The map shows restrooms at the visitor center, which is 1.3 miles up the blue trail or if you park at the main lot instead. Jake Christie photo Yes, summer has truly arrived in Maine. In spring, the forest floor is brightened by mayflower, columbine, black snakeroot, spring beauties, bunchberry, trout lilies, and numerous other wildflowers. The Appalachian Trail runs over Baldpate, and is said by some to be one of the most difficult sections of the entire 2,175 mile footpath. (Do not disturb these remains.). An extensive network of trails, some old logging roads and some specially built trails, lace the southern and northern flanks of the ridge, and a 2-mile trail runs along its spine. Trail Manager Entrance to the Baldpate trail network can be gained at six places. None of the trails are paved. Baldpate Mountain has a peak prominence of 2,240 feet. At roughly its southwestern “corner,” the trail passes the ruins of an old house, with chimney still standing. As the Copper Hill Trail curves north again, it climbs steeply, sometimes through small areas prone to wetness, before rejoining the Ridge Trail (total 1 mile). The main Kuser Trail continues north to the power line, and turns west to follow the power line to the parking area entered from Pleasant Valley Road. Trail Blog: “Baldpate Mountain on Halloween“Hiked: 5/26/12. this area has been maintained and cared for by many hard working farmers and country folk for hundreds of years.it did not pop-up overnight. Walk across the open area towards the pond and small building. 2.2  – Turn RIGHT and continue following RED (NW Loop). The Copper Hill Trail heads south. To the north lies Surplus mountain, to the south west, Baldpate looks upon Old Speck across Grafton Notch. The 6.7 mile network of trails offers an array of recreational opportunities and views. This can be a quick aerobic session going uphill! A classic mountain getaway, Baldpate is located seven miles south of Estes Park, Colorado on the designated scenic “Peak to Peak Highway” Colorado Route 7. The trail is mostly hard packed earth, with some rocky areas. 1.1  – More picnic tables and a viewing scope in a mowed grassy area, overlooking the Kuser Mansion and orchard. 4.8 – At an intersection with BLUE (Creek Spur), turn RIGHT to continue on ORANGE (Copper Hill). —Hiked: 7/4/20. Pick up the description at the second to last step below. NOTE:  The trail segment along the steep hill above Moore’s Creek is on a delicate slope, and should be used only by walkers. Built in … 2.5  – Veer RIGHT off of WHITE (Ridge Trail) on to old pavement into an open grassy area. [We didn’t spot markers here. This trail is mostly easy and level with some wide muddy spots if it’s rained a lot. 74 Trails. it is the only place like this in new jersey. It is managed by the Loon Echo Land Trust. Bald Pate Mountain is a popular hunting area and blaze orange should be worn October-December. Beck and his fellow explorers tramped through the woods in the 1930s, and came upon old millstones, several still standing chimneys, evidence of a spring house, and the foundations of houses still visible today. *. Turn RIGHT to continue on WHITE (Ridge). The Baldpate Inn, located seven miles south of Estes Park, Colorado, and next to Rocky Mountain National Park, is a classic mountain getaway offering spectacular views, intriguing history, scrumptiously fresh food, caring staff and cozy accommodations. Its mature woodlands, wetlands, and open meadows harbor a rich variety of native trees and shrubs and a diverse bird population. 41 Trails. 37 Trails. Some muddy/rutted trail sections due to use by bikes/horses. Texas. Baldpate Mountain is a mountain in Mercer County and has an elevation of 479 feet. Find the travel option that best suits you. 95S to Exit 1 for 29N/River Road. 4 months ago. Fiddler’s Creek Bridge Roadside Parking: On Fiddler’s Creek Road, .5 mile from Church Road, and 1.1 miles from Route 29, it is possible to pull off on the grassy shoulder on the north side of Fiddler’s Creek Road, where the Creek Spur trail begins. Most trails involve climbing or descending, sometimes steeply. For access to the Honey Hollow area, turn hard left into Brick Road about .75 mile in on Church Road, just opposite the intersection of Church Road with Fiddler’s Creek Road. On his explorations along Honey Hollow Road descending from Church Road, he crossed Fiddler’s Creek on a bridge – soon to be succeeded by a footbridge for walkers. Trails are easy-to-moderately difficult. At 470 feet, the peak of Baldpate Mountain is Mercer County’s highest elevation. A couple of miles down Route 29, you will soon pass by the county workhouse, Bald Pate Mountain, the village of Titusville, and finally arrive at Washington Crossing State Park. [WHITE (Ridge) also goes right]. There are great views of the Delaware River to the south, historic farmland to the north, and on clear days the Philadelphia skyline to the southwest. For the Church Road entrance, continue another 1.4 miles up Fiddlers Creek Road to the intersection with Church Road; continue straight across Church Road into the Brick Road entrance to Washington Crossing State Park, where there is ample