NJ Mtb Trails GPS'd

rob23

Member
I started this thread in another area but it didn't pick up much steam.

I went through a lot of the posted tracks on this site and added them all to one GPS file. I've also been out ridding different areas just about every weekend and recording my own tracks and waypoints.

My goal is to have all the public trails, tracked and waypointed. So, regardless of where you want to ride you can reference one master file, download in the information you need to your gps and make the most of your time on the bike by hitting the good stuff first.

If you'd like to share some of your trails and waypoints please feel free to email me at: rob23 at gpsroutebuilder . com or post your file(s) in this thread along with a description (ie: trail heads, parking, best trails, terrain type, etc). This project will go a lot quicker with your input.

Here's my latest file:

Garmin GDB:
http://gpsroutebuilder.com/GPS/NJ/Parks/NJ_MtnB_Trails_v6.gdb

GPX:
http://gpsroutebuilder.com/GPS/NJ/Parks/NJ_MtnB_Trails_v6.gpx

KML file:
http://gpsroutebuilder.com/GPS/NJ/Parks/NJ_MtnB_Trails_v6.kml

Google Maps:
http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&q...PS/NJ/Parks/NJ_MtnB_Trails_v6.kml&ie=UTF8&z=7


see ya in the woods`
 
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Norm

Mayor McCheese
Team MTBNJ Halter's
I think it would really be better to have them on a park by park basis. Give me Allamuchy with all the trails. Mahlon with all the surrounding trails. And so on. One file for the whole state becomes a bit cumbersome, no?
 

rob23

Member
Sourland Mountains

I rode the Sourland Mountains yesterday but neglected to ride all the trails. All waypoints are marked starting with SL. All in all this is a great place to ride or hike (the huge boulders there offer some great rock climbing opportunities).

Parking
--
Waypoint: Sourland Parking1 of East Mountain Rd. offers the best access to the most popular area with the most trails.

Waypoint: Sourland Parking2 is a great place to park if you want a long ride in on some ATV trails to the top of the mountain via the pipeline.

Waypoint: Sourland Parking3 is a separate area entirely. Reference tracks on how to get there. It's off of Rileville Rd.

Terrain
--
Sourland Parking1: The trails are open/quad width. Some sections can be very rocky with rock gardens and technical to ride while other sections are nice with gravel and manmade wooden bridges. The main trail head will take you straight up the mountain where a lot of climbing is required. However, the ride down is worth the hard climb. While facing up the mountain stay to the left and you'll find easier trails that traverse the mountain with easier climbs and longer flowing downhills. The main trails are now marked with square, circle and triangle blazes. Be wary of hikers and families on the weekends.

Sourland Parking2: This area seems to have been used by ATV traffic and offers a nice ride into the top of the mountain described in Parking1. I did not record tracks from this area yet but if you follow the pipeline you'll eventually wind up at Parking1 (2 miles downhill as the crow flies).

Sourland Parking3: This area is not visited much and the trails are heavily littered with leaves. The terrain is very technical with a lot of rock gardens and the trail is hard to find even when following the square blazes. There is a truck width trail that follows the length of the park that offers some nice gravel downhills. I suggest ridding to the far end before entering the trail. This area has some great potential for new/more trail.
 
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rob23

Member
I think it would really be better to have them on a park by park basis. Give me Allamuchy with all the trails. Mahlon with all the surrounding trails. And so on. One file for the whole state becomes a bit cumbersome, no?

yeah, but then I have to find that data. It's much easier to find in one master file, then copy the data I need to another file and download to my gps.

Let's say I don't know where I'll be riding on a particular day. For instance, I travel the entire state, over 100 miles daily for work. With this file, I can reference any part of the state and easily find new areas to ride depending on where I wind up that day.

Also, let's say I want to ride a new area on the weekend; I can pull up the master file and reference all the tracks from one file, estimate distance to get there, how many trails there are, etc. This way, I can make the most of my time rather than trying to find separate files on areas I know nothing about then trying to figure out where to go when I get there. With a maste file I'll have most of that worked out by the time I get there.

btw, a lot of the tracks for Allamuchy are already in the Master File. Now you can go to one file and get the tracks rather than three different files posted in three different threads. You can also see the other areas that are close to Allamuchy to ride.
 
