Batona Trail and Jersey Central Lines from Carranza Memorial is a 3.9 mile lightly trafficked loop trail located near Vincentown, New Jersey that features a lake and is rated as moderate. The trail offers a number of activity options and is accessible year-round. Dogs are also able to use this trail but must be kept on leash.
Hiked down the old railroad bed until the first fire road crossing and came back along the Skit Branch via the Batona Trail to the campground.
Besides the pink trail, all off paths are not marked well. Not a lot of foot traffic, can extend this trail if you want.
I started my hike by the train tracks and it was not marked so I had to wander around for a bit using the app to see if I was on the right trail. Once I found it, about a 1/4 mile in there was this pop up lake that made it impassable. I did not go through the bush for fear of chiggers. If you start near the campground, you might have a better chance, just know that you will have to turn around, unless you are wearing pants.
The half of the loop that follows the Jersey Central Railroad tracks was not marked. That section is boring because the tracks are laid in a straight line and not great hiking because the railroad bed alongside the tracks is no longer level. The other half of the loop is mostly a sandy dirt road winding through the forest. We wish we had done the Apple Hill Fire Tower via Batona Trail hike instead.
Not a bad walk/hike. Typical Pine Barren Landscape. Some river, bogs, and small ponds. Saw nobody on the trail, which was nice.
We were unable to finish our walk because the “trail”, which is really a dirt road, was flooded as far as we could see. Saw no alternative but to pick our way through the brush so we took the alternate trail back. That cut our walk short by almost a mile.
pretty last review i only did 1 star by accident. puddled halfway through so this time did out and back. very peaceful some rolling hills along train tracks that were good for heart rate
half of the trail is great, the other half, which is almost a straight line follows old rail road tracks. Nothing but down trees, made it very hard to pass.
Hiked down the old railroad bed until the first fire road crossing and came back along the Skit Branch via the Batona Trail to the campground.