Staff Blog
Bike adventure: Wharton State Forest
I like to bike. In particular, I like to get on my bike and ride as far and for as long as possible, and to use my beloved cycle as a means of getting the hell away from everything and everyone and finding somewhere pretty.
So far, I've been confined mostly tot he Schuylkill River Trail, which – once you get past Fairmount Park – lets you do just that.
But this past weekend, I thought I'd try something new: Wharton State Forest in New Jersey, just southeast of Camden.
I'd been eying this park for a couple of weeks. It's either the closest or second-closest big state park to Philadelphia (French Creek might be closer, depending on where you live), and it's huge – probably three or four times the size of the city of Philadelphia. And yet no one I know has ever heard of it. I figured if I started early, I could ride the 30 or 40 miles
Then I realized that I can take Patco, which is bike-friendly, to the end of the line (Lindenwold station) and be within an easy 10 miles or so of the forest.
Pretty cool, huh? Yesterday, I gave it a shot. The round-trip from Center City is less than six bucks. Within an hour and a half or so of getting on the train I was in the forest. Sorry for this junky map link, but Google maps and I weren't getting along this morning.
As you'll see, I just did a short trip; going deeper into the forest, I hope, will be even better. But it was a beautiful ride anyway, in spite of the glum hike through urban sprawl it takes to get there.
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| My baby blue at an Atison Lake campground |
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| The bottoms of these trees were scarred from fire. |
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| One of the non-natural wonders of the forest: Myers Auto Wrecking. |
I get so sick of riding my bike in CC. A toddler on a tricycle in the suburbs could go faster than me. This sounds like a good trail for letting loose, thanks for sharing.
Good idea…I have been seeing lots of bikes this year…yes, it is a nice bike trail,
you must have passed by my gallery in lindenwold on the way to the forest.
good idea. will definitely try this. Lots of other bike paths in Phila. cick ont the bicycle coalition web site. They have a map. Hey, this sounds like a cover story to me.
Wharton Forrest is huge with many unpaved roads making it great for mountain biking. It is hard to find maps of the park and with the unmarked dirt roads GPS is highly recommended. You may want to check out Batso Village a preserved bog iron village from the 1800’s.
Pictures from Batso are located here:
http://michaelkocherphoto.com/store/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=1_15
Let me echo Michael Kocher’s post and highly recommend bringing a GPS. I’ve camped in WSF and used to go 4-wheeling there years ago. There are probably hundreds of little tributary roads that interconnect all through the forest between Batsto and Rt 563. Simple looking at a Google or Microsoft map simply doesn’t show them.
I used to live in Egg Harbor Township and once took part in a ride for animal’s fundraiser that went from the AC Airport in Hamilton Airport out to Batsto, around Sweetwater, and back. That was probably a 25 mile or so ride round trip and while it was great, it was all on the road. My own navigating through the forest has made it clear that only a properly prepared rider should go.
Extra tubes, chain, tools, pump, food, water, phone, GPS etc because if you get stuck or have an accident out there, and you’re off the main trail, you could be in some trouble if you haven’t thought ahead.
And boy do my early morning typing and proofreading skills suck in the morning. Apologies for incoherent grammar.
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[...] it's been about a year since my last "Bike Adventure" post (a no-cars-needed adventure to Wharton State Forest from Philadelphia, via PATCO), so I think it's high time for [...]