Batona Trail Map Update

[dperry]

I have been thinking a lot about the Batona Trail lately, partly as a possible trip for a church youth group, and partly because I might take it upon myself to create the first detailed trail guide. In any event, I hiked a bit of it this week and drove around and saw a lot of other parts of it, and collected a good bit of information. The map situation for the trail is a bit complex right now, and since I've seen the trail discussed several times on here, I thought it might be useful to others to list what I've found out:

1.) The most recent map of the entire trail (dating to 2010, I believe) can be found here:

http://www.state.nj.us/dep/parksandforests/parks/docs/batona14web.pdf

2.) An older map (2000) can be downloaded in several parts from this page:

http://troop310.cyberpuppi.com/Batona.htm

The first map gives you a much more extensive view of the surrounding territory and how to get to the trail from many of the major roads in the area, particularly north of Batsto. The second map has much greater detail, and gives names for many of the smaller roads, which could be helpful in finding your way to the trail via car.

Neither of these, however, shows the two major relocations to the trail that were completed last year. They are as follows:

3.) The bigger of the two is that the trail has been moved to run through the Franklin Parker Preserve, a area owned by the New Jersey Conservation Foundation which connects Brendan Byrne (formerly Lebanon) and Wharton State Forests. This eliminates a long and, from what I understand, not always aesthetically pleasing roadwalk. Fortunately, the preserve has created a very nice map of this, which can be found here:

http://www.ocsj.org/images/BATONA-FRANKLIN_PARKER.pdf

4.) The other relocation is in Bass River, and takes the trail off Stage Road, coming into the southern terminus from the north instead. I have not been able to find this map online yet, so I took the liberty of scanning the paper map that is available at the terminus. It is attached below.

5.) Lastly, for those that may be interested in doing loops involving the Batona or taking alternative routes, the trail map for Brendan Byrne SF is here:

http://www.state.nj.us/dep/parksandforests/parks/maps/BTB_Trail_Map.pdf

and the map for the Atsion-Batsto area of Wharton SF can be found here:

http://www.njhiking.com/nj-hiking-maps/wharton-state-forest/wharton-batsto-atsion-trail-map.pdf

Anyway, I hope this is useful to some of you, and enjoy!

[chiefiepoo]

Thanks for the Batona update. i grew up in south Jersey. My scout troop did a lot of hiking around Chatsworth, and Batsto with some canoeing on the Oswego and Mullica. I've wanted to get back to that area for a "last look" at some familiar terrain though it has been years I've been there. This map and your info help a lot. Thanks. now to get from PHL to the north trailhead. It ought to be easy to get to AC at the end and catch a bus back to PHL.

[johnnybgood]

A plethora of maps for sure,lots of good information on this trail. Kudos to getting this trail some deserved publicity. Permethrin treated clothing could be the first order of the day as much of the trail is surrounded by wetlands.
There doesn't seem like much elevation change when the trail swings away from Lake Batsto-- looks like about 75ft = 25 meters.

[rocketsocks]

Hey this is great, why just tonight I was talking about this trail with a friend.......very 19935thanks for posting!

[1azarus]

I'm planning a two or so day hike here in early June. What is it like to camp here -- is all of the camping at designated sites? Has anyone actually put together a loop, or is the Batona trail the best show in that area?

[1azarus]

wow. lots of info after a bit of a search -- on a trail i'd never heard of! must contact kayak karl... sounds like it might actually be fun to hike this trail.

[rocketsocks]

I'm planning a two or so day hike here in early June. What is it like to camp here -- is all of the camping at designated sites? Has anyone actually put together a loop, or is the Batona trail the best show in that area?I was wondering the same thing (where to make camp) this trail is basically in my back yard, and I've never hiked it.

[twilight]

Guys, from my experience from hiking the trail, you can only camp at the designated campsites that you will find on the map. Which sometimes leads to some long hulls between camgrounds. Trail though, is relatively flat aside from a bump at Apple Pie Hill, if I remember correctly.

