Appalachian Trail: Culvers Gap to Blue Mountain (Stokes State Forest)
Hike Type: Out-and-Back
Distance: 9.6 miles
Elevation: 1483 feet
Time: 4 hours, 10 minutes
Hiking Challenges: New Jersey Appalachian Trail
Distance: 9.6 miles
Elevation: 1483 feet
Time: 4 hours, 10 minutes
Hiking Challenges: New Jersey Appalachian Trail
Fun Facts I Just Learned Reading Wikipedia
- Kittatinny is a Lenape word for "endless hill"/"great mountain"
- Culvers Gap was formed by an ancient stream
- "Blue Mountain" was the original name for Kittatinny Mountain (the name for the whole ridge), and it is still the name for the ridge in PA
- Blue Mountain is where the "Lawrence Line" divided East and West New Jersey in 1743
The Hike
Summer has officially begun! I'm back in New Jersey working my summer job, and since that gets out at noon I have plenty of afternoon time for hiking. I was going to continue my quest to day-section-hike the NJ section of the Appalachian Trail, hopefully finishing by the beginning of August. Today's hike was Culvers Gap off of US-206 in Stokes State Forest to Rattlesnake Mountain about 6 miles away (and back). I didn't get all the way to Rattlesnake, but still had a great 9.6 mile hike on this humid afternoon.
The hike got an interesting start... when I pulled into the parking lot there was a man walking around with a literal machete. I then realized he was hosting trail magic from his van with multiple tables of snack/drink set up and at least a dozen lawn chairs. I guess it was a magic machete that was used for good? I will admit I felt weird pulling into this parking lot where someone was hosting trail magic, as I am someone who is only day hiking and does not feel worthy of that and did not want to get confused for someone who did (I did not). Either way, I parked my car, walked into the porta potty, immediately walked out once I saw the collection of human waste inside, and got to my hike!
I know bears have been extra present this summer just from my mom's neighborhood, but I was reminded of that from a sign right on the trail of a bear with bear safety facts. Did people in other states spend a significant amount of their childhood learning about bear safety? I will run from a snake and scream at a grouse, but I know literally everything that I need to do if/when I encounter a bear. I feel like that's not normal.... oh well. The first section of trail, the parking lot to the road crossing, was relatively flat and uneventful. Crossing US-206 took a minute since it is a busy road, and then the trail dips back into the woods on the other side.
The trail starts climbing up to the Kittatinny Ridge, which is when my body reminded me that it's still tired from the whites on Sunday (and that I had 3.5 liters of water on me), so the sweat began to POUR. Thankfully, this is New Jersey, and no climb is ever too long or steep. The trail climbed through a beautiful fern-y area, through a powercut that offered views to the lake down below, and then I accidentally disturbed a mom and daughter deer having their afternoon snack! I saw the fawn and got my camera ready to take a photo, and then I realized mom was probably 10 feet away and scared the life out of me! Thankfully, I did not scare the life out of them and they continued about their lovely day. Up on the ridgeline there are partial views of the valley below and lots of grassy hiking - no ticks though!
The trail is relatively level with a few ups and downs - I ended up counting three longer climbs/descents (the first, one in the middle, and the one up Blue Mountain), but nothing got difficult. The trail continues to alternate between ridge and forest, with some sections being longer than others. At one point relatively early on (in the first few miles), there is a magnificent view of the valley and lakes below. Following this view, the trail remains relatively featureless minus a few view spurs that I missed. What really stood out about this section was seeing a bobcat! I noticed some animal knee-high walking along the trail probably 30-or-so feet ahead of me, but the trail was too grassy to get a great look. When the animal spotted me it leapt into the forest, but I was able to catch a glimpse of the tail which solidified my sighting - how exciting! I then proceeded to give a round of applause just to make sure I was alone from this moment on. Naturally, the woods didn't like that, and I heard a new sound that almost sounded like a horse's hooves clonking about. It was a MASSIVE turkey just going about its day, completely unbothered by me. I wondered if the bobcat was trying to prepare thanksgiving dinner?
There are three junctions along this route - first with the Acropolis Trail which happens soon after crossing US-206, the second is for the Ladder Trail, and the third is with Brink Road/Shay Trail to the shelter. One of my favorite stretches of forest was near the junction with the Ladder Trail - it was filled with spaced out trees and the floor was covered in ferns and other small, lush, green plants. Just gorgeous! There was a strange patch of just a few rhododendron too.
The final climb was the hardest for me, either because it was actually difficult or because I was starting to feel tired, but it was also the most rewarding. The views from Blue Mountain (not labeled as such on the NJDEP Map, but is labeled on the NYNJTC map) are magnificent - primarily facing the Delaware River. My favorite part was seeing the High Point Monument on the right, and a little to the left of that were some of the Catskill high peaks. If I didn't have to be home for dinner I could have spent a good amount of time here. I descended into the forest very briefly - I knew that I was not going to make it all the way to Rattlesnake, and I had set 3:30pm as my turn-around-time, and it was already 3:40, but I wanted to see if a trail on AllTrails was real or not since I would have to plan a new hike to Rattlesnake (it was not real). I hiked roughly to the Stokes State Forest Boundary and turned around to make the trek back. I considered taking one of the side trails and the woods road back, but I have been burned by trails in NJ too many times, especially in the Kittatinies, so I didn't want to risk hiking a trail without doing any prior research (I specifically think back to the time, apparently exactly 8 years ago today, to when I got very lost in the Blue Mountain Lakes area due to overgrown, unmapped, and unblazed trails).
The return trip was fairly uneventful. No new wildlife thankfully! The sun started to peek out of the clouds which illuminated some of the darker areas before. There was one section that looked like a pond of dry rocks - I wonder if it is usually a swamp in wetter seasons? I made my way back to US-206, spent too long waiting for a window to cross, and made my way back to the car. I found a sign on a tree saying that the trail magic is every day in July from 9am-2pm, which is so kind. Then, I found another sign saying that it is open to all AT thru, section, and day hikers (and dogs), which was even more kind! I still wouldn't have participated, but it is very thoughtful nonetheless. I did see probably 5-7 thru hikers, all who were clearly on a mission. We exchanged friendly hellos, and one did ask me how far the next shelter was, and I actually knew the answer! Big day. My hike ended with a number-one in the awful porta potty, a quick change at the car, and then a peanut butter sandwich while driving home. I think I'll be able to manage this challenge, and I'm really excited to keep exploring the AT in my home state!
Step-By-Step
*This whole hike is exclusively on the Appalachian Trail, first southbound, then northbound.*
- Park at Culvers Gap parking area.
- From parking lot, turn left to hike on the Appalachian Trail southbound.
- Carefully cross US-206 and turn left to road walk for a very short bit.
- Behind the guardrail, continue into the woods along the AT.
- Junction with Acropolis Trail, continue on AT.
- Junction with Jacob's Ladder Trail, continue on AT.
- Junction with Brink Road to Brink Shelter, conitinue on AT.
- Reach beautiful summit of Blue Mountain. After enjoying the view, turn around and retract stpes.
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