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Absolutely! The campground (Pilgrim Lake in New Gretna - http://www.pilgrimlakecampgrounds.com) was great. The property is heavily wooded and they only really clear enough space for some tents, a fire ring, and a picnic table-that's it. There were sites adjacent and across the road from us but there was nothing but woods behind us:
That combined with the fact that our area of the campground was deserted made it feel almost like we had driven deep into Bass River and just set up camp on the side of the road. We arrived and set up at about 11:30 and then headed into the woods. The plan was to find a campground that the state established in the 1930s and abandoned in the 1960s because it was too remote to maintain and do some swimming there. Here's one of the roads explored-apparently the state maintained it as it was paved at one time-the objects that look like rocks are chunks of broken blacktop-I thought my fillings would rattle out of my head:
Driving through a cedar swamp-luckily the bridge was in better shape than the road
Nice pond on the east side of the road-probably an abandoned cranberry bog from long ago:
We tried to turn off but found these holes. My truck could handle them no problem, but my buddy's 2012 Jeep Cherokee was another story-we decided to take a different route:
The end of the road is the Warren Grove Bombing Range where aircraft from Joint Base Dix Maguire Lakehurst do bombing runs and other live fire exercises-some flares dropped back in 2007 as part of a training mission started a huge fire that burned many thousands of acres-obviously its a good reason to stay out:
Here's an example of how tight the trails can get. My buddy with the Jeep wasn't following me at the time-I had the mirrors folded in on my already narrow Toyota truck.
I checked the camp online - nice place! It's surrounded by forest on three sides.
GREAT campsite. It's nice to be right in the State Forest without having to deal with being right on top of other people and being able to crack a beer without looking over your shoulder.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gerania
I see that you drove through the pines. Fun, isn't it?
It's been a while but I learned to drive in the pines. When I was 14 and would go pheasant hunting with my dad at Colliers Mills we'd usually end the day with a driving lesson or two on the lesser traveled back roads. Living in Hunterdon now I don't get down there as much, but it was nice to get out and explore. It doesn't seem like the 4x4 crowd gets down to Bass River-they stay over in Wharton which is nice because it results in no truck-eating mud holes, and a lot less trash. I noticed hardly any between Calico, Martha, and Warren Grove.
GREAT campsite. It's nice to be right in the State Forest without having to deal with being right on top of other people and being able to crack a beer without looking over your shoulder.
It's been a while but I learned to drive in the pines. When I was 14 and would go pheasant hunting with my dad at Colliers Mills we'd usually end the day with a driving lesson or two on the lesser traveled back roads. Living in Hunterdon now I don't get down there as much, but it was nice to get out and explore. It doesn't seem like the 4x4 crowd gets down to Bass River-they stay over in Wharton which is nice because it results in no truck-eating mud holes, and a lot less trash. I noticed hardly any between Calico, Martha, and Warren Grove.
GREAT campsite. It's nice to be right in the State Forest without having to deal with being right on top of other people and being able to crack a beer without looking over your shoulder.
It's been a while but I learned to drive in the pines. When I was 14 and would go pheasant hunting with my dad at Colliers Mills we'd usually end the day with a driving lesson or two on the lesser traveled back roads. Living in Hunterdon now I don't get down there as much, but it was nice to get out and explore. It doesn't seem like the 4x4 crowd gets down to Bass River-they stay over in Wharton which is nice because it results in no truck-eating mud holes, and a lot less trash. I noticed hardly any between Calico, Martha, and Warren Grove.
I taught my son to drive on dirt roads in the Pine Barrens.
I haven't been to the Martha area in quite some time. It is nice out there, pretty quiet too. My first off road experience was driving out to Quaker Bridge... on my own. The ranger at Atsion, a woman, warned me not to go. She said, "People go back there and get stuck". I was scared. Well, nothing bad happened, and I was hooked.
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