Thompson Park ( The one in Jamesburg)

G

Grampaaah

Member
There doesn't seem to be a lot of info on this place so I though I would give a quick review after I rode it for the 1st time in August 2017.

TLDR: Fun place if your local, has potential, kinda like clayton, not worth a long drive

Started at the "dog park" lot and took Red trail down and crossed school house road to hit the white loop behind the baseball fields at the middle school. The white loop is tighter trails that doesn't look like they get traveled to frequently. A couple of skinny bridges back and forth across the stream and some small climbs/ descents.

The trails near the dog park were on a bit more fun with some fun fast descents and much wider. Not really much in the way of bumps or jumps, but a couple of good bermed turns.

rode the blue/ green/ yellow along the creek, nothing exciting but good for the scenery and adding some miles

There are some additional trails that I didn't get to ride but will be going there again soon and have a review then.
I got in about 7.5 miles without to much in the way of back riding any trail twice and judging from what I missed on the map could probably easily add another 5

climbing the paved hill from the lake back up to the dog park at the end of the ride was a good way to burn off any energy I had left
 
Rode this place again about a week ago and stuck mainly on the trails right by the sledding/ ski hill and had a lot of fun. Tons of small side of trail features to bump and jump off of.
Might be my new training place since it has a small amount of elevation to help the cardio
Also a couple of skinny style bridges.

I've been riding this place before work during the week if anyone wants to join
 
Just adding some additional stuff after riding this place a couple of more time. This time the area off of hoffman station rd.
This area seems to see almost no traffic some of it required a bit of bush whacking to get through but the area hi-lighted in yellow is kind of a fun ride for this place.
The "motocross pit" seems like it still has occasional traffic but most of the "jumps" are really weathered and would need some work to make them fun again.
After looking at the satellite I think there might be a couple of trails still back there, and the long turn around I did from the moto pit definitely connects to the rest of the trail.

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Ewok Bridge
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Long skinny
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grampaaah2 said:
Just adding some additional stuff after riding this place a couple of more time. This time the area off of hoffman station rd.
This area seems to see almost no traffic some of it required a bit of bush whacking to get through but the area hi-lighted in yellow is kind of a fun ride for this place.
The "motocross pit" seems like it still has occasional traffic but most of the "jumps" are really weathered and would need some work to make them fun again.
After looking at the satellite I think there might be a couple of trails still back there, and the long turn around I did from the moto pit definitely connects to the rest of the trail.

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Ewok Bridge
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Long skinny
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This is 10 mins from me have never really ridden ALL of it I’ll meet you next time if you want .
 
You guys are awesome. I've been working down in Manalapan and was looking for something to hit on the way home to Morristown.
 
First time here . 15 m away
Not a bad local spin - fun on a hardtail - much better trails than cheesequake by far. Well marked. Seems there could be a lot more to ride unmarked.
 
Rode there today, but I couldn't find the trail south of Schoolhouse Road, I found a few markers and a couple of abandoned buildings but then the trail disappeared!
 
The trail picks up behind the softball field by the tennis courts, stay left.. Right now the public school grounds are off limits and roped off so you'd have to jump in a different way -.. I think there is a trailhead off Davison Rd which runs behind the school, you'd have to ride down Perrineville road to get there. There's also a trailhead by the soccer fields on Prospect Plains. Its mostly one loop, I think about 2 miles or so, I'd have to look at the segment. It's not very well maintained back there, the same trees have been down for years, but I haven't been there since the fall - I am assuming its going to be a bit overgrown in spots.
 
Hmm, this place is same time and distance away from me that Clayton and Mercer County Park are. I should check it out.
 
Yep, I found the trailhead behind the soccer fields on Prospect Plains Road... I was spent by then, but did the 2 mile loop and did not cross over Hoffman Station road...
I'd like to go south and cross over Hoffman and also go north and see how far that runs...
Thompson Park proper is lots of ups and downs.... not much technical which is fine for me....
 
Anyone still riding here these days?

Scouted on foot yesterday, not really knowing what to expect. The actual Thompson Park trails, bounded on the south by Schoolhouse Rd and on the east by the brook & railroad tracks, are in great condition— clearly marked and dry. Mostly wider, tame walking path type trails, but some sections flow quite nicely with the gentle elevation changes and twistiness. The trails by the brook have cool views but are extremely rooty due to erosion in some spots.

In addition to the trail blazes, there's a ton of spraypainted indicators and letter/number codes on the trees in this area. Anyone know what's up with that? Initially thought old trail markings or property bounds, but there's way too many markings for that to make sense. Most of the markings look pretty recent too. Some type of tree study?

Trailforks shows a connector that crosses Schoolhouse Rd, but it doesn't seem to be there anymore? North of the road, there are some remnants (blazed with triangular grey markings) but it fades out and is blocked by downed trees before it reaches the road. I couldn't find the continuation on the south side of the road at all.

I'll probably go back soon and park at the middle school or the fields off Prospect Plains to look for the loop south of Schoolhouse & the loop south of Hoffman Station.
 
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