Goat Hill Overlook

high adventure without high risk

Outdoor Appeal: 10

Setting: Commanding view of Lambertville and New Hope looking northward on the Delaware River. The trail leading to the overlook is actually an old road. Although the total hike to the overlook from the parking area is no more than half a mile, it is possible to ride a bike to the vista.

Explorable Op's: A lot. Our hike took us only on the road leading to the overlook. But there are other trails leading into the woods off the main road. For the more adventurous, there is a pond off the left side of the trail at about a quarter mile. We did not venture to check it out because the area around it looked awfully muddy. But there were loads of spring peepers chatting us up as we walked by.

Difficulty: Easy. There is a slight incline on the trek to the overlook. But overall this is very easy to do even with small children. The trail is an old road so the footing is quite safe.

Facilities: Nada. There are no bathrooms or running water. But the parking area is only about a five minute drive from Lambertville. You should go prepared for accidents to happen. But in case of a real emergency, civilization is within close reach.

Review: You'd be hard pressed to find a more rewarding hike for kids than the trail to Goat Hill Overlook. The distance is perfect to make it seem to kids that you've hiked all day, although you've only hiked half a mile. Older kids can roam the woods before setting out to the overlook to make it a bit more challenging. The trail is wide open and has only one turn before it doubles back. So the trail is essentially two long straightaways which are perfect for letting kids run (or bike) as far as they like with out the fear of them getting out of sight. The view is truly as good as any in this part of the world, including Bowman's Tower. But unlike Bowman's Tower, Goat Hill is free. The overlook itself is spacious - about the size of a football field. Even if you don't like to go hiking, this is a must.

It hasn't been hard to find I good day to get outdoors this spring, but we were lucky enough to make this hike on a real beauty. Obviously a day with low humidity and clear skies is going to give you the best view. We also happened to be out when all the flowers were in full bloom, so we got a real treat.

There is a cherry tree on the left side of the overlook that was blooming on our trip. It was a down right lovely surprise for us to find once we go to the overlook. There is a steep decline behind the Goat Hill Overlook sign, so you need to be aware that it is there. Max and Frank spent a good deal of time throwing sticks down the hill and the retrieving them, so although it is steep, it is manageable. There are picker bushes lining the overlook area, so you also need to be careful of the them as well.

After the boys played for a bit, we sat down to have a picnic. We spent about two hours at the overlook itself. Although the area is really just a large field with a view, Max and Frank didn't seem to grow tired of it in the least. In fact it was hard to get them moving back towards the car once the decision to leave was made. The area is big enough for older kids to throw a ball around or play frisbee. Depending on the direction of the wind, you may be able to get a kite to fly as well.

We set off for the car a little after noon. One of the nicest things about the hike is that it is slightly down hill all the way back to the car. Max road his bike (although his curiosity left me carrying it at times) so going back to the car was a breeze for him. He coasted most of the way.

This is one of our favorite hikes. It's easy all around. It's exciting for the kids and relaxing as a parent.

Recommendations: A picnic is a good idea. It's even a short enough walk that you may want to consider lugging a blanket and chairs. It's easy to spend a lot of time here without even feeling it pass you by. It has been hard to find detailed information about Goat Hill Overlook online. But this PDF gives some information about the site preservation and directions on how to get there. Hope you enjoy. Happy trails.

Review: Musconetcong Gorge Reservation, New Jersey

Experts only! Read Review at your own risk!

Outdoor Appeal: 10 (paradise)

Setting: Variably smooth to rough trails lead to the cavernous gorge which is filled by braided, cascading falls that spill over an endless glacier of boulders - a truly sublime ambiance.

Explorable Op's: A ton. You could easily spend hours exploring just the area of the falls that the trail crosses.

Difficulty: Tough! Double Diamonds! Skull and Crossbones! You have to be confident in your ability to keep your kids and yourself safe. More than just your own physical prowess has to be taken into account. You have to be very familiar with how your kids are going to act in a place like this. If you can't predict their actions and react quickly to their missteps, don't go. If they do not listen to you, don't go. If you're not sure what your answer is to either of the last two sentences, don't go. This is no joke.

