Batona Trail in NJ

[88BlueGT]

Does anyone have any info/recommendations/facts about this trail. For ex. where exactally it starts at, etc. I'm looking to maybe do some day trips and maybe a weekend or "thru hike" the trail :D I just think it will be interesting to hike flat land..... big change from DWG lol.

Thanks guys.

Dan

[4eyedbuzzard]

No personal knowledge just this http://members.aol.com/Batona/BatonaTrailGuide.html

That and having lived in Pt Pleasant and knowing the Pine Barrens a bit remember to bring plenty of skeeter juice. Lots of ticks as I remember too.

[kayak karl]

Does anyone have any info/recommendations/facts about this trail. For ex. where exactally it starts at, etc. I'm looking to maybe do some day trips and maybe a weekend or "thru hike" the trail :D I just think it will be interesting to hike flat land..... big change from DWG lol.

Thanks guys.

Dan
starts at ong's hat ends bass river state park. 51 miles. the southern strech is 26 mi no camp. either stealth or bodine field a half mi off trail. http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/vbg/showimage.php?i=25170&c=535
http://trailregistry.com/trailregistry/showItinerary.jsp?selectedTrail=127060 pm me for other maps.
i hiked a section last week http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php?t=37434&highlight=test+run , tick city, spray clothes:D
it can be thru hiked in two days LOWER FORGE CAMP is the mid point.

[Lellers]

I've never hiked the Batona, but one of my fave trips is a paddle down the Batsto River from Hampton Furnace to Batsto Lake. I overnight at Lower Forge camp, and I've met a some Batona thru-hikers there. They all say the bugs are the big issue, so be prepared. It's definitely flat. I've never stayed at Lower Forge without seeing very active, very determined raccoons. With kayaks, I stow food in the hatch and flip the boats over. But on one trip we did with boy scouts, the boys hung their food. I sat and chuckled as I watched our Pennsylvania boys searching for rocks for their throw bags. Those kids walked around for a half hour before they realized there are no rocks in the Pine Barrens. They also didn't think that raccoons would be able to get their food, either. I thought this was amusing after the food bags had been completely decimated overnight . . . until I discovered that one of the boys had taken my food out of my boat hatch and hung it as a "favor" to me. My point is, the raccoons at Lower Forge are pretty adept at getting food from the humans. I met one guy who actually stowed his food in the latrine with a log propped against the door. I don't think I'd go that far.

[The Big J]

I to am interested in hiking the Batona. I think I am going to wait till the fall when the bugs go away and the heat goes away. The Pine Barrens give off some heat in the summer. I was wounderin about water on the trail. With all the rain it might be a good time to go if you can stand the bugs. I do not live far from the trail and if someone needed a pickup or drop I might be able to help.

[THEmapMAKER]

My wife, father and I just backpacked 33 miles of the trail this last weekend.
The Batona Map can be made much better. They have very detail, which makes planning where to camp and get water hard. There are ticks everwhere on the trial. I talked to a ranger there. HE told us to tuck our pant legs into our sock and use bug spray on our pant legs, shoes, around the wastes and where our shirt sleeve end.
When we got home my father had a red bull eye on him, which is a warning sign that he got Lymes Disease. There was tick still attched to him in the middle of the Bulls Eye.
The ranger also told us the ticks just wait on the branches on the side of the trail with there legs out, waiting for you to walk by. Please take precuasions for ticks.

How do you get to Bodine Field camp from the Batona Trail? It is on .5 miles from the trail? Is there a trail off of the Batona trail that leads to Bodine Field? Is there a sign?

[kayak karl]

My wife, father and I just backpacked 33 miles of the trail this last weekend.
The Batona Map can be made much better. They have very detail, which makes planning where to camp and get water hard. There are ticks everwhere on the trial. I talked to a ranger there. HE told us to tuck our pant legs into our sock and use bug spray on our pant legs, shoes, around the wastes and where our shirt sleeve end.
When we got home my father had a red bull eye on him, which is a warning sign that he got Lymes Disease. There was tick still attched to him in the middle of the Bulls Eye.
The ranger also told us the ticks just wait on the branches on the side of the trail with there legs out, waiting for you to walk by. Please take precuasions for ticks.

How do you get to Bodine Field camp from the Batona Trail? It is on .5 miles from the trail? Is there a trail off of the Batona trail that leads to Bodine Field? Is there a sign?
hey mapmaker how u been?
if you are going south u will cross rt 563 then at 679 crossing a half mi more. you turn right off trail and it is a .8 mi road walk to camp. http://www.state.nj.us/dep/parksandforests/parks/wsf-bodine-map.html google earthed it .8 not .5. there is a path along harrisonville lake. topo map and compass it, keep lake on left. NOTA PROBLEM:) when you leave (but you'll skip blazes) take martha road back to trail.