Twilight

[rocketsocks]

Guys, from my experience from hiking the trail, you can only camp at the designated campsites that you will find on the map. Which sometimes leads to some long hulls between camgrounds. Trail though, is relatively flat aside from a bump at Apple Pie Hill, if I remember correctly.

TwilightThanks Twilight, good to know.

[1azarus]

i have been thinking a lot about the batona trail lately, partly as a possible trip for a church youth group, and partly because i might take it upon myself to create the first detailed trail guide. In any event, i hiked a bit of it this week and drove around and saw a lot of other parts of it, and collected a good bit of information. The map situation for the trail is a bit complex right now, and since i've seen the trail discussed several times on here, i thought it might be useful to others to list what i've found out:

1.) the most recent map of the entire trail (dating to 2010, i believe) can be found here:

http://www.state.nj.us/dep/parksandforests/parks/docs/batona14web.pdf

2.) an older map (2000) can be downloaded in several parts from this page:

http://troop310.cyberpuppi.com/batona.htm

the first map gives you a much more extensive view of the surrounding territory and how to get to the trail from many of the major roads in the area, particularly north of batsto. The second map has much greater detail, and gives names for many of the smaller roads, which could be helpful in finding your way to the trail via car.

Neither of these, however, shows the two major relocations to the trail that were completed last year. They are as follows:

3.) the bigger of the two is that the trail has been moved to run through the franklin parker preserve, a area owned by the new jersey conservation foundation which connects brendan byrne (formerly lebanon) and wharton state forests. This eliminates a long and, from what i understand, not always aesthetically pleasing roadwalk. Fortunately, the preserve has created a very nice map of this, which can be found here:

http://www.ocsj.org/images/batona-franklin_parker.pdf

4.) the other relocation is in bass river, and takes the trail off stage road, coming into the southern terminus from the north instead. I have not been able to find this map online yet, so i took the liberty of scanning the paper map that is available at the terminus. It is attached below.

5.) lastly, for those that may be interested in doing loops involving the batona or taking alternative routes, the trail map for brendan byrne sf is here:

http://www.state.nj.us/dep/parksandforests/parks/maps/btb_trail_map.pdf

and the map for the atsion-batsto area of wharton sf can be found here:

http://www.njhiking.com/nj-hiking-maps/wharton-state-forest/wharton-batsto-atsion-trail-map.pdf

anyway, i hope this is useful to some of you, and enjoy!


thank you so much! I have assembled the base trail map the two reroute images into one image and submitted them to maprika so they are available to all. Maprika is a free phone ap... Just search for batona in their map index, or let me know if you have trouble finding it.

[redseal]

Good timing. I have been looking into this trail as well.

[HamSandwich]

Just saw this while thinking about an early spring DIAD ... excellent info, dperry! Thanks. Those relocations are GREAT, much better choices.

GPX track from 4/2011 DIAD: http://www.attackpoint.org/sessiondata.jsp?sessionid=1830004

One page PDF with an older track. I forget where I found this originally (it's not my track or map), but you can print it out so that it's on two sides of an 8.5x11 piece of paper, which is nice, or print on 11x17: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/5z2s7ypvzkrquy7/C8hg7BaOhI

Man, now I want to head over and hit the trail! Late fall would be a beautiful time to do this easy, peaceful trail.

[HamSandwich]

Whoops, wrong link to the map. Bah. Here it is: https://www.dropbox.com/s/vg62k8pix66nqbn/Batona-11x17.pdf

[kayak karl]

here is the new re-route http://connect.garmin.com/activity/254361028
ong-batona http://connect.garmin.com/activity/79924912
batona-buttonwood http://connect.garmin.com/activity/79925335
buttonwooh-bass http://connect.garmin.com/activity/98283232

i plan on hiking it again thanksgiving weekend and mapping it in one file with re-route in it. :)

[Dogwood]

Wish I had seen this thread before getting the glossy Batona Trail Brochure w/ the map printed on it from Bass River and Wharton SPs. THX. I'll be doing it in the next two wks too with the newish reroute. Might be interesting as I'll then be able to compare what I hiked on the old route awhile back.

