High Bridge Trail 77 Main Street, High Bridge, NJ 08829

"its pretty neat. was in town waiting for a ride from the station. we checked out the park and it seemed pretty neat. people around here were really into bikes. they seemed to like it. i think there's bike trail stuff or something. i DON'T bike, so like no clue about that but check a look if you bike. it was pretty"

"I will assume you mean The Columbia Trail. Starts / ends in High Bridge, NJ depending on where you start. Larger parking area (in High Bridge), small parking lot in Califon and coffee shop / small lot in Long Valley. Very secluded former train line. Popular 16 mile total length High Bridge to Chester. There are a few benches going to Califon."

"We started out in High Bridge on the Columbia rail trail with our Ebikes. Did 22 miles round trip of a 30-mile round trip trail. Spot a pot along the way, The Columbia Trail is a multi-use path that runs for 15 miles from High Bridge in Hunterdon County to the border of Mt. Olive and Washington Township in Morris County. Built upon an abandoned railroad corridor, the trail is named for the Columbia Gas Line constructed under the former rail bed in the 1990s."

"One of my favorite trails to visit in NJ. Beautiful views and great for walking and biking! Don't forget to look for the hidden gnomes and fairy houses the locals put on the trail."

"***3 1/2 stars*** I'm a native of the Kingdom of Hunterdon but this is an area I'm not that familiar with - I grew up on the opposite, western side of the county, so my experience with High Bridge, Califon, etc. is pretty limited. I came here this past Saturday though (with a cameo appearance by one of my chums) to get some non-mountain hiking in on a gorgeous day. It had its moments, but ultimately I'm not crazy about completely flat surfaces and there just wasn't much variety in the adventure. My chum and I set off a little after 9am from the parking lot right off Main Street in High Bridge and just north of their main drag. Again, this is not a town I drive through often but it was very easy to locate the parking area once I'd gotten a quick look at the map. The parking is adjacent to some playing fields, and thankfully that meant multiple port-a-potties. I used one afterwards, which was about as clean as they get. The itinerary was pretty straight-forward - I walked from the High Bridge parking lot north through Ken Lockwood Gorge, and probably got about 15 minutes north of Califon before turning back. It took almost five hours and I would guess was about 12 miles all told (I love my Fitbit but I think it exaggerates constantly). The gorge is by far my favorite part of this walk. The optics are the best here - you're surrounded by high cliffs above and the Raritan River below, and it's pleasant to hear the roaring water in the background as you saunter through this section. There's also some gorgeous old houses off to the side with oodles of character (I made a mental note to look some of them up on Zillow when I got back), including multiple ones with little bridges and chicken coops. There's a makeshift fairy village situation off to the sides of the path, which is a nice little quirk. I think the one over in Maplewood at South Mountain is more intense, but this version covers more ground. And of course because it's Hunterdon, one of the fairy/gnome houses had a Confederate flag decoration. Who says the War of Northern Aggression stopped at the Mason Dixon Line? Once you get past the gorge though, the walk for me is pretty bland. I'm certainly very pro woods and whatnot, but the lack of distinguishing features makes this a bit of a snooze. I did enjoy the quick trip into downtown Califon, especially the little preserved railroad station from the 1800s. It looked like there were a few possible eating options as well a block or two off the trail that I briefly pondered before continuing on my journey. The canine chum situation was excellent - it was truly a bevy of pooches from beginning to end, with a curiously high percentage of German Shepherds. The wildlife situation was active as well, with a great many squirrels and chipmunks scampering around in the unseasonably warm temps. This one was just okay for me. I liked the clean bathroom accommodations and the ease of the path, but I need my walks/hikes to have a little more pizzazz to them."