FAW3
Adventurer
In early November 2023 I saw a wonderful mild long-range weather forecast for the mid-Atlantic area combined with a bit of a gap in my "retirement" calendar. I try never to waste a great opportunity for a chance to get a quick trip in our Four Wheel Camper which was already on the truck and partially provisioned from a recent trip into the Shenandoah Valley.
I was undecided about “where to go” but after some thought I decided I wanted to do a reasonably short mileage trip and explore areas I had not yet seen and experienced. I thought a “discovery run” to the NJ Pine Barrens and then up to eastern Long Island NY would be fun. Living in Northern Virginia I thought a nice loop would be to take the RT95 corridor going north and return to home via a more western route using RT30/RT15 through Pennsylvania and Maryland. This would allow me to enjoy the Delaware Water Gap Recreational Area and also the Gettysburg area on the return leg. I allocated 2 nights for the Pine Barrens, 2 nights on LI and 2 nights in PA.
Heading up to NJ my routing took me through Baltimore MD and the RT95 Fort McHenry Tunnel. A commonly held belief is that no propane can be carried through the tunnel. The actual regulations limit the amount of propane per vehicle to tanks no greater than 10 pounds of gas and no more than 10 tanks carried. The typical FWC camper carries two 10# tanks and is in compliance and may use the tunnel.
My destination in NJ was the Wharton State Forest. I chose the Goshen Pond CG near Atsion for two nights. After getting my camping permit at the Atsion park office I scooted over and quickly checked out the campground and my assigned site (#16). The CG offers nice site spacing and is well forested for reasonable privacy. My site had plenty of room and had some nice hiking areas to the rear and had some open spaces perfect for tossing the frisbee around for my dog. I enjoyed two quiet nights here. Of the 16 sites, 3 were occupied during my stay. The Goshen Pond CG provides a primitive type of site and a couple of pit toilets. The Atsion Family CG about 3 miles away offers RV type sites with water, restrooms and trash dumpsters.
I started exploring the forest roads. I checked out the Atsion Mansion and then ran Quaker Bridge Road. The roadway was well cleared and presented no issues for a full sized truck camper rig. There are plenty of pull offs and some abandoned buildings to see. I found the sand to be mostly firm and it presented no traction issues in 2WD. All of the primary forest roads were fine. Side roads running off of these main roads were hit/miss as far as overhead clearance and varying sizes of water filled holes. I had to turn around a couple of times.
Quaker Bridge Road, a primary forest road:
I had read about the village of Batsto, an abandoned/preserved community area of old wooden housing, workshops and a water powered old factory. It was fun seeing and exploring these old buildings. Most are secured and closed up, but several were open and set up for viewing with old furniture and/or tools. Restrooms were available onsite.
Batsto:
I also toured the towns of Hammonton and Egg Harbor City. Neat little towns with attractive homes with interesting styles. I grabbed lunch in Egg Harbor City at the Harbor Diner...excellent menu, service and food!
The next day it was time to head up to Long Island NY. I ran up RT95 which took me across the Verrazzano Narrows Bridge which offers stunning views of NYC as you cross. Once across the bridge I got routed by Google Maps to the Belt Parkway. This was not a ideal routing as the parkway is for passenger cars and commercial trucks are prohibited. Although my full size Ram/Hawk camper “fit” and is not registered as a truck...I was really running the wrong road. Low clearance bridges here commonly ran about 8-9 feet clearance. That's getting a bit tight. I rerouted up to RT678 and then to RT495 and had smooth sailing.
Considerations for overlanding rigs: First, stay off the LI Parkways. Second, I have a card I keep in the cab that shows my truck dimensions in various conditions: camper on/off, canoe on/off and my loaded scaled weight. You also want these numbers available in metric too. You want to KNOW FOR SURE before you get stuck...not as you pass under a low or over a weight restricted bridge.
My campground for the 2 nights was the Peconic River CG near Calverton. A simple basic private CG with about 20 good sized primitive sites. On the grounds are port-a-potties, a shower enclosure, trash dumpster and water available. You can hear traffic on RT495 from the CG but other than that I had two quiet and enjoyable nights here. The central location was ideal, and they allow dogs; the state park CG's on LI from what I found online do not allow pets.
