Wildcat Ridge Trail Directory

my map

Been working on this one for a couple of years.
 

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Also, would you be willing to host a group ride up there sometime? I'd really love to learn this place better, being how it's really close to my appartment.
 
sure, we can do that sometime. I live close too, ride there all the time...too much.

Also, would you be willing to host a group ride up there sometime? I'd really love to learn this place better, being how it's really close to my appartment.
 
Can you post the .gpx file for that map.

Also, you need to get Topo 7, you are living in the past!


I don't have the tracks. While still learning how this stuff works, I down loaded my GPS into Dolorme with the expectation that I could always retreive the tracks only to find out later that it won't do that. So I do not have all the tracks for Wildcat 🙁
 
I don't have the tracks. While still learning how this stuff works, I down loaded my GPS into Dolorme with the expectation that I could always retreive the tracks only to find out later that it won't do that. So I do not have all the tracks for Wildcat 🙁

They're not all sitting in "...Blah Blah Blah file path\Delorme Docs\Draw Files"?

I'd love to get a copy of the AN1 files for either of the Delorme maps in this thread.
 
How it came to be:

July 24, 2000
New Jersey
Rockaway Township, NJ: Celebrating a land conservation partnership unprecedented in New Jersey, local, state and federal officials joined representatives of the nonprofit community today to dedicate 295 acres of land recently added to the Wildcat Ridge Wildlife Management Area.

The Trust for Public Land, a national non-profit land conservation organization, negotiated an agreement between the landowner, the State of New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife and Rockaway Township, and secured $7 million from eight different funding sources for the purchase. "This is a tremendous example of public-private partnership," said Terrence Nolan, project manager for the Trust for Public Land, who negotiated the purchase. "Agencies of all levels of government have partnered with non-profit organizations and the foundation community to provide funding to ensure the permanent protection of this valuable natural and recreational resource."

The bulk of the property (293.5 acres) is now owned and managed by Fish and Wildlife and land will expand the recreational opportunities available in the Wildcat Ridge Wildlife Management Area. Plans call for the development of trail connections to the Farny Highlands Trail Network, a 37-mile trail system linking public lands in northern Morris County. The remaining 1.5 acres are managed by Rockaway Township Parks and Recreation. In 1999, the Township's Open Space Committee ranked the property as the number one priority for open space protection due to the imminent threat to wildlife habitat, recreational opportunities and drinking water if the land were developed.

Representatives of the funding agencies and organizations were on hand, and stressed the importance of such partnerships if New Jersey is to meet the goal to protect one million acres by 2008. Funds for the purchase were consolidated from the following sources: Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, Forest Legacy, Green Trust, Morris Land Conservancy (Green Acres Non-profit Acquisition Grant transfer), Morris County Open Space Fund, New Jersey Green Acres (Planning Incentive Grant/Loan to Rockaway Township), Rockaway Township Open Space Fund, Stateside Land and Water Conservation Fund, Trust for Public Land Highlands Fund and Victoria Foundation.



Partnership protects 295 acres in Rockaway Township (NJ)
June 22, 2000
New Jersey
Rockaway Township, NJ: Faced with the challenge to protect 295 acres of land in Morris County with a $7 million price tag, the Trust for Public (TPL) Land led a partnership with Rockaway Township and formed a coalition of funding partners including the federal government, the State of New Jersey, Morris County and two private foundations, the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and the Victoria Foundation.

The group announced today the transfer of 293.5 acres to the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife for management as part of the Wildcat Ridge Wildlife Management Area and 1.5 acres to Rockaway Township, which will provide access to Wildcat Ridge from Meriden Lyonsville Road.

"Putting together partnerships like this is at the heart of what the Trust for Public Land does," said Terrence Nolan, project manager for TPL, a national nonprofit land conservation organization that uses its real estate, legal and public finance expertise to protect land for public use and enjoyment. "Once we see a property with the tremendous natural and recreational resources that this land has to offer, we do everything possible to ensure that it is permanently protected for the public to enjoy."

On this project, "doing everything possible" meant securing funding and bringing together contributions from nine funding sources (including both public and privately fundraised dollars), negotiating with the landowner, and coordinating the transfer to two landowners for long term management of the property.

"New Jersey has set the unprecedented goal of preserving one million additional acres of open space in the next decade. However, government cannot do it alone," said Governor Christie Whitman. "The value of public/private partnership cannot be overstated when it involves preserving our natural resources. When looking at how we can ensure our open spaces are protected into the future, we must utilize all available resources. I applaud the Trust for Public Land for their help in improving the quality of life for New Jerseyans."

