Worthington State Forest, NJ

October 8-11, 2024

We drove up on Tuesday morning to Worthington State Forest, arriving at the campground around 1:00. We decided to kayak before heading to our site (37) so we put in right at the launch area near the visitor’s center. We kayaked around Woodcock Bar and back which only took about an hour or so. The water was beautiful, mostly smooth so going up stream was not very difficult. But the river was very shallow in parts so we had to get out of the boat and pull it through cold shallow, rocky-bottomed water to deeper water. It was hard to shake the chill, even though the day was a warm and sunny 65 degrees. Not ready to head back, we went over to Depue stream and wandered through a beautiful are for awhile and then headed back. 

Our campsite was large and sat right on the Delaware River. We had a wonderful view of the river but with no sun at all getting through the thick canopy of trees, so the shade made us cold at times. The first night,  an animal walked past us in the shadows while we sat by the fire. The next night, a skunk came by, followed by a deer. Most spectacularly, we saw the aurora borealis over the Delaware. 

The second day, we rode our bikes along Old Mine Road our bikes to old Millbrook Village. The ride was beautiful, with colorful leaves falling as we rode. The road was mostly flat except for the last nearly 3-mile long uphill to the village. The village itself was closed up and deserted, not well maintained, and interesting but a bit disappointing. After returning to the campsite,  we the van drove into Stroudsburg, got an oatmeal cookie at Like Magic Bakery, and then returned to the campsite for dinner.  The third day we hiked up the blue Douglass Trail to the AT, past Sunfish Pond, and then down the orange Garvey Springs to the green Rock Core trail. The pond was beautiful and the rock cores were very cool to see. 

We made fires every night and watched the sunset over the river. With no hookups and only water to fill the tank, this is the longest we have gone with really boondocking and not driving around too much as we did in Yellowstone.  The rest of the campground was practically empty, with only a few other campers scattered around, making for a quiet and peaceful stay. We had decent T-Mobil cell service throughout and could bike and hike without moving the van, which made for an overall really great trip!