Backpacker Magazine – June 2006

The Appalachian Trail's Kittatinny Ridge

Hike this trail to find peace, stress relief and a tonic to cure your daily routine.

by: Mike Lanza, BACKPACKER Northwest Editor

State: NJ

Hike: Sprawling metro region? Where? This 28-mile ridge traverse is a tonic for city-weary souls. Your de-stressing treatment consists of a calming walk through a forest of oak, hickory, pine, red cedar, hemlock, and rhododendron, with plentiful blueberries in late summer. It will move on to water therapy, with a visit to the peaceful bowl of Sunfish Pond, a National Natural Landmark and the AT's southernmost glacial pool, and a 3.2-mile round-trip side hike to 75-foot Buttermilk Falls, New Jersey's highest. And if you (wisely) hike in fall, your remedy will climax with sightings of migrating hawks and bald and golden eagles. Because the trek is relatively easy, fit hikers should consider adding the 14.3 miles from Culvers Gap north to High Point (NJ 23).

Drive: South end: Under the I-80 bridge (NJ side) at the Delaware Water Gap. North end: On US 206 at Culvers Gap in Stokes State Forest.

Hike Elevation Profiles: 28 miles: high point: 1,585 ft., low point: 299 ft.

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