Cedar Swamp Trail is a 2.6 looped trek

Cedar Swamp Trail is a 2.6 looped trek

Cedar Swamp Trail is a 2.6 looped trek found in High Point State Park near Montague Township, New Jersey. Along the fairly packed trail, you encounter a variety of plants like the American Chestnut, the cedar trees, Mountain laurel, flowers, and thick moss, and different animals (maybe an occasional bear encounter).

With its slight elevation, you can have your kids or dog with you and spend about 45 minutes on this lovely bog. And let not the word swamp mislead you into avoiding the Cedar Swamp Trail, NJ. It is a chance to see a wide range of flowers and vegetation that are rare in other parts of New Jersey.

The fantastic bog with its geographical and historical story makes it one of a kind. As you pass the monument, you can take a detour and climb up its 21 stairs to the top. But even outside the monument, the birds-eye-view is attention-grabbing if not peaceful. This is quite an easy hike with family activities such as camping and maybe a refreshing swim in summer. But get ready to get muddy shoes as you pass swampy areas of the trail.

Description

Cedar Swamp Trail is easily accessible from Tyler Road, Ocean View, New Jersey. Visit during the early hours or on weekends because its parking lot isn’t huge. But you can opt to pay the state parking charges.

From the parking area, you find a gate and then a path that leads down a gravel path. The purple blazes are the indicators along the trail. 0.4 miles in you where you find trail-splits follow the left one. The trail is relatively flat, and it is speckled with grassy-green cedars, rhododendrons (early June), and the mountain laurels (late June).

The path goes around the swamp, but you will get a boardwalk that leads you to the heart of it. Here you can feel the life of the striking flowers and thick moss on either side.

The Shawangunk Trail meets the Cedar Swamp Trail about a mile in. It is marked by blue blazes, and the two trails then separate after about 0.2 miles.

As you hike, you notice that the upland oaks like red oaks or chestnut oaks that flourish on the dry, rocky surfaces start disappearing as you enter the bog.

Then boom! If you are aware of its formation, you find yourself on the shores of a mystical ancient lake. It used to span the bog you are about to enter, reaching a depth of about 20 feet. It is the place where the swamp formed after centuries. (more on bog formation later).

The acidic, non-fertile, and wet soils of many bogs hamper the growth of various plants. Not here. The plants in this bog have adapted to the land. The verdant mountain laurels, rhododendrons, and sheep berry dot the trail.

Have an indulgence with the zesty dark-blue blueberries and huckleberries as you hike during mid-summer. But leave some for the birds that have been chirping encouragements along the way).

History

The Cedar Swamp has been classified as a glacial bog. About 15,000 years ago, a 30-acre pond was formed as a result of a retreating glacier. And life started appearing. First came the lichens, then mosses and after a while, herbaceous and woody vegetation.

Scientists claim that the White cedar has a relatively short history (about 300 years). It probably came to grow here through a pollinating agent such as an animal or bird. But the white cedars are naturally being phased out as trees that require less sunlight begin to blossom. The lush Eastern Hemlock, the black birch, the wild calla, and plenty of fauna will enthrall the nature-lover in you.

Bogs form from millions of mosses. When the mosses grow on a pond, you get other plants growing on them. These plants and mosses die and sink. But full decomposition doesn’t happen. So, these partly decayed material start filling the shallow ends. After millennia the pond became full with the accumulating partly-decayed plants. Shrubs and trees now thrive where a 20-feet lake once stood.

Sources

https://www.state.nj.us/dep/parksandforests/parks/maps/Cedar_swamp_trail_booklet_web2.pdf

https://www.eastcoasthiker.com/trails/highpointnj/

http://thebotanicalhiker.blogspot.com/2016/11/the-cedar-swamp-at-high-point-state-park.html

https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/new-jersey/white-cedar-swamp-trail