[Dogwood]

I had a few days of nice weather in NJ before Christmas and was antsy to stretch the legs on a walk about so just thru-hiked this taking all the new re-routes.

Couple of thoughts:

Especially thought the reroute through Franklin Parker Preserve was a BIG improvement over the old route. I used to hunt by special permission on this property decades ago when it was owned by the Parker Family. It has some nice thick forests and almost impenetrable undergrowth thickets that the oldest, craftiest, and often largest deer, including the older bucks, liked to immerse themselves in when they felt threatened by humans. I saw a Bald Eagle, several Whitetail Deer, and an Owl(couldn't identify though) as I hiked through the Preserve. Saw some Bobcat tracks as well. This reroute has better access to water at several bogs compared to the older route that went by Hedger House.

The older routes between Hwy 532 crossing Hwy 563 to Hwy 72 and near Bass River State Forest on Dperry's 1) http://www.state.nj.us/dep/parksandf...atona14web.pdf (http://www.state.nj.us/dep/parksandforests/parks/docs/batona14web.pdf) link and on 2) http://troop310.cyberpuppi.com/Batona.htm are reflected on these maps. No totally complete map all in one of the BT exists yet as far as I know. These links reflect the trail brochure you will receive if you contact anyone of the NJ State Forest Offices the BT goes through asking for the free Batona Tr(BT) map(Bass River, Wharton, Brendan T Byrne). IF you do want the glossy BT Brochure make sure you ask for the black and white Franklin Parker Preserve reroute with it or download it from this thread. Personally, I would like the Preserve Reroute map to be in color though to more easily distinguish features such as water sources, roads, etc. Franklin Parker Preserve Reroute signage identifies the reroute and is well blazed in pink! Basically, the entire BT is exceptionally well blazed and easy to follow including very good blazing at all junctions! It's as easy as the AT to follow. The pink blazing could use an update between Batona Camp and Apple Pie Hill though. BTW, climbed up the AP Hill Fire Tower when I got there at night and could see Atlantic City to the south and Philadelphia to the west on the horizon. The shorter reroute near Bass River State Forest near the southern terminus is nicely detailed on a trail map available through Bass River State Forest. You can easily walk the 1 mile from the Bass River SF HDQTRS along the power line to the Batona Tr southern terminus on Stage Rd. I'll try posting this in the next few days.

Overall, had a great walk seeing only a handful of BT section hikers, no campers, mountain bikers(on a cross trail, NO bikes on the BT), and a few trail runners. Weather was unseasonably warm(highs from 55-67*, night time lows around 40-50*) with partly sunny skies but intermittent rain on the last day - Glorious hiking weather on an easy to follow and easy to hike trail. Oh, although I've never seen one, and don't think the BT is all that great for wildlife, I saw my first otter on the Batso River. Saw quite a bit of various species of waterfowl too.

Tips/Suggestions: Protect yourself from ticks on the BT! IDEAL trail to hammock. Consider taking the red/blue/white alternate along Batso Lake that connects back up with the BT in the Batso Area. Look at this map: http://www.njhiking.com/nj-hiking-ma...-trail-map.pdf (http://www.njhiking.com/nj-hiking-maps/wharton-state-forest/wharton-batsto-atsion-trail-map.pdf). Some snack vending machines at the Batso Park Office Nature Center. All the Fire Towers I went by were locked so you couldn't get up to the very top. If you hike in spring, summer, and early fall you might consider bringing a Pinelands Preserve wildflower/plant and wildlife book.

[kayak karl]

New Batona topo map was made

3059230593

KK

Feel free to download and re-post.

[rocketsocks]

Very nice, thanks. Look forward to hitting that trail again.

