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| Van Campens Brook |
The hike started at the Van Campens Glen trailhead at N41° 03.501' W74° 59.950' along Old Mine Road in Hardwick NJ. While many of the trail maps I've seen show that this hiking trail begins directly across the road from the
Hamilton Ridge Trail, it was actually about 1/10th of a mile east along Old Mine Road. If you don't plan to hike the Hamilton/Pioneer trails beforehand like I did, you should be able to park at the Van Campens Glen trailhead. Just don't block entry to the trail itself.
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| Van Campens Trail Brook |
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| Small Waterfalls |
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| Van Campens Glen National Park |
Right from the get go, the Van Campens Hiking Trail has you straddling the side of the mountain along the brook as you head east. The trail gets steep at times, though much of it appeared to be well maintained. At some points there are stairs made from stones and logs that help you ascend and descend the trail as needed. After hiking along the mountainside for a bit, you come across a wooden bridge at N41° 03.661' W74° 59.397' that allows you to cross to the other side of the brook. Just after the bridge you'll find yourself drooling over the sight of a large beautiful waterfall. Follow the trail up the rocks and along the brook and you'll get to see even more waterfalls before being pulled further into the forest.
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| Wooden Bridge Over Van Campens Brook |
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| Beautiful Waterfall |
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| More Waterfalls |
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| Lots of Downed Trees |
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| Van Campens Glen National Park |
You'll hike about another half of a mile before coming across a bridge on your left that goes back to Old Mine Road. Little did I know that I'd have to revisit this area later. I followed the trail to the right which took me into the forest. After seeing tons of beautiful landscape, I found my first stumbling block: there was a power line hanging just a few feet from the trail. Not wanting to get fried out in the middle of nowhere, I chose to stay far from the downed power line and hiked into the woods to the right to get around the area. This is where I stumbled upon a side trail that went up a hill to an abandoned house at N41° 04.072' W74° 58.681'.
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| Downed Power Line |
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| Abandoned House |
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| Abandoned House |
Back down the hill and onto the Van Campens Glen trail I hiked for another half mile. The trail quickly went from a peaceful stroll to a muddy mess with thick thorn bushes on each side. For every step I took, the trail seemed to get narrower, but I was determined to get through this section of trail so I continued on. After hiking through the mud and thorn bushes for what seemed like an eternity, really just a 1/4 mile, I was surprised to find that the trail simply comes to a dead end. An orange safety fence was hanging across the trail, obviously meant to warn hiker not to go any further. It appears that a bridge that used to pass back over the brook at this location and was washed out at some point. Judging by the looks of the thorny brush that covered the trail, it looks like this section has been off limits for quite some time. Wouldn't it have been wonderful if the official park map at the trailhead noted this?
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| Van Campens Glen National Park |
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| Power Lines |
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| Muddy and Thorny Hiking Trail |
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| Bridge Back to Old Mine Road |
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| Long Walk Back to the Car |
At this point, my only choice was to double back down the trail to the bridge I mentioned earlier. Then I had to hike 2 miles east on Old Mine Road to get to Millbrook Village and back to my car at the Hamilton Ridge trailhead. With all of the hiking around power lines and doubling back, the trip was 2.5 miles, not including the 2 miles back to the car. My entire trip, including Hamilton Ridge and Pioneer Trail, equaled 9 miles. It was definitely a long day but still a great time nonetheless. If you'd like to follow my steps through the VanCampens Glen Trail, check out the map of my trip and download the GPX file below. It contains the route I took as well as some important waypoints.
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| Van Campens Glen Trail Elevation Graph |
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