parking room along the margins of the gravel road. Baldpate Mountain, previously know as Kuser Mountain, was acquired by Mercer County from Trap Rock Industries in 1998. New photos. The Pleasant Valley Trail (turquoise blazes) runs a total of about 1.0 mile from the Northwest Loop trail down to Pleasant Valley Road, ending across from Hunter Road. The trail offers a number of activity options. An overabundance of deer can interrupt the natural regeneration of trees and other plants, negatively affecting the structure and composition of many habitats. At trail entrances, intersections, and places where there are no trees and the trail might be unclear, there are brown posts with trail markers in the same colors. If you use a smartphone, try the handy georeferenced PDF map created by Hidden Trenton. And it's dog-friendly! Eventually there will be a BLUE (Summit) marker. Trail Blog: “Baldpate Mountain in August“, Copyright © 2021 | site by OPAQUE DESIGN LLC, njHiking.com | facebook.com/njhiking | twitter.com/njhiking | instagram.com/njhiking | youtube.com/njhiking, Baldpate Mountain – Summit, Ridge, and Honey Hollow. The fringes of the forest and orchard areas offer wild raspberries in early summer, and those who know where to look and what to pick safely can enrich their dinners with a variety of wild mushrooms. Pass an unmarked trail on the left. There are wonderful views from the open meadow of the Delaware River to the south, and of the Philadelphia skyline when the air is clear. Ted Stiles Preserve at Baldpate Mountain is named to honor the Rutgers University professor of biological sciences who campaigned for nearly a decade to make the park a reality. Be sure not to leave your car past the Farm’s closing hours, which are posted, since the parking lot gate is then closed. After passing several cottage-size boulders edged with moss, the path crosses, at about .8 mile trail, the driveway from Fiddler’s Creek Road above the old Kuser Estate House. Horse trailers are not allowed here. The Copper Hill Trail (orange blazes), is so named because of supposed (but undocumented) early mining activity by Native Americans. Ted Stiles Preserve at Baldpate Mountain has 12.0 miles of trails. Do not reach or step blindly into the rocks in warm weather. 0.8  – Come to a T with a gravel path and jog slightly left to continue on BLUE (Summit). For access to the Ridge Trail, continue up Pleasant Valley Road 4.5 miles from Route 29, to the entrance to a large parking lot on the right. Baldpate Mountain is a singletrack mountain bike trail in Lambertville, New Jersey. A similar route is now in Best Day Hikes in New Jersey. * CLOSED to hikers during firearm season days in December. For the Church Road entrance, take the first left after .4 mile onto Church Road. You can find both easy and challenging hiking trails here. The GPS coordinates are 44.609244 (latitude), -70.892372 (longitude) and the approximate elevation is 3,786 feet (1,154 meters) above sea level. 133 Trails. For more information about the LMF program and the places it has helped to protect, please visit the LMF webpage. The trail continues straight across the driveway, and after about 100 yards turns right through a gap in an old rail fence, up into the aging apple orchard, winds left, passes through another fence opening beside a dogwood in the upper corner of the orchard, and emerges into the mountain-top meadow near its eastern margin. There is formal parking at three of these locations, and limited parking in two other places: 1. There is signage for the lot; ignore the main driveway to the park right before it. The Kuser family sold the property to Trap Rock in 1986. Removed links to old maps. Visitors can combine segments of the Ridge Trail with these trails on the north and south sides to create interesting circuit walks. However, there is no formally designated parking at this location. There is a little pond that is not really visible until you walk over to it, it’s by a small stone building and old well. The Kuser Trail, named for the former owners of this land, (green blazes) is the main route, about .75 mile, from Church Road, across Fiddler’s Creek, and uphill to the power line and then to the parking area off Pleasant Valley Road. In order to preserve the health of forest ecosystems, the Park Commission employs deer management programs at Baldpate Mountain and Mercer Meadows. The AT runs over both of Baldpates peaks. Other acquisitions of land and easements have expanded the preserve, which is managed by Mercer County. This park is more suited for shorter loops from one of the many parking areas; we stitched a bunch of trails together in order to see most of the park. 5. Continue following WHITE (Ridge) across the open grassy area, past a large tree with a white marker, towards the woods. [ORANGE (Copper Hill) also goes right.]