Facilities: Nada. But there is a park with port-o-potties at the bottom of the hill on Route 519, just a few minutes north of the access road for the gorge. Review: You'd be hard pressed to find a slice of a wilderness more beautiful than Musconetcong Gorge in this part of the world. The gorge is deep. The handsome trees are thick, tall and tower skyward. The passive contest between the water and stone fills the place with a soothing drama. It's paradise.
But beauty has its price. The gorge is a bit more than 1/2 a mile from the parking area. This place is unforgiving. Falling in the gorge will more than likely result in an injury that will, at the very least, let you know how very quickly fun can turn into trauma. In other words, if you fall you will hit a rock. Had I known this before setting out I may have not chosen to go to the gorge. But luckily, in our case, ignorance was bliss. We started out from the parking area. You're greeted by the sign pictured at the top of the review. I slung Frank on my back and Max and I headed downhill on a trail thick with brush. Poison ivy poked out every so often and I had to steer Max away from it. The first part of the trail was a rather steep descent for a two year old. Max had the inclination to run but quickly found physics working against his agility. I believe we followed the Nature Trail to the gorge, but it's difficult to tell on the map. After the downhill the path smoothed out and flattened. It runs parallel to the Musconetcong River down in the valley. (Note - the gorge is filled by a tributary of the Musconetcong and is not labeled on the map) The trail takes a turn uphill just before you enter the gorge. You can hear the cascading falls as you climb and then, there it is! The trail rounds the edge of the gorge. It's a long way down. As you follow the trail there are a set of whopped-d-do's before you get to the gorge rock bed. Both Max and Frank were awe struck as we descended into the valley.
The trail is well marked and easy to follow through the gorge. The trail also does provide firm footing to safely get across the gorge. But the problem is that you're not going to just stay on the trail. You're going to want to explore and the terrain goes from challenging, to rock hopping, to bouldering in a matter of feet. We set up lunch at the waterfall pictured above. The boys got their feet wet, threw rocks and ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Since this area was relatively safe I tried to quickly snap a few photos. Most of my time was spent with one hand on or close to Frank. Max had enough sense to walk in the sandy areas and stay off of the larger rocks. Frank is a different story all together. Lunch didn't hold their interest for long. The trail follows one braid of the stream to a bridge that spans the water.

This was a fun place because it gave the kids some room to move a bit more freely than the rocky trail provided. Plus, the monsoon rains from the previous Sunday made the water rush furiously underneath the bridge. On the other side of the bridge there is a place to get close to the falls. It gave us another place to throw leaves and sticks in the water and wish them good luck on their voyage down the gorge.

By the time we started heading back to the picnic area we had set up at our chosen waterfall, Max was getting tired and Frank was getting feisty. Frank didn't want to be restrained anymore and was determined to break free. Since Frank really couldn't be left to do what he wanted, I just tried to distract him by giving him a small stone to play with until I could get Max moving. I told Max to crawl instead of walking. I don't know why I never thought of this on our other treks where the terrain was rough. It made moving around easier for him, he wasn't in danger of slipping and falling (at least not more than a few inches) and he thought it was fun. With Max rejuvenated and making his own way again, I then took Frank and put him on top of a big boulder - about 5 feet high - and let him check it out. I still had a hold on him the whole time but he was too impressed by how high up he was to notice me.
One of our last attempts at exploring the area was a quick dip in the waterfall. Max really wanted to touch it. The waterfall where we set up had a very sandy shore and pool bed. The water was only about a foot to 2 deep next to the falls so I decided it was a safe bet. We started to make our way into the water towards the falls together but we only got up to our ankles before Max and Frank both decided that it was too cold and maybe a little scary. So we turned back to the shore, put on our shoes and headed back to the car. Hiking back was tough because I had to carry both Max and Frank for most of the 1/2 mile. It's probably the best workout I've had all year. We got drinks, got ourselves in the car and headed out. I wanted to check out the valley that Route 519 runs through so we followed the access road down instead of heading back up Dennis Road. Fiber Mark, which I believe is a paper mill, is visible from the bridge that crosses the Musconetcong River. Going just a little further north you come to a T where 627 and 519 join. If you turn right there is a park with a pavilion and sports fields on your left. We pulled in there to finish our lunch, go to the bathroom and play chase around the picnic tables before we got back in the car to go home.
Recommendations: Carry a phone with you and keep it on you while you explore - not in your backpack or elsewhere. Be honest with yourself about your ability and your kids' abilities to make good decisions in the gorge. Take a camera. You can get some spectacular shots if you have time. If you are taking a picnic, the park at the intersection of routes 519 and 627 is a nice place to relax. There is a water fountain, a pavilion with picnic tables and port-o-potties. Although we didn't stop, Jimmy's drive-in on 519 looked like a swell place to take the kids for a treat. As always, enjoy and happy trails.

