Date: August 10, 2011
Total Distance: 6.53 miles
Time to Completion: 2:30 (hr:min)
Elevation Gain: 328 feet
Configuration: Loop
Difficulty: Moderate
We planned this hike at Ted Stiles Preserve at Baldpate Mountain after consulting 60 Hikes within 60 Miles: Philadelphia, by Sandra and Gareth Kear as well as AMC's Best Day Hikes Near Philadelphia, by Susan Charkes. Both books list different routes by which one can hike; however, we wound up choosing the hike listed in the AMC (Appalachian Mountain Club) over the 60 Hikes book mainly so that we could start building toward a review of this guide-book as well. It has been my experience that guide-books are only as good as the accuracy of the maps and directions, and we will explore this book and its accuracy in more detail once we've used it to plan more hikes.
Ted Stiles Preserve at Baldpate Mountain has a rich and interesting backstory. Edmund "Ted" Warner Stiles was a highly respected ornithologist who was active in environmental conservation. It was through his efforts that tens of thousands of acres in and around Hopewell Valley, New Jersey were preserved. The preservation of Baldpate Mountain occurred in 1998 and is the highest point in Mercer County, New Jersey (60 Hikes within 60 Miles:Philadelphia, Kear, 2009).
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Sign welcoming visitors to Baldpate Mountain The Baldpate Mountain is part of the Sourlands - a 20 mile discontinuous region in Central New Jersey - that also contains the Sourland Mountain Preserve. This region is also historically noted for the abduction and subsequent murder of 20 month old Charles Lindbergh Jr in 1937. It had also been noted in some texts that the ghost of one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence - John Hart, who hid out in these hills - could be spotted! |
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Parking Lot at Baldpate Mountain With all this in mind, we assured ourselves that we could perhaps avoid any ghostly beings walking the grounds as long as we made it back to the trailhead before night fell (quite a feet as our regular readers can attest). The main parking lot can be found right on Fiddlers Creek Road after coming off Rte 29. While there is a kiosk in the parking lot with a printed map, there are none available to take with you. I would suggest visiting this website and printing out the map. |
We began this intermittently poorly-blazed trail from the parking lot, following the blue markers found on the trees indicating that we were on the Summit Trail.
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The stone "staircase" of the Summit Trail |
The Summit Trail can be a fairly intense endeavor - the main portion of the elevation gain of this trail occurs fairly early on in the hike. Coupled with the stone staircase, the Summit trail is of moderate difficulty, and will make a great place for you to use your hiking poles. Once you have reached the summit of the mountain, there is a great view of the skyline of the immediate area (bring your binoculars) as well as a great place for a picnic (what with a bunch of picnic tables at the top of the mountain).
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Bring your binoculars! After taking in the view, we continued along the Summit Trail before reaching the intersection with the white-blazed Ridge Trail. It is on the White Ridge trail that you will come across a fair number of boarded up old farm buildings. NJ Hikes website suggests that this is a great place for photo ops, and they're not wrong. We milled around this area for a little bit, having our interest stunted by the fact that we were rushed by someone's off-the-leash Pit Bull (see a future edition of Trail Etiquette). |
Continuing along the White Ridge trail, we eventually came to another intersection with the orange marked Copper Hill Trail. As you hike along the Copper Hill Trail, and eventually the Honey Hollow and Old Hollow Road Trails, it is best to keep your eyes on the blazes, because there is a network of unmarked trails running through here which can confuse the casual hiker. But, if you can, persevere on! Because as many of our readers know, one of Hiking with Impunity's favorite activities is just around the corner! Crossing a footbridge....
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Yep! A footbridge! |
After crossing the wondrous bridge (by foot!!), you will continue along the trail where you will notice many privately owned homes butting up against the trail. And then you reach the end of the trail - which dumps you right onto Fiddlers Creek Road.
The most unfortunate part of this hike was the finish - an approximately one and a half mile hike along Fiddlers Creek Road. The road is narrow, and while the speed limit was 25 mph, cars still whizzed on by us, occasionally inching closer to us for what reason, we have no idea. If you follow the hike as laid out in the AMC book or here on this site, your choices at this juncture would be to either double-back the way you came (which would place this hike in the 10 mile range) or bring two cars. Park one car at the main parking lot on Fiddlers Creek Road and the second car in the secondary lot at the corner of Fiddlers Creek and Church Roads (the AMC book suggests this as well). If neither of these suggestions entice you, then perhaps it would be better to follow the hike as laid out in the 60 Miles book - an out-and-back hike in which you would stay on the Summit, NW Loop, and Pleasant Valley trails (see this map). The estimate on this different hike is roughly 5-6 miles.
Any way you hike it, Ted Stiles is worth the trip if you live within an hour drive from it! Pack some lunch and have a picnic with an amazing view of the skyline. Just don't end up walking in the ditch on Fiddlers Creek Road at the end!