The western half of LI is basically the suburbs of NYC, but once your about halfway across LI the area changes. The southern coastal area of the Hamptons and points east was filled with massive beachfront estate homes and several small coastal townships. Reasonable public beach access is available and being out of season these allowed dogs on the beach areas in most locations. I'm sure that during the summer season this place is busy, but during this fall season run the area was delightful in having most commercial places open at least partially during the week and no crowds. I spent my first day running the southern coastal area and it was time well spent and enjoyed.
Orient Point, LI:
The following day I focused on the interior of eastern LI and was pleasantly surprised to find a agricultural region with countless farms and nurseries, forested tracts, quaint townships and during the fall harvest season wonderful roadside stands offering local produce. Running out on Sound Avenue towards Orient a bit east of Northville I found two neat roadside attractions. The first was Lumber and Salt, an interesting antique, art, and reclaimed building materials store. Just down the road about 100 yards I also hit the Sound Shore Market a simple farm market with fabulous farm produce and plant nursery items. I continued east until I hit the end of the island at Orient. This is a neat area of smaller villages, neatly kept homes and the ferry terminal.
The next morning was a Saturday so I got a reasonably early start and ran RT495 west to I80 towards the Delaware Water Gap Recreation Area and my target for the night: Dingmans Campground on RT209. I've hit this area frequently and enjoyed my transit stop for the night. The summer crowds were gone (I'd say the CG was about 5% occupied with the restrooms/showers still open) and it was quiet and the fall colors were still kicking it although a bit past prime color. I'll note that Dingmans Ferry Bridge is weight limited to 4 tons. My full size rig when loaded scales at 5 tons...so I bypassed this specific Google Maps routing.
Delaware Water Gap:
The last day of this easy return homeward was Gettysburg PA. I love this town and always enjoy stopping by to tour the battlefield, read the monuments and grab a good lunch at the Appalachian Brewing Company. They have a nice large parking lot to the rear of the building.
I overnighted in the Michaux State Forest southwest of town. I've enjoyed many trips to Michaux on two wheels and four. There are many dispersed motor vehicle access camping sites in the forest. The low fees, ease of making a reservation, and scenic beauty of the area make this a great transit or destination stop. It can be a bit of a challenge navigating the DNR website for State Forest Campsites. For general camping information...here is the direct link: Camping in Michaux State Forest (pa.gov). The link to the state forest campsite map is here: https://maps.dcnr.pa.gov/bof/camping/
I moseyed home via RT15 and once again thoroughly enjoyed grabbing this opportunity to run around a bit, explore new areas, and savor the sights of fall. Safe travels folks!
I was undecided about “where to go” but after some thought I decided I wanted to do a reasonably short mileage trip and explore areas I had not yet seen and experienced. I thought a “discovery run” to the NJ Pine Barrens and then up to eastern Long Island NY would be fun. Living in Northern Virginia I thought a nice loop would be to take the RT95 corridor going north and return to home via a more western route using RT30/RT15 through Pennsylvania and Maryland. This would allow me to enjoy the Delaware Water Gap Recreational Area and also the Gettysburg area on the return leg. I allocated 2 nights for the Pine Barrens, 2 nights on LI and 2 nights in PA.
Heading up to NJ my routing took me through Baltimore MD and the RT95 Fort McHenry Tunnel. A commonly held belief is that no propane can be carried through the tunnel. The actual regulations limit the amount of propane per vehicle to tanks no greater than 10 pounds of gas and no more than 10 tanks carried. The typical FWC camper carries two 10# tanks and is in compliance and may use the tunnel.
My destination in NJ was the Wharton State Forest. I chose the Goshen Pond CG near Atsion for two nights. After getting my camping permit at the Atsion park office I scooted over and quickly checked out the campground and my assigned site (#16). The CG offers nice site spacing and is well forested for reasonable privacy. My site had plenty of room and had some nice hiking areas to the rear and had some open spaces perfect for tossing the frisbee around for my dog. I enjoyed two quiet nights here. Of the 16 sites, 3 were occupied during my stay. The Goshen Pond CG provides a primitive type of site and a couple of pit toilets. The Atsion Family CG about 3 miles away offers RV type sites with water, restrooms and trash dumpsters.
I started exploring the forest roads. I checked out the Atsion Mansion and then ran Quaker Bridge Road. The roadway was well cleared and presented no issues for a full sized truck camper rig. There are plenty of pull offs and some abandoned buildings to see. I found the sand to be mostly firm and it presented no traction issues in 2WD. All of the primary forest roads were fine. Side roads running off of these main roads were hit/miss as far as overhead clearance and varying sizes of water filled holes. I had to turn around a couple of times.