[kayak karl]

Very nice, thanks. Look forward to hitting that trail again. the PDF prints out large 13x19.
i plan on hiking the trail 5/1-3/15 if you or anybody is interested. it's 54 miles. can do it in 2 or three days. (remember this is jersey barrens, elevation from 35' to 109' over apple pie mountain :))

[rocketsocks]

the PDF prints out large 13x19.
i plan on hiking the trail 5/1-3/15 if you or anybody is interested. it's 54 miles. can do it in 2 or three days. (remember this is jersey barrens, elevation from 35' to 109' over apple pie mountain :))
I regret to say I won't be able to do that right now...but it is on my todo list, right at the top!...one a deez day. Thanks again for posting those map updates, those are great.

[Dogwood]

I get a laugh at the hullaboo that develops once a path/hike/trail is once labeled with a name. I grew up in the Pineland Nat Reserve doing countless hunting/fishing/1-3 day backpacking, survival trips. No one cares about all those 50 mile hikes. I guess it's because they weren't labeled with a trail name. I might start naming my hikes. Uhh, Dogwood One, Dogwood Two, etc

[chiefiepoo]

I grew up in Evesham twp. Running down to the Pines and driving the dirt road from Atsion to Batstow was a good beer drinking run on a Saturday night. Chatsworth was a place for my scout troop to camp along the Jersey Central RR and hike to Apple Pie Hill in he mid 60's. Pine barrens, cranberry bogs, brown water rivers like the Oswego, Wading, and Mullica were part of a young mans adventure. Happy to see it's being preserved.

[rocketsocks]

I get a laugh at the hullaboo that develops once a path/hike/trail is once labeled with a name. I grew up in the Pineland Nat Reserve doing countless hunting/fishing/1-3 day backpacking, survival trips. No one cares about all those 50 mile hikes. I guess it's because they weren't labeled with a trail name. I might start naming my hikes. Uhh, Dogwood One, Dogwood Two, etcAs you know hiking and making camp on a extended hike in NJ is all but non existent, lest one goes rouge, I offer no comment on such practices in this thread. The Batona trail is a diamond in the rough in my book.

[Another Kevin]

here is the new re-route http://connect.garmin.com/activity/254361028
ong-batona http://connect.garmin.com/activity/79924912
batona-buttonwood http://connect.garmin.com/activity/79925335
buttonwooh-bass http://connect.garmin.com/activity/98283232

i plan on hiking it again thanksgiving weekend and mapping it in one file with re-route in it. :)

Karl,

I'm asking this in public because I'm trying to raise awareness of the project.

Open Street Map (http://openstreetmap.org) is a project that aims to map the world Wikipedia-fashion: anyone can edit (although people do watch for vandalism!) and the idea is to create a map that can be kept up to date by a grassroots effort. It's one of the foundations for the map I do at http://kbk.is-a-geek.net/catskills/test.html. In my opinion, it's the only way to move forward from government topo maps that are forty to fifty years out of date. USGS is not funded at a level that would allow it to produce maps of the quality that was routine in the 1960s, and many advocates for governmental austerity think that even what funding it does get is a waste of taxpayers' money. Fortunately, topography changes but little, and the public most likely can keep man-made features up to date.

Karl, can I get you either to transfer your data for the trail alignment into OpenStreetMap, or send me GPX files so that I can do it? That's how the map keeps getting closer to reality: people going places and sharing their tracks. If you do, I'll be happy to extend the map on kbk.is-a-geek.net into southern New Jersey. Right now, I somewhat arbitrarily chose the northern half of the A-T as its boundaries, which means that it peters out just south of Trenton and just north of the area of interest. I'll even make a PDF map book of the Batona (most likely at 1:24000 or 1:31680 scale) for you.

Feel free to reply by PM if you don't want to discuss it in public. I know that any mention of Wikipedia or any similar project ignites a storm of controversy: some people feel very strongly that sharing data is a good thing, while others say that the fact that the data can never be authoritative is dangerous. Paradoxically, many I know fall into the 'throw the baby out with the bathwater' position - saying both that having the government do it is a waste of the taxpayers' money and that having the public do it is too risky. I think that many give the rote answer that for-profit business will step forward and fill the hole; but that leaves us hikers as a niche market who cannot pay for the necessary effort. (Look at the failure of Venture Outside maps for a case in point.)

