Paddlin' in the Pines
( 39.72215, -74.42738 )
This map shows the trips described in this article.
Hover over marker for name.
by Andrée Jannette
New Jersey Outdoors
Spring 1998
$4.25
If you don't know how to turn your canoe on a dime when you put in at your first Pinelands river, you will by the time you finish. These are narrow, winding rivers, full of sweeping curves and sharply angled switchbacks. Yet these twists and turns are very much a part of the mystique and the delight of paddling in New Jersey's Pinelands.
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Prospertown Lake - Jackson
( 40.13520, -74.44842 )
This is a nice clean lake that straddles the border between Monmouth and Ocean Counties. The neat thing about it is, if you scroll the map to the upper-right corner, that is not some industrial park, that is Great Adventure! This is the lake that is at the back of the park. At the east end of the lake, you are looking up at all the rides, while to the south is the Safari Park. You can see more water from there, but I wouldn't jump any of the dykes, as that would put you on Great Adventure's property, or maybe in the lion pen. It's not a big lake, but there is plenty of shoreline to inspect. There is a small dam at the western end. No real facilities, just parking.
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Raritan River
( 40.59399, -74.59918 )
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Raritan River - Bound Brook
( 40.55995, -74.52758 )
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Raritan River - Branchburg
( 40.55644, -74.68838 )
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Raritan River - Duke Island (E)
( 40.56082, -74.64751 )
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Raritan River - Duke Island (W)
( 40.55279, -74.68330 )
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Raritan River - Edison
( 40.48791, -74.38382 )
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Raritan River - Highland Park
( 40.48864, -74.42226 )
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Raritan River - New Brunswick
( 40.48760, -74.43280 )
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Raritan River - Perth Amboy
( 40.50057, -74.27712 )
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Raritan River - Piscataway (N)
( 40.54085, -74.51236 )
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Raritan River - Piscataway (S)
( 40.50935, -74.46641 )
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Raritan River - Power Canal
( 40.55112, -74.67136 )
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Raritan River - Raritan
( 40.56492, -74.63884 )
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Raritan River - Sayreville
( 40.47450, -74.35606 )
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Raritan River - Somerville (E)
( 40.55798, -74.61520 )
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Raritan River - Somerville (W)
( 40.56539, -74.63173 )
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Raritan River North Branch
( 40.60018, -74.67447 )
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Raritan River North Branch - Far Hills
( 40.68441, -74.64214 )
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Raritan River North Branch - Natirar Park
( 40.64761, -74.68024 )
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Raritan River North Branch Depot
( 40.58160, -74.68161 )
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Raritan River South Branch
( 40.54640, -74.69603 )
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Raritan River South Branch - Clinton (N)
( 40.63854, -74.91169 )
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Raritan River South Branch - Clinton (S)
( 40.62806, -74.91200 )
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Raritan River South Branch - Flemington (C)
( 40.52105, -74.82666 )
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Raritan River South Branch - Flemington (E)
( 40.50354, -74.77814 )
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Raritan River South Branch - Flemington (N)
( 40.53810, -74.83934 )
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Raritan River South Branch - Hamden
( 40.59699, -74.89827 )
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Raritan River South Branch - High Bridge (N)
( 40.66394, -74.89742 )
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Raritan River South Branch - High Bridge (S)
( 40.66094, -74.90237 )
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Raritan River South Branch - Lockwood Gorge (N)
( 40.69682, -74.87171 )
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Raritan River South Branch - Lockwood Gorge (S)
( 40.68816, -74.88014 )
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Raritan River South Branch - Neshanic (E)
( 40.50873, -74.72776 )
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Raritan River South Branch - Neshanic (W)
( 40.50250, -74.74182 )
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Raritan River South Branch - Rte 31
( 40.56315, -74.85544 )
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Raritan River South Branch - Stanton
( 40.57219, -74.86834 )
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Raritan River South Branch - Sunnyside
( 40.57942, -74.88795 )
The Raritan River is what is left of the outflow of the Hudson River after it broke through the Verrazano Narrows about 6,000 years ago and changed to its present course. The modern Raritan River drains much of central New Jersey, with tributaries threading through the state from Princeton to Morristown. One northern tributary - the Lamington River - reaches almost to Lake Hopatcong. Zoom the map out to see the entire drainage. The thin red line is the "fall line" - the nominal division between uplands and lowlands.
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