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rob23

Member
Echo Lake Park

Located in Union county offers a few trails and some nice, challenging gradient changes, some technical roots and rocks. Lots of open woods offers some potential for new trail development.

Easily links to existing trails Lenapi Park and Nomehegan Park in Cranford.

Waypoints noted as:
EL: Echo Lake
Len: Lenapi
Nom: Nomehegan
 
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gtluke

The Moped
i'm good with converting, i use gpsbabel but the problem is getting all those trails to appear on my garmin is impossible. i'm going to investigate those links tonight but i spent HOURS trying ot get new trails added to my gps map and i couldn't do it. i can do a route, but i can't add a trail network to it and leave my paper map at home.
i just want to know i'm heading to say ringwood, add the ringwood network onto my garmin and be able to refer to it as i ride to figure out where i am on the map. there is no way to do that currently. i can take a "loop" and add it and follow it, but thats it. i can't see more than one route at a time.

what i'm asking to sounds like duh thats easy why wouldn't you be able to do that? until you try and do it and find out that you can't. really annoying.
 

rob23

Member
i'm good with converting, i use gpsbabel but the problem is getting all those trails to appear on my garmin is impossible. i'm going to investigate those links tonight but i spent HOURS trying ot get new trails added to my gps map and i couldn't do it. i can do a route, but i can't add a trail network to it and leave my paper map at home.
i just want to know i'm heading to say ringwood, add the ringwood network onto my garmin and be able to refer to it as i ride to figure out where i am on the map. there is no way to do that currently. i can take a "loop" and add it and follow it, but thats it. i can't see more than one route at a time.

what i'm asking to sounds like duh thats easy why wouldn't you be able to do that? until you try and do it and find out that you can't. really annoying.

Have you tried downloading the Tracks to your GPS? This is how I do it. Sometimes the tracks truncate/get cut off but for the most part I can tell where the trails are. I also waypoint trail heads and intersections.

Another thing you could do is overlay a route over the tracks. Activate the route for the area you want to ride and just follow the purple line to see where the trails are and where you want to go. Check out my MCP route in order to get a feel for this. You'll need to set your gps to Auto Calc/Route = Off and Navigation = Off-Road. Set you main screen to show the follow data fields (Pointer (Red Arrow), Distance to Next, etc.)). You should ride with your zoom levels between 800 and 120ft, sometimes 80ft on a tight trail. Setup your map to show the waypoints at 800ft.

Using Garmin's MapSource, let's say you want to ride a track in the master file. Use the select tool to copy the tracks and waypoints to a new Garmin file along with the waypoints for that area you intend to ride. You can also overlay a route over the tracks and waypoints you want to ride. Download the Tracks, Waypoints and Route to your gps. Go to the ridding area and activate the route.

Hope that helps..

Read this doc for more help on routing:

GPS 101 Power Point
http://gpsroutebuilder.com/GPS/NJ/TNJT/2009/FinalRelease/2009_TNJT_Gps101.ppt
 
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gtluke

The Moped
sounds like i have a lot more reading to do. damn these things! :D
thanks for the help, i'll start reading more and trying more
 

rob23

Member
Is this, perhaps, the beginning of the Trans NJ Mountain Bike Trail? :)

No, not really.. the goal is just to get all the trails tracked and waypointed first, then may I'll create a custom map for each area so you can download the map instead of tracks and waypoints. Just a little project to have fun with while I'm stuck behind a desk dreaming of ridding..
 

rob23

Member
Cheesquake State Park, tracks and waypoints added >> http://www.gpsroutebuilder.com/GPS/NJ/Parks/NJ_MtnB_Trails_v7.gpx

There's one single track loop (white blaze) with some good elevation changes and no rocks. It's a pretty good trail for a few hours and is marked really well. It's best if you ride in the opposite direction than starting at the parking spot. You'll get more downhills in that way. With all the clay, loam and mud it's best to go on a dry day.

You could really put in some nice downhills in the area but I guess off-piste is off limits.

The green, blue and red trails are off limits to bikes and with all the posted signs they really mean it.

There are also some good dirt roads to poke around on in the area and see the scenery and stuff with some nice downhills. Museum Rd is the longest dirt roads which leads off State Property and offers some good downhills and some nice views. Cheesequake is where a hardwood forest meets pinelands and marshlands and the soil consists of sand, dirt and a lot of clay. Because of all the marshland it could be really buggy in the spring/summer.
 
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