Today was a beautiful Sunday morning and it was a perfect day for a nice ride and a cruise to the Pine Barrens. For those who are not familiar with the the Pine Barrens, it is a heavily forested area of Southern Jersey that stretches across 7 counties!
John in North Jersey Cruisers posted the route in our Facebook group and I do have to say his directions are spot on and easy to follow. Overall, the route isn’t curvy but its flat, secluded and it the sights you see will amazing from army bases, rural farms, horses, sheep, mansions, swamp and small rivers and lakes.
My mind wonders what would life be like living in the pine barrens. I live a busy hustle and bustle yuppie life in north jersey this area seems very relaxing and secluded away from heavy traffic and the environment seems very different from North Jersey.
After the drive, I ended up in egg harbor lake and camp ground that hasn’t opened yet which seemed like a great place to end a drive and relax for the remainder of the day. Unfortunately the lake was not open yet so I didn’t stay long. Sorry I didn’t take more photos as I was preoccupied enjoying the relaxing drive. If anyone is looking for a half day drive this is a great route which truly feels like you are in another state.
Hey guys, Tony here again. I had the fortune of having a Friday off for once, so a cruise was in order.
The start point was in Towaco, NJ, at the train station. That’s along Route 202 for those who want to look it up. Right across the street is the first road that i went down, called Waughaw Road. It twists and heads up a sizeable hill during its duration, as well as crossing interstate 287. It ends at a road called Stonybrook Rd. Heading right onto this road brought me back down through some decent stuffs all the way to Morris County Route 511: Booton Avenue. Going left was a fun little blast past some parks and trees. lots of trees to an intersection with Taylortown Road. Of course I wouldn’t mention it unless I turned down it (A left). A video below will take you along the journey I just described, unless you were there. In that case don’t watch it. But you should, because I was the only one there.
After which I stopped for some photographs
The next part of my journey took me back onto 202 for a few minutes. I made a few turns I don’t remember off the top of my head, and ended up on Pinebrook Road. The next segment I hadn’t done yet, and whoops, it turned out to be a partially gravel road
I wound my cruise down at Lincoln Park Lake in Lincoln Park, just off Ryerson Road.
Saw some Geeesssssseeeee
Quite an enjoyable way to spend part of my day off.
Well today me and the misses didn’t want to miss out on all this great weather. So I felt a day trip and drive was in order. We are both into archery, so a trip to the Bergen County Archery Range (off of Campgaw Road in Mahwah) was in order. After fueling up at 5 Guys (me gusta), we took Route 202 up through Wayne and Oakland to get to the range. After some fun and shenanigans,(including losing an arrow, see picture) I didn’t want to go home.
So naturally, as us here at NJC do, I went for a drive. Starting in Mahwah, I eventually found my way onto Skyline Drive in Ringwood and wound my way around the lakes to Sloatsburg Road and up to Ringwood State Park. Skylands Manor and the Botanical Gardens are up there and great things to go see, as is nearby Shepherds Lake. (due to having no camera, I don’t have many pictures). But I did see lots of ducks
This past weekend we had our first overnight cruise around the Delaware River through the Catskill Mountains. We met at Pompton Diner with two new riders (Trey and Andrew) who are first time cruisers with North Jersey Cruisers.
Heading up Rt. 23, our first destination was High Point Mountain where had a short stop to stretch our legs, climb the tower and take photos.
After a quick stop at High Point, we had one of our favorite destinations driving to Hawk’s Nest, a scenic twisty and curvy road onto Scenic Byway Route 97 North.
Our new North Jersey Cruisers, Trey had some great footage capturing the driving experience through his go-pro camera.
After driving through Hawk’s Nest, we continued up Rt. 97 stopping for a quick lunch break at Barryville and headed to Deposit, NY where we really had some fun with our cars (driving speed limit unknown).
We had to say goodbye to our first time North Jersey Cruiser’s rider Trey as he headed home. We look forward to having him at our next cruise.
From Deposit, NY we drove through the mountains to where we stayed at Walton, NY. We stopped for dinner at the Rainbow Cafe a nice restaurant by the lake overlooking the mountains.
We had a special surprise for John as the group presented him in appreciation gift for putting this all together. If it wasn’t for John starting this group we would of never had nice cruises and best of all new friendships has been made throughout this past year.
John quoted, ” It wasn’t the great roads, beautiful Fall scenery or the good weather that made this trip so memorable. It was the great people that I had the pleasure of sharing it with. You guys always give me wayyy too much credit… it’s YOU guys that make these cruises so much fun and I am grateful that I have been able to develop some really great friendships with you guys. “
The next day was just as exciting as we drove through the Catskill Mountains with curvy roads and back to speeds of over (unknown) miles per hour. It was a scenic view and perfect time for the fall foliage where stopped at an overpass to take photos of our cars and the beautiful scenery.
Ryan’s Mustang
Dave’s Camaro
Andrew’s STI
After holding up traffic taking photos across the bridge we pulled off headed to the our final destination. Check out this video showing the power of an American made Camaro:
The final destination was the Shawangunk Mountain National Scenic Byway where the roads had never ending curves and hilly straightaways.
At the top of the mountain we had a great relaxing view:
It was a fun weekend with great people and we look forward to making this an annual tradition.
I am not knowledgable of NJ back roads as John is but this year we didnt have any plans for Labor Day Weekend so today we took an anonymous ride in our Mustang. Earlier this morning, I was updating my TomTom and was looking to add new Points of Interest (POI) categories. I stumbled upon a wierd NJ POI and downloaded for my TomTom.
Being from NJ, I haven’t searched for a Weird NJ location since I was in high school. Ringwood Manor was a location for the POI so as we punched it into the GPS. We approached a familiar favorite North Jersey Cruisers road “Greenwood Lake Tpk.”
This road connects to many point of interest throughout North Jersey Cruises as we pass by beautiful residential homes, lakes and open roads where we can put our car to test through straight aways and windy roads. As we approached near the Ringwood Manor, it was a beautiful sight and discovered it was a popular place for sight-seeing and a picnic!
We explored the park and was happy to see little kids turn their heads as I drove past them. Few picnic spots later, I found a dead end spot where I could not resist but take photos of my Mustang.
Ryan
P.S. Our day didn’t end as we drove up the street and found Skyands Manor.. see our photos below:
It was a fun solo cruise but it’s even better when there is a small group hearing roaring engines and mufflers drive through the back roads.
Looking forward to the upcoming Pre-NFL cruises coming up! More info.. Join our Facebook Page for more information.
It’s the start of football season. Join us for a 2 hour and 15 min cruise through Sterling Forest, up 293 around West Point and through 218 Storm King Highway and back down through Harriman. Nothing like taking a nice Fall cruise and making it back in time for the game.
Click on the photo to join the ride:
Meet up details:
Sunday September 16
Time: 10:00 am
Home Depot
465 Rt. 17
Mahwah, NJ 07495
This is a group for car enthusiasts that want to meet up as a small group for some weekend day cruises on beautiful roads on beautiful days.
While many car enthusiast enjoy car shows, quarter mile races, autocross, we are another category of car enthusiast who enjoys driving through scenic back roads located in Northern New Jersey. We welcome all car to enjoy a fun, spirited drive through many local rural, suburban, or urban roads of New Jersey.
Many of our cruises only take 2-3 hours in the morning to start your day. Check out the video below to see a short sample of one of our members in his Camaro SS:
North Jersey Cruisers 