This week I continued with my mini bike vacations. This Friday I took the day off and decided the check out the Paulinskill Trail which is near Blairstown NJ. This is a 27 mile long rail trail along the Paulins kill (kill is Dutch for creek). I had not done this trail before but my nephew had hiked it a few weeks ago and it looked interesting.
It was another hour and a half drive to the start. It was cloudy with a little fog along the way but when I got to the starting point it was just cloudy and the fog had retreated to the surrounding mountains. It is just after peak foliage so there were good color in the trees even thought a lot of leaves are already down.
I got Jack, Pete, Ricky and Laura to join me. The trail map said there was a parking lot at the beginning of the trail but we couldn't find it so parked at a ball field about a mile away.
The start of the trail was a little rough and rocky with a little mud and Laura took a spill on one of the muddy parts but we kept going and after a mile or so it got better especially after we passed the Paulinskill viaduct.
I couldn't really tell what the surface was as it was covered with a few inches of leaves. The trail is mostly through the woods along the creek but there were a couple of spots where we got a view of the mountains and some fall colors
The trail goes next to the Blairtown airport and through the backside of Blairstown. At the north end of town there is a dam and a scenic lake where we stopped to take a few pics
There were also a few interesting bridges along the way.
At just over 12 miles out Laura and I decided to turn back as I wanted to get back to go visit my father. Ricky, Jack and Pete continued to head up the trail for about 10 miles.
On the way back Laura and I stopped a few times for some more pictures. I tried to get some good pictures of the Paulinskill viaduct but it was really hard to get a picture through the trees.
Its an impressive structure architecturally and has some interesting features as profiled in Weird NJ. The main feature is that the bridge has internal tunnels use to inspect the bridge. The bridge was build in 1908 for a rail line that ran between Scranton PA and New York. The rail line went out of service in 1979 so the bridge is abandon and its out side and internal tunnels are covered with graffiti some of it satanic in nature. Since the bridge was abandon it has been a popular place for teens to hang out and party so the state police patrol this area often.
This trail is a little rougher than the Columbia trail or the D&R Canal trail but it was a very scenic trail so it was a good way to spend a day off.
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