"The Highlands area is one of New Jersey's major natural resource areas in which Governor Whitman is focusing land preservation efforts. The open space purchase today is another landmark in our long-term goal of preserving the Highlands and its critical watershed for ourselves and all generations to come," said State Environmental Protection Commissioner Bob Shinn.

In the past decade however, the Highlands have been losing roughly 10,200 acres to development each year. In Morris County, the pressure from development is particularly acute. The 295-acre parcel is adjacent to a soon-to-be subdivision and itself had preliminary approvals for the development of 108 homes, increasing the value of the land.

The tract connects the state-owned Wildcat Ridge Wildlife Management Area-now expanded to 3009 acres-to the Beaver Brook, headwaters for Rockaway's municipal water supply. The property is also located under a flyway frequented by hawks, eagles and other raptors during spring and fall migrations. During the fall of 1998, more than 18,000 raptors were counted above the site, including 84 bald eagles.

In the future, the newly protected land will allow for the development of connections to the Farny Highlands Trail Network, a 37-mile trail system linking public lands in northern Morris County.

"This will be a significant addition to the Wildcat Ridge Wildlife Management Area, which already contains an extensive network of trails," said David Epstein, Executive Director of the Morris Land Conservancy.

The bulk of the funding for the purchase ($4.5 million) was made available by New Jersey's Green Acres Program, using Garden State Preservation Trust Funds and funds granted through the Federal Land & Water Conservation Fund and Forest Legacy Program. The New Jersey Congressional delegation, including Senators Frank Lautenburg and Robert Torricelli and Representative Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-11) played an instrumental role in ensuring the availability of these federal funds.

On the local level, Rockaway Township provided $500,000 from its Open Space Trust Fund and helped secure an additional grant of $1,000,000 from Morris County's Open Space and Farmland Preservation Trust Fund to complement a $500,000 Green Acres grant provided by the Morris Land Conservancy.

TPL also contributed $1 million toward the purchase through private fundraising. In addition to $100,000 from the organization's Highlands Fund, TPL secured $500,000 from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and $400,000 from the Victoria Foundation.

Both the Victoria Foundation and the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation have been major contributors to land conservation in the Highlands region. The Trust for Public Land and The Nature Conservancy are co-managing an $8 million matching fund, established with a grant from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, to protect ecologically significant landscapes in New Jersey. This project is the first to use those funds, which require a four to one match, thereby creating a framework where partnerships are critical.

"This project with its many public and private partners and high conservation value is a potential model for future protection efforts across the state of New Jersey," said Joan Spero, President of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. "Victoria Foundation has been committed to the protection of natural areas in the Highlands for a number of years and is pleased to be a part of the diverse partnership that has come together to acquire this tract," said Cathy McFarland, President of the Victoria Foundation.

"In protecting this treasure of the Highlands, we were fortunate to have such skillful partners, leveraging their various resources. The Trust for Public Land's quick action enabled this partnership to happen," said Tim Dillingham, Director of the Highlands Coalition.

"I want to thank all of our financial partners for assisting us in preserving this precious parcel of land and protecting the quality of our drinking water. We could not have done it alone. Partnering works" said John Inglesino, the Mayor of Rockaway Township.

Founded in 1972, TPL has protected more than a million acres of land across the country, valued at more than $1.2 billion. With its state office in Morristown, NJ, TPL has protected more than 12,000 acres statewide, including 25,000 acres of watershed lands, habitat, and parkland in the Highlands. TPL recently launched its Greenprint for Growth campaign to conserve land as a way to control sprawl, protect air and water, and ensure a high quality of life in communities nationwide.

The Green Acres Program of the Department of Environmental Protection was created in 1961 to meet New Jersey's growing recreation and conservation needs. To date over 435,913 acres of conservation and recreation lands have been, or are in the process of being preserved, including 92,758 acres in the Highlands, and hundreds of public parks have been built with Green Acres funds.

100 Acres on Wildcat Ridge (NJ) Protected
December 21, 2001
New Jersey
Morristown, NJ, 12/21/01 -- The Trust for Public Land, a national nonprofit land conservation group today announced the purchase of a 100-acre property in Rockaway Township known as Johnson Woods. The land is now in the hands of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Division of Fish, Game & Wildlife as part of the Wildcat Ridge Wildlife Management Area (WMA). Wildcat Ridge is in the Beaver Brook Watershed—headwaters for Rockaway's municipal water supply. Protection of the land will help to ensure clean drinking water. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has designated the Beaver Brook wetlands as a priority wetland under the Emergency Wetland Resources Act.

Wildcat Ridge is also known as prime feeding and nesting habitat for hawks, eagles and other raptors during spring and fall migrations. During 2001, more than 16,000 raptors were counted above the site, including seventy-five bald eagles. The management area falls within the Farny Highlands, a biologically diverse area that is home to 907 species of plants and animals, including seventy-one at-risk species. The new property addition protects wildlife habitat and will extend public access along the western boundary of the management area. The Farny Highlands is one of twelve New Jersey Critical Treasures designated by the Highlands Coalition as priority areas for conservation.