. The pond and brooks harbor invertebrates, amphibians, and small fish. In addition, the new Fiddler’s Creek Preserve has been added on the other side of Fiddler’s Creek Road. Trails are marked with square plastic blazes on trees (blue, white, red, orange, yellow, brown, or turquoise). Shortly, Pass YELLOW (Switchback) on the left. The animal population on Baldpate includes the expected small residents such as chipmunks, voles, bats, groundhogs, and squirrels, foxes and coyotes, and representatives of the area’s deer population. The Northwest Loop Trail (red blazes) begins near the western-most end of the Ridge Trail, descends steeply to the north for .4 mile, runs east, gradually climbing and sometimes muddy in certain stretches, for .6 mile to an intersection where the Pleasant Valley Trail (turquoise) heads north, and there climbs very steeply to the right for .2 mile to rejoin the Ridge Trail (total 1.2 miles). [RED (NW Loop) ends.]. This short Grist Mill Trail down to Pleasant Valley Road provides dramatic views of the creek, and of maple sugaring lines maintained by the Howell Living History Farm (do not disturb them!). Baldpate Mountain (5.8-7.6 miles round trip, advanced): Located beyond the Table Rock Trail in the Mahoosuc Public Lands, Baldpate Mountain includes two summit hikes with fantastic views. 6/2018 – Added link to a map on park site that wasn’t there before (Map 1) and updated Map 2 link. In 2007, the preserve’s original name of Baldpate Preserve was changed to honor the life of Edmund “Ted” Stiles, one of New Jersey’s most accomplished and tireless activists for protection of natural lands, who passed away that year. To report a trail or maintenance issue of a trail listed on this website, please email Hike the Baldpate Mountain Loop. Most of the land was preserved as open space in 1998 by a consortium of Mercer County, the State of New Jersey, Hopewell Township, and the Friends of Hopewell Valley Open Space. Map and location information for Baldpate Mountain in Maine: Baldpate Mountain is one of the Summits in Oxford County, ME and can be found on the Old Speck Mountain USGS topographic quad map. From the lowest point of the preserve to the highest is about a 400-foot climb, and some trails are quite steep. Trail Blog: “Baldpate Mountain – Summit, Ridge, and Honey Hollow“Hiked: 8/16/09. 3 h 24 m This trail follows routes similar to others in All Trails but starts at the parking area off of Church Road in Hopewell Township. Shortly, pass the remains of a house’s stone chimney off to the left. At .3 mile, the trail turns sharply left, following an old wood road another .1 mile before reaching a T intersection with the orange-blazed Copper Hill Trail. Baldpate Mountain is part of the largest continuously forested area in central New Jersey, the Sourlands Region, stretching across Mercer, Somerset, and Hunterdon Counties. Rugged. Pleasant Valley Road Parking Lot: The well-marked entrance driveway is on the south side of Pleasant Valley Road, 1.2 miles west of Bear Tavern Road. (scroll down a bit for Baldpate). This lot is large enough to accommodate dozens of cars. Bald Pate Mountain Trail is a 3.3 mile loop trail located near Bridgton, Maine that features beautiful wild flowers and is rated as moderate. 6.1 – At the white farm building from earlier, turn LEFT to now follow BLUE (Summit). Overview: BLUE (Summit) – WHITE (Ridge) – RED (NW Loop) – WHITE (Ridge) – Kuser (GREEN) – Kuser (GREEN) connector trail – ORANGE (Copper Hill) – WHITE (Ridge) – BLUE (Summit). This route uses the first lot on Fiddlers Creek Road off of Rt 29. Note: We love Baldpate Mountain so much, we’ve written four reviews about different aspects of the park: 1) Overview, 2) Switchback Trail, 3) Eastern Trails, 4)Pine Grove Hike. For complete hike details check out our main Baldpate Mountain – Ted Stiles Preserve page.. Arrows on the posts, and sometimes on tree blazes, are used to emphasize direction at sharp turns. 3. Walking/Hiking, Horseback riding, Dogs permitted on leash. The Delaware River can be seen on a clear day. Updated: 7/2020 – Re-hiked; adjusted the route to remove the closed trails in Honey Hollow. During this season, hunting occurs four or five days per week, and on hunting days there is no public access except for hunters registered with Mercer County. from mid-December to mid-February. Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area. Veer RIGHT to follow BLUE (Summit) along a mowed path. 40.318542, -74.866162. To confirm the hunting days, check  Mercer County’s website or the signs that are posted at all preserve entrances during hunting season. The mountain, part of the volcanic Sourland Mountain Ridge, is the highest point in Mercer County. 6. 4.0 – Turn RIGHT over a small footbridge and now follow Kuser (GREEN) as it heads gradually downhill. Note: Most of the farm buildings have been demolished since the video was taken. https://www.mapquest.com/us/new-jersey/baldpate-mountain-365382852 After the earliest pioneers, he reported, came a settlement of African Americans, sometimes as many as 50 families, some from the south and some of more local origin, who farmed as long as they could. Baldpate Mountain offers some of the most extensive and rugged walking in Mercer County. Determined new route.Hiked: 10/31/15. There are five entrance points to the preserve—two from Fiddlers Creek Road, two from Pleasant Valley Road, and one from Church Road. 19 Trails. 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