Review: Honey Hollow, Bucks County Audubon Society

Outdoor Appeal: 10Setting: old barn converted to a stunning self-serve nature center, smooth hiking trails, a brook, bird blinds, a pond and a waterwheel

Explorable Op's: A ton. The nature center alone is an hour or so worth of exploring.

Difficulty: Easy. Although we have not explored all of the trails and property at Honey Hollow, it seems that most of the treks are short, flat and relatively uncluttered by roots and rocks.

Facilities: Civilized. Actually, they are top notch. The nature center is the best around and the bathrooms are immaculate.

Review: This is a must for a Bucks County outdoor enthusiast with kids. We've gone several times and it's always been fun. Walking into the nature center is like walking into a cathedral. The high ceiling brings you to silence. Timbers show off the skeleton of the barn and wooden steps lead up to the learning center loft. The bottom floor has some tables and folding chairs to work at along with some taxidermied animals, history placards and "please touch" tables. The "please touch" tables we've seen are skulls/bones and nests, feathers, eggs rocks and trees. The second floor learning loft has an open view to the bottom floor, is carpeted and is down right cozy. It's flanked by two walls that have wooden painted nature puzzles. It's a bit hard to describe but you pull out a piece of the wall, which is shaped like a leaf or an animal, and then you look on the back of it to find the name. In warmer weather there are aquariums with animals. We saw two tanks, one with turtles and one with a lizard. There are nature themed jigsaw puzzles, stuffed animals (to play with), some more taxidermied animals and a reading room with comfortable sofas and chairs. It's a great place to go even on a rainy day. The trails around the property are meant for bird watching so they are pretty well maintained to assure watching birds instead of watching your step. We took the pond trail on one of our visits and I found that it was a good length for small kids. Plus it has a lot of interesting things to see along the way to keep the momentum of the hike rolling. Our first stop was the waterwheel, which doesn't actually work. But it's still neat to look at. But beware, there is a nesting animal in the rafters that was unhappy with us peering into it's home. I'm still not sure what it was but it sounded none too friendly. From the waterwheel we headed around the pond over the bridge that crosses the outlet steam. This was a fun place for both Max and Frank to run around. They were a bit frustrated that they couldn't get down to the steam, but there are other trails for creek exploration on the property. The next stop were the docks. There are two docks on the far side of the pond. We could see sunfish from both and had a good time looking at our reflections in the water. Moving on from the docks the hike gets slightly more challenging with a few hills. You can complete the loop around the pond by crossing the inlet stream and heading back to the nature center or you can continue on a path that follows the stream to where it crosses the gravel road that runs through the property. We checked out the inlet stream but instead of crossing it, we back tracked and took the path that follows the stream. We made it back to the gravel road and hiked back up the big slope to the nature center. The whole walk from start to finish took about 45 minutes. The back of the nature center has a large slate covered patio. We set up there for lunch. It was a perfect place for the boys to run around and eat at the same time. Once we finished lunch we headed back into the nature center to take a last look at some of the curiosities we found. We signed the guest registry and we were on our way.