"Although there are many areas within the Highlands that deserve protection, the Highlands Coalition has mapped out areas as priorities based on their resource value and their vulnerability," said Terrence Nolan, project manager for the Trust for Public Land. "We are pleased to be working in a number of those areas - in many cases on the largest remaining parcels of open space. Johnson Woods is an excellent addition to the Wildcat Ridge Wildlife Management Area."

>The Johnson Woods property contains an abandoned railroad bed with a trail easement owned and managed by the Morris County Park Commission. This acquisition will provide a buffer to that trail, which operates as an extension to Patriot's Path, a countywide hiking corridor.

The Highlands region has been deemed highly critical and in need of preservation by the state. The region has been recognized in the State Development and Redevelopment Plan as the first Special Resource Area in New Jersey - an area or region with unique characteristics or resources of statewide importance which are essential to the sustained well being and function of its own region and other regions, environmental, economic, and social systems, and to the quality of life for future generations. Because of the significance of the region, the Green Acres Program has directed significant funds towards acquisitions in this region.

The Highlands have been losing roughly 10,200 acres to development each year over the past decade. The pressure from development is particularly acute in Morris County. But for the landowner's willingness to sell the property to TPL, new homes would likely have been built on the land. The parcel had already received preliminary approvals for development.

"This tract was almost lost to development before TPL's intervention. Future generations who will discover the near wilderness along the Greenway will forever be in the debt of the visionaries at TPL for preserving the sanctity of this section of the trail," said Quentin C. Schlieder, Jr., Secretary-Director for the Morris County Park Commission.

The deal is the second addition to Wildcat Ridge facilitated by the Trust for Public Land. In July 2000, TPL conveyed approximately 295 acres to the state after orchestrating a complex deal involving the landowner, the state, Rockaway Township and eight different funding sources.

"The residents of Rockaway Township, Morris County and the state of New Jersey will benefit from this latest open space land purchase," said Rockaway Township Mayor and Morris County Freeholder John Inglesino. "The Johnson tract will link existing parkland, enhancing the state of New Jersey's Wildcat Ridge Wildlife Management Area and provide for public access to the Morris County Parks system's West Morris Greenway trail network."

Funding for the $639,000 purchase was provided by a public-private partnership of the Trust for Public Land, New Jersey Conservation Foundation, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Green Acres Program and the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.

The Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, a major contributor to land conservation in the Highlands region for many years, has named the Trust for Public Land co-manager of an $8 million matching grant to protect ecologically significant landscapes in New Jersey. "By providing funds for this project and others like it throughout New Jersey, the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation is helping leverage other public and private resources to protect our natural heritage," said Peter Howell, the foundation's program director for the environment.

"Partnerships like this are critical to large parcels of open space," noted New Jersey Conservation Foundation (NJCF) Executive Director Michele S. Byers. "Johnson Woods would not be preserved today without the Trust for Public Land, the State of New Jersey, NJCF, and the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation working together. Each time we work in partnership to conserve an important piece of New Jersey's natural heritage, we increase our collective buying power for more land preservation opportunities in the future."

The Trust for Public Land has been active in the protection of the Highlands for more than a decade. To date, TPL has helped to protect more than 25,000 acres in the New York - New Jersey Highlands. A member of both the board of directors and the steering committee of the Highlands Coalition, TPL is working with this team of eighty-five local, state, regional and national citizen organizations to protect this valuable resource.

This week, TPL announced two transactions in southern New Jersey that will protect approximately 2,400 acres in Monmouth and Ocean Counties. TPL, whose state office is located in Morristown, has protected more than 16,500 acres in New Jersey and more than 1.3 million acres nationwide.

June 29, 2005
New Jersey
Rockaway Township, NJ, 6/29/05: Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Commissioner Bradley M. Campbell today announced the preservation of the 528-acre Herman J. Koehler III property in Rockaway Township, Morris County. The protection of this Highlands Preservation Area property will conserve water resources, threatened and endangered species habitat, and scenic views. The Trust for Public Land purchased the property on behalf of the DEP, working in partnership with the Morris County Open Space Trust, the Morris Land Conservancy, and the Rockaway Township Open Space Trust.

"Protecting our drinking water and open space remains among the State of New Jersey's highest priorities," said Acting Governor Richard J. Codey.

"The preservation of the Koehler property complements DEP's preservation of the nearby Wildcat Ridge Wildlife Management Area and reinforces our commitment to work with local and nonprofit partners to protect open space in the Highlands Preservation Area," said Commissioner Campbell.