But I'm straying too far into politics. I simply want to see someone able to produce good, up-to-date hiking maps, suitable for both mobile devices and paper. Right now, the only way I can get them in some of the places I go is to do them myself with the aid of the public. Contribute if you like. Don't if you don't want to. Think of it as trail magic.

[kayak karl]

It was there in the 60's. First time I hiked it was 72. I know you don't care, but I take pride in the Pine Barrens and help educate kids on taking care of it. This was the first map I've seen over a topo

Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk 2

[Another Kevin]

It was there in the 60's. First time I hiked it was 72. I know you don't care, but I take pride in the Pine Barrens and help educate kids on taking care of it. This was the first map I've seen over a topo

I'm very confused. I'm asking if I can help promote it with better (or at least alternative) maps, and you reply with 'I know you don't care'?

I hiked it - or maybe a piece of it, I was a boy scout and not paying a lot of attention to where I was - in '70 or so. I'd like to go back there some year. So many projects, so little time...

[kayak karl]

I'm very confused. I'm asking if I can help promote it with better (or at least alternative) maps, and you reply with 'I know you don't care'?

I hiked it - or maybe a piece of it, I was a boy scout and not paying a lot of attention to where I was - in '70 or so. I'd like to go back there some year. So many projects, so little time... im so sorry. that was a responce to dogwood (he doesn't care about 50 mile trails ) :( (used my smarterthenme phone) You can use the GPX from garmin. if you want them in a different format PM me.

[kayak karl]

I grew up in Evesham twp. Running down to the Pines and driving the dirt road from Atsion to Batstow was a good beer drinking run on a Saturday night. Chatsworth was a place for my scout troop to camp along the Jersey Central RR and hike to Apple Pie Hill in he mid 60's. Pine barrens, cranberry bogs, brown water rivers like the Oswego, Wading, and Mullica were part of a young mans adventure. Happy to see it's being preserved.
you a Lenape grad too? me, class of 73 :)

[NJ Topher]

I created the map from Kayak Karl's GPX file. Since Karl's hike, the first 4 miles of the trail from the southern trailhead has been rerouting. Does anyone have a file of the reroute?

Regards,

Topher.

[NJ Topher]

Based on Kayak Karl's original GPX trail with some additional information from the NJ DEP and few other sources, we now have a completely up-to-date map of the Batona Trail with all major reroutes. It's attached, along with the GPX for the trail itself.

The map is sized at Super B, 13 x 19. You can print it smaller using Acrobat Reader, setting the paper size to whatever size paper you are using, and selecting "fit".

Enjoy!

[Dogwood]

KK, I'm being misunderstood. I too take pride in the Pinelands. So much so that I call myself a Piney. I've wandered the Pineland Reserve extensively. Seems no one really cared though. I suppose they have had little interest to do so. It's definitely not the case that I don't care about 50 mile long trails. Read my above post again in the context that I find it ironic that one can wander 50 miles in an area over and over yet with no great interest from others until someone puts some blazes up, the route is labeled, and a trail is born. THEN, because the route is labeled folks have something of a label to associate themselves and the hike. It's now a named defined trail. No matter what I'm very happy to see the protections afforded this area.

[somers515]

Hiked the 8.3 miles (16.6 miles round trip) from where the Batona trail crosses Route 72 (near cross streets Sooy Place Road/Cedar Road) to Apple Pie Hill (fire tower) and back today. Called and confirmed with State Police that it was ok to park on the sandy shoulder of Route 72. Although almost entirely flat and easy hiking there were some interesting sections, especially in my opinion, where the trail went close to what I am guessing are old flooded cranberry bogs. This is the Franklin Parker Preserve section of the Batona trail and it was very well maintained trail with very few people on it. Enjoy if you can!

[NJdreamer]

There were about 100 people today hiking near the Batona, at Atsion, with Outdoor Club of South Jersey. That group has various hikes on the Batona. I really enjoy hiking in that area in the winter.