This is a rather special Yelp. Its not for a restaurant or hotel or cafe or salon. Its for a ghost…read moretown. Yep. In New Jersey. In the Pine Barrens. Scared? No need to be. Its a superb day trip--a place unlike any other. You wont find tourists here; or probably any other living soul for miles around. Its just not that well-known enough. Its not an excursion accompanied by a lot of tourist-board support, advertising, or fanfare. There are no audioguides, no pamphlets, no maps. There's also no fees, gates, ticket-stands, trinkets, permits, or clerks. You can just park on the shoulder of the expressway, and mosey right in off the roadside. Its just a tract of deserted woodland. Its a part of New Jersey only a few people ever have reason to explore; its for the imaginative and intrepid. In the course of a year, the site probably only gets a couple photographers, an artist or two, or perhaps an author once in a while. Some 4WD-nuts pass by occasionally. [And this Yelp won't change that--even if I told you about great dining here, this place will always be forlorn and neglected.] Its the location of a vanished Piney town which sprang up in the 1800s around an iron-smelting furnace; and which has now almost completely disappeared from above-ground. Iron? There were iron mines in New Jersey? Not exactly. Its a strange chemical process, organically-occurring, whereby it forms in the swamps and bogs around here. You'll notice all the water is naturally 'tea'-colored. But all the left-behind equipment and abandoned buildings are now, just as if they never were. You might only notice some strange shapes --hummocks, berms--in the terrain and that's about it. This is where your imagination comes to the fore. You're strolling around on top of a village. Chalk one up for NATURE! If it doesn't grab your fancy, then..no matter--just wandering around in the Pine Barrens is in itself, ethereal and stupefying. Take care not to get lost; because the trees have an eerie manner of all looking exactly the same. A few unmindful steps can get you turned around. The Pine Barrens are just a fabulous and unique environment. People love to discredit the Garden State without ever having heard of forests like this. To try to explain: the soil is flat, level, and sandy and without underbrush--covered only with a carpet of pine needles. Thus, with the trees racing up so tall and straight--like columns in a church--and also branching so high; the effect is quite cathedral-like. Sun slants through as if coming through high windows. And its uncannily quiet. Like a big empty room. Just the coolest. Bring boots (its occasionally muddy) and a survival knife *just in case* of feral dogs. I recommend this excursion to all the Yelpers who like to make a fuss over their daring and adventurous, active lifestyles. You're not impressing me with your tour-guide led whitewater rafting adventures. Try exploring the Pine Barrens. .

HAMMONTON: if you look at a map of NJ, you will notice a large section in South Jersey bathed in…read moregreen. That is Wharton State Forest, a gorgeous section of the Pine Barrens full of history, rumored to be where the Jersey Devil roams, and is a great spot to spend time in nature hiking 50 miles of trails, boating from launches on various rivers, bird and wildlife viewing, camping spots, and learning about NJ's past at the Batsto Village historic site. The land was used by the Lenape in prehistoric times and the village dates back to 1766! Batsto Village was an iron and glassmaking community and many of the buildings still stand today including the mansion, grist mill, saw mill, post office, housing, and over 30 buildings in total. There are walking paths to each building and if the door is open, you are welcome to go inside and take a look. Check out the peaceful views of Batsto Lake and the visitor center that features a museum and gift shop. We really enjoyed the Maple Sugaring Day event hosted by Wharton State Forest and Stockton University where they showed us how to turn sugar maple tree sap into syrup. There are sugar maple trees throughout the Batsto and Stockton properties that are tapped to collect sap in buckets and then boiled to make the delicious sweet maple syrup. We saw the tubing system used in a patch of trees to collect the sap and even had a sample; it tastes deliciously like lightly sweetened water. The syrup's end product was so fresh and delicious too. You can buy a bottle of maple syrup in the gift shop. Leashed dogs are allowed and we saw quite a few enjoying a walk amongst the picturesque and sprawling property. There is a small fee to enter the village from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day and free admission the rest of the year.

I went for my first time over the weekend & I really enjoyed it! It was just a short 30 min drive…read morefrom where I live near the shore, & I would do it again. If you love history & nature, this is the perfect place, because this village started in 1766!! It's located in Hammonton, NJ in the Wharton State Forest with hiking trails, camping spots, open fields, & picnic benches for a nice forest bath. Take a journey to the past by exploring the Visitor's Center that has a museum & gift shop before venturing out around the historic village. You can sign up for guided mansion & walking tours for a fee, but we just walked around on our own for free. The gift shop also sells water & snacks, but there's also a food truck in the parking lot with hot dogs & Italian sandwiches for sale. This time of year is perfect because it was mosquito free with a nice crisp to the air that made walking around so enjoyable! They're also doing an antique, glass & bottle show on 5/19 with wagon rides available for a great family activity!

Way out in the middle of the Pine Barrens of New Jersey, this is a very secluded spot. Do not plan…read moreto drive east from the site as it is about ten miles of hard packed dirt road. I didn't know that at the time, so that was an adventure in itself. Referred to as the "Lindbergh of Mexico," 22-year-old Emilio Carranza Rodriguez was inspired by Charles Lindbergh after Lindbergh's flight to Mexico City. Influential men in Mexico decided that their country should have its own glory. So they built the "Mexico-Excelsior" (an exact copy of Lindbergh's Spirit of Saint Louis), and it was announced that Captain Carranza would fly from Mexico City to New York and then back again. Carranza made it to New York City and met Lindbergh himself, who told him to not to fly into the thunderstorm. Carranza ignored the suggestion to his peril and only made it about 50 miles south before crashing in this very desolate part of Jersey. People back in Mexico were heartbroken and funded this monument for the crash site. It is inscribed in both English and Spanish, to mark the spot where their hero had died. An Aztec eagle plummeting to Earth on one side, an arrow pointing skyward on the opposite. The monument reads, "The people of Mexico hope that your high ideals will be realized." A sad end for a young hero. Note: The road between here and Egg Harbor IS NOT PAVED. And you will not find much cellular service out here. It would have been nice to know that before hand. Oops. [Review 17759 overall - 88 in New Jersey - 1280 of 2022.]

It's s cool little place in the middle of the Pine Barrons in South Jersey. A lot of history worth…read morethe visit and remembering. People still put pennies and stones on the monument in memory of the "Lindbergh of Mexico," Emilio Carranza Rodriguez

Nice road but not much information about where and how much the tolls are... until you get to the…read moregate. Some are both cash and transponder; others are transponder only. Difficult to figure out for the visitors. But the toll takers are all very nice.