A mostly flat route on sandy single track trails through NJ's Pine Barrens section. This route combined a few well blazed trails: Batona from Ong's Hat (northern terminus) for approx 25 miles to Quaker Bridge landing, where you connect with Wilderness connector trail for 1.7 miles to Mullica River trail until Atsion lake terminus. Batona is blazed pink, Wilderness is blazed teal, Mullica River is yellow. All trails are very, very easy to follow and navigate, with multiple water sources available (primarily on the Batona and Mullica River trails), but require filtration. I created this route to honor my father who passed away in 2017. He grew up in the Pines and I wanted to create a route that was fun and hit all of his favorite spots. The route is very runnable, minimal inclines mostly on the northern part of the Batona and culminates in a whopping 205' summit of Apple Pie hill with a fun fire tower and picnic benches. While not technical, do not be deceived by these trails, they provide ponds, scrub pine, sand and on a weekday you may be the only person you encounter on the trails, which makes this route really fun if you're looking for quiet and solace like I was.