Recommendations: If you've got binoculars and the time, this is a great place to see birds, although it not really possible if you're looking after small kids. The pond trail is a sure bet because the waterwheel, the bridges and the docks provide built in rests and give some incentive to keep on moving to the next destination. Plus there is a good chance you'll see some animals in or around the pond. If you are itching to get out of the house on a rainy day, the nature center is a perfect way to get outdoors without getting wet. Honey Hollow is a big thumbs up. Hope you enjoy. Happy trails.

Review: Peace Valley Park, Indian Path trail

Outdoor Appeal: 10

Image via Wikipedia

Setting: Lake Galena, nature center, hiking trails, hike/bike path, Neshaminy Creek

Explorable Op's: A ton. Outside of the organized sports realm, Lake Galena and Peace Valley Park together have most outdoor activities that someone in the Delaware Valley would care to take on with kids. Hiking, biking, paddling, sailing, birding, picnic areas, playgrounds. With the exception of camping, the park has as much to offer as most state parks.

Facilities: Civilized. The nature center has restrooms, changing tables for infants, a learning center, taxidermed wild animals, gift shop, views of the lake as well as coffee, tea and hot chocolate for a nominal donation.

Review: There are lots of different trails in the park to explore. So when looking at the trail map it may seem a bit daunting to try to figure out what might be a managable hike for you and them. Fear not! The trail system forms a lot of small loops that criss cross over one another so there is almost always a "short cut" back to the car if you need to end the hike quickly. The day we set out I wanted to make sure that we had a pretty short trail with a few neat destinations along the way. I've found that it is easier to keep the 2 year old walking when there is a surprise waiting around the bend - and I do try to hype the surprise and ask him what he thinks it might be to spur him on when the trail gets "tough." The one this particular day I chose to hike Indian Path to Pond Path, a short zigzag on Woods Edge and finish up the loop on Pine Path. I'm guessing it might be a half mile total. I chose this loop because it has three surprises along the way. On Indian Path there is a Indian shelter built out of saplings and tree bark for the siding. From the inside you can see how it was made - pretty neat! We spent about 20 minutes checking it out which seems like a long time to be contained in a small space but it was a real wonderland for both Max and Frank. From the shelter we headed to Pond Path and made our way towards Woods Pond. It happened to be very muddy the day we went so Max couldn't decide if he was all that excited about how sloppy the trail was. The pond wound up being a bit of a problem in that Frank, the one year old, wanted to go in and Max wanted to get take off his sandals to shake off the mud. So we didn't stay very long because I didn't really want to comply with either of their wishes. We started our walk back and came to a small stream that crossed over Pond Path. It was flowing nicely because of all the rain we had just had. It turned out to solve the broken dreams we left behind at Woods Pond. Max could take his sandals off and wash the mud off and Frank could easily walk in the water. The stream had a sandy bottom and was only a few inches deep. We spent another 20 minutes walking back and forth over the stream, gathering rocks, throwing rocks back in, setting leaves afloat and watching them get swept away by the currents. Neither of the boys wanted to leave, but time had marched on towards lunch and curiousity was taking us a little too far up the stream. So we packed ourselves up, took the zigzag on Woods Edge and headed back to the parking area by way of Pine Path.

Recommendations: Truth be told, it's not easy to hike with small children. They meander, tire quickly, want to be carried, have to go to the potty, trip, fall and all kinds of other dilemmas pop up along the way. But I think even a two year old gets a real sense of accomplishment when they see that they have made it back to the car - snacks and drinks awaiting. And time spent in the woods is never wasted in my opinion. So when hiking with kids it's always best to be prepared to do very little hiking. If it's possible, have a few neat stops along the way. And "neat" is a perception you will need to project to the kids. Give them time to exlpore, be patient when they don't want to walk further, flexible and above all else, make it a fun adventure. The woods is a great place to let kids' curiosity run wild - well, not too wild. There's poison ivy out there! But giving them some freedom will make it fun for everyone. And in the end it doesn't really matter what you do outdoors. Just getting out can be enough. Happy trails.