Lusscroft Farm Trail
System Reopening May 17, 2008
Click
Here for a Trails System Map
May 17, 2008 the Heritage & Agriculture
Association, Inc. will be conducting a ribbon cutting ceremony to reopen the
trail system at historic Lusscroft Farm.
This celebration will begin at 10:00 a.m. at one of the trail access
points located at the 4-H Horse Pole Barns.
After the ribbon cutting ceremony there will be a
reception with light refreshments consisting of coffee, tea, juice, bagels,
and fruit.
Hikes guided by Kevin Mitchell, Vice President of the
Heritage & Agriculture Association, will include historical information
about the trail system and discussions about habitats encountered along the
trails. The 10:30 a.m. hike is
for casual/novice hikers. The
11:30 a.m. hike is for intermediate hikers.
The 1:00 p.m. hike is for experienced hikers and will include a short
portion of the Appalachian Trail. Hikers
should wear appropriate shoes and clothing for hiking.
Lusscroft Farm is located approximately 3 miles north
of Beemerville between County Route 519 and Neilson Road in Wantage
Township, Sussex County, New Jersey.
For additional information about the Lusscroft site,
visit the website www.lusscroftfarm.com.
The Lusscroft Trail System provides access to most of
the 577 acres at the site. The
trail system was established for horseback riding, recreational hiking, and
environmental education programs when the site was the Rutgers University
4-H Youth Center for Outdoor Education, commonly referred to as the
Beemerville 4-H Camp.
Thomas Murphy established the two original trails,
Explorer and Tenderfoot, during 1975 and 1976 for the State 4-H Horse
Camping Programs. During the
1980’s and 1990’s the trail system was expanded for recreational hiking
and environmental education programs. The
Leprechaun, Unity, and JanineEdMikeAudrey Trails were built by 4-H youth and
adult volunteers from throughout New Jersey including Passaic, Camden,
Monmouth, Essex, Somerset, and Bergen Counties.
4-H Summer Camp Staff from Europe, specifically Spain, assisted with
the development of two trails named Nacho’s Trail and the Spanish Overlook
Trail. During the early
1990’s students participating in the AmeriCorps Project opened three
trails, Sugar Bush, AmeriCorps Mountain, and AmeriCorps Valley, which
provided access to forested areas used for maple syrup production and forest
management demonstrations.
Mitchell said, “When Lusscroft Farm was the
Beemerville 4-H Camp, these trails were used year-round by thousands of
people who experienced firsthand a part of New Jersey that is not concrete
and overcrowded cities.”
For the past three years youth and adult volunteers
have spent hundreds of hours locating and reopening the trails at Lusscroft.
Mitchell also said, “It has been a pleasure working with children
and adults who have demonstrated their pride in their state parks by
volunteering their time to reopen these Lusscroft Trails for future
generations to enjoy.”
Recently, the Lusscroft Trail System was included in
the Swartswood Lake Trail (Sussex County) of the Skylands Edition of the New
Jersey Audubon Birding and Wildlife Trails Project located at http://njwildlifetrails.org.
