Pine Barrens / Pinelands National Reserve of Southern New Jersey

June 8th, 2010

One of my favorite rides is driving through the Pine Barrens / Pinelands of Southern New Jersey. The contrast with the suburban centers of New Jersey is quite stark compared to these hundreds [or thousands] of square miles that maintain only a minimal number of inhabitants [the Reserve covers ‘more than one million acres’].

This is the reported home – and birthplace - of the New Jersey Devil. It is said that long about 1680, in a village alongside one of these roads through the Pines, local folks took it upon themselves to burn a witch at the stake – I’m sure after some amount of due process of law and the witch’s day in court, of course. But as legend has it, the villagers must have been correct. Because, during the roasting the witch turned into a demon and flew away into the Pinelands forest.

The legend continues, in that if anyone ever meets or crosses paths with the ‘Jersey Devil,’ the unlucky individual never lives to speak of the encounter. I can’t verify this, however, as I have never seen the creature. :)

Nevertheless, as one drives through the Pinelands, take notice of the thickness of the pine forests that line the road. One can see that back in the seventeenth century, most likely many an explorer/trapper was forever lost in these woods - for whatever the reason. I surmise that as these explorers disappeared, their loss was attributed to the Jersey Devil. Also worth noting, there have even been reports of Big Foot type sightings in these woods as well.

So, driving from Philadelphia, Cherry Hill, or Atlantic City, head to towns with names like Chatsworth, Batsto, and New Gretna and try to detour on one of the sand dirt roads. Stop somewhere and get out for a walk to really experience the scenery. From that point, try to make it on to Long Beach Island, that’s another cool place for a afternoon’s ride and beach excursions.

But, whatever you do, don’t blame me if you encounter the Jersey Devil. After all, I did warn you. :)

Adam Trotter / AVT


See: http://www.nps.gov/pine/index.htm

Southern New Jersey to Boston. I-295, New Jersey Turnpike, Garden State Parkway, New York Thruway (I-87) to Newburgh. I-84, Mass. Pike, I-95 / 128

May 27th, 2010

This can be a really nice ride during nice weather. It can be not so fun if you encounter a lot of traffic, however. There is a lot of nice scenery when taking this route as opposed to the possibly quicker routes of I-95 through NYC or taking the Tappan Zee Bridge. As it happened when I recently made this drive, it was commuter rush hour. As I had originally intended to cross the Hudson at Newburgh, NY during this drive anyhow, it was even a better idea as there was a major traffic accident on the approach to the Tappan Zee Bridge that essentially had the roadway closed. Also, as a general rule, if you are not planning to go into the city, avoid driving anywhere close to New York City during rush hour. Because, as with much of the rest of the nation, the roadways in this region are severely under-designed and have no chance of supporting the amount of traffic to which these roads are subjected. However, along this driven route on this day, for the most part, the roads were in satisfactory or better condition – with some notable exceptions with some of these problems being addressed by construction. But, in light of these potential problems, if you have the time to take this ride, it can be a nice one. There are a lot of interesting sites along the way, several mountain ranges and varying terrain, generally friendly people, and mostly nice scenery along the entire route as well.

Adam Trotter / AVT


PS. However, I can not really post this blog in good faith without demanding that another bridge or tunnel be built to cross the Hudson River. See the following:
http://engineeringandcommerce.blogspot.com/2010/05/build-another-crossing-of-hudson-river.html