Quaker Bridge Road, a primary forest road:
I had read about the village of Batsto, an abandoned/preserved community area of old wooden housing, workshops and a water powered old factory. It was fun seeing and exploring these old buildings. Most are secured and closed up, but several were open and set up for viewing with old furniture and/or tools. Restrooms were available onsite.
Batsto:
I also toured the towns of Hammonton and Egg Harbor City. Neat little towns with attractive homes with interesting styles. I grabbed lunch in Egg Harbor City at the Harbor Diner...excellent menu, service and food!
The next day it was time to head up to Long Island NY. I ran up RT95 which took me across the Verrazzano Narrows Bridge which offers stunning views of NYC as you cross. Once across the bridge I got routed by Google Maps to the Belt Parkway. This was not a ideal routing as the parkway is for passenger cars and commercial trucks are prohibited. Although my full size Ram/Hawk camper “fit” and is not registered as a truck...I was really running the wrong road. Low clearance bridges here commonly ran about 8-9 feet clearance. That's getting a bit tight. I rerouted up to RT678 and then to RT495 and had smooth sailing.
Considerations for overlanding rigs: First, stay off the LI Parkways. Second, I have a card I keep in the cab that shows my truck dimensions in various conditions: camper on/off, canoe on/off and my loaded scaled weight. You also want these numbers available in metric too. You want to KNOW FOR SURE before you get stuck...not as you pass under a low or over a weight restricted bridge.
My campground for the 2 nights was the Peconic River CG near Calverton. A simple basic private CG with about 20 good sized primitive sites. On the grounds are port-a-potties, a shower enclosure, trash dumpster and water available. You can hear traffic on RT495 from the CG but other than that I had two quiet and enjoyable nights here. The central location was ideal, and they allow dogs; the state park CG's on LI from what I found online do not allow pets.
The western half of LI is basically the suburbs of NYC, but once your about halfway across LI the area changes. The southern coastal area of the Hamptons and points east was filled with massive beachfront estate homes and several small coastal townships. Reasonable public beach access is available and being out of season these allowed dogs on the beach areas in most locations. I'm sure that during the summer season this place is busy, but during this fall season run the area was delightful in having most commercial places open at least partially during the week and no crowds. I spent my first day running the southern coastal area and it was time well spent and enjoyed.
Orient Point, LI:
The following day I focused on the interior of eastern LI and was pleasantly surprised to find a agricultural region with countless farms and nurseries, forested tracts, quaint townships and during the fall harvest season wonderful roadside stands offering local produce. Running out on Sound Avenue towards Orient a bit east of Northville I found two neat roadside attractions. The first was Lumber and Salt, an interesting antique, art, and reclaimed building materials store. Just down the road about 100 yards I also hit the Sound Shore Market a simple farm market with fabulous farm produce and plant nursery items. I continued east until I hit the end of the island at Orient. This is a neat area of smaller villages, neatly kept homes and the ferry terminal.
The next morning was a Saturday so I got a reasonably early start and ran RT495 west to I80 towards the Delaware Water Gap Recreation Area and my target for the night: Dingmans Campground on RT209. I've hit this area frequently and enjoyed my transit stop for the night. The summer crowds were gone (I'd say the CG was about 5% occupied with the restrooms/showers still open) and it was quiet and the fall colors were still kicking it although a bit past prime color. I'll note that Dingmans Ferry Bridge is weight limited to 4 tons. My full size rig when loaded scales at 5 tons...so I bypassed this specific Google Maps routing.
Delaware Water Gap:
The last day of this easy return homeward was Gettysburg PA. I love this town and always enjoy stopping by to tour the battlefield, read the monuments and grab a good lunch at the Appalachian Brewing Company. They have a nice large parking lot to the rear of the building.
I overnighted in the Michaux State Forest southwest of town. I've enjoyed many trips to Michaux on two wheels and four. There are many dispersed motor vehicle access camping sites in the forest. The low fees, ease of making a reservation, and scenic beauty of the area make this a great transit or destination stop. It can be a bit of a challenge navigating the DNR website for State Forest Campsites. For general camping information...here is the direct link: Camping in Michaux State Forest (pa.gov). The link to the state forest campsite map is here: https://maps.dcnr.pa.gov/bof/camping/
I moseyed home via RT15 and once again thoroughly enjoyed grabbing this opportunity to run around a bit, explore new areas, and savor the sights of fall. Safe travels folks!
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