"The Trust for Public Land has worked for more than two decades to protect the watersheds of the Highlands. We are pleased to have played a role in preserving this land with the state, adding to the more than 27,500 Highlands acres we have protected to date," said TPL New Jersey Director Terrence Nolan.

The H. J. Koehler tract is heavily wooded and provides critical habitat for threatened and endangered species including the bobcat, barred owl, bald eagle, Indiana bat, red-shouldered hawk and wood turtle.

Preservation of the property protects the Split Rock Reservoir watershed, which supplies drinking water to more than three million New Jersey residents. The property is adjacent to the Split Rock Reservoir and contains a tributary of the Beaver Brook, which serves as the headwaters for the Rockaway River. The property also includes Category One-designated streams and associated wetlands.

"This is the kind of preservation project that Morris County is proud to be part of-bringing together a generous, visionary landowner; a strongly conservation-minded town; two exceptional land organizations; plus the State of New Jersey and the federal government," said Morris County Freeholder Director Jack Shrier. "With Morris County's contribution of $2 million, one-third of the total, we are delighted we could make this a reality."

DEP will manage the land as an addition to the adjacent 3,100-acre Wildcat Ridge Wildlife Management Area. The property contains two miles of the 40-mile Farny Highlands Trail Network, a regional trail system connecting area state, county, and municipal parks. "The Koehler Estate property is a vital missing link in our long-term plan to preserve a connected series of open spaces in the northern Morris County region known as the Farny Highlands," said Morris Land Conservancy Executive Director David Epstein. "It is exciting to complete this project with the Koehler family which helped us design the original preservation plans for this region nearly 15 years ago."

DEP purchased the $6.12 million H. J. Koehler property in partnership with the Trust for Public Land, Morris County Open Space Trust, the Morris Land Conservancy, and the Rockaway Township Open Space Trust. The DEP Green Acres program contributed $3.4 million in state acquisition funds and nonprofit grants to TPL and the Morris Land Conservancy. The Morris County Open Space Trust contributed $2 million, the Rockaway Township Open Space Trust contributed $600,000, and TPL contributed $120,000 from a grant from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, a major contributor to land conservation in the New Jersey Highlands region for many years. The Federal Forest Legacy fund is expected to reimburse DEP $1 million for the purchase of the property.

"The Koehler property and the entire Highlands region sit at the center of the most densely populated area of the country," said Congressman Rodney Frelinghuysen. "The purchase of the Koehler tract is a major victory for preserving pristine land, and it further demonstrates our commitment to taking every step necessary to protect open space in the Highlands."

The New Jersey Highlands is a 1,000 square mile area in the Northwest part of the state, stretching from Phillipsburg in the Southwest to Ringwood in the Northeast. It lies within portions of seven counties and 87 municipalities. Sixty-four percent of New Jersey residents, about 5.4 million people, receive their water from the Highlands. Those residents live in 292 municipalities in 16 counties.

"Rockaway Township is proud to be a part of a large group that has worked very hard for the past decade to preserve a 528-acre portion of the Koehler land," said Rockaway Township Mayor Louis S. Sceusi.

The DEP Green Acres Program purchases land to protect environmentally sensitive open space, water resources and other significant natural and historical open space. Land acquired becomes part of the statewide system of parks and forest, wildlife management areas and natural areas. In 2005, the Green Acres Program has preserved over 11,188 acres of open space. To date, Green Acres has protected over 569,000 acres of open space and provided funding to develop hundreds of parks statewide. The statewide system of preserved open space and farmland totals almost 1.3 million acres.

With a state office in Morristown, the Trust for Public Land has been active in the protection of the Highlands for more than a decade. To date, TPL has helped protect more than 27,500 acres in the New York-New Jersey Highlands, including 395 acres added to the Wildcat Ridge Wildlife Management Area in two transactions in 2000 and 2001. The Trust for Public Land is a national nonprofit land conservation organization that conserves land for people to enjoy as parks, gardens, and other natural places, ensuring livable communities for generations to come. The Trust for Public Land depends on the support and generosity of individuals, foundations, and businesses to achieve our land for people mission. For more information visit www.tpl.org.
 
So, I discovered the trails between snake hill and the BOE on a women's wildcat ride. Just did it again today. Are there any maps of the trails? Particularly of leading off of the intersection at the summit and where the small side trail to the roller is. Just curious, as none of that is on trailforks and looks recently worked on.
I guess it's called "The Way" or something?
Could use blazes, too, as it kinda vanishes in the leaves that are drought down.
Regardless, fun, slog of a techy climb!
 
I would imagine it'll get added to Trailforks eventually. Also worth noting that nothing on that side of Green Pond Rd is part of Wildcat.
 

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