Sassquad Trail Work Day: West Milford, NJ

Join us on Sunday June 18th for a trail workday with the New York-New Jersey Trail Conference. We'll meet at the Jungle Habitat at Long Pond Ironworks State Park in West Milford, NJ. We'll meet at 10am and work through early afternoon; we should wrap up by 3pm. This trail work day is limited to 15 people, so please be sure that you can attend before registering. If you sign-up and later find out that you can't make it, please let us know ahead of time. Thank you!

The Tapawingo Trail is a multi-use trail located in both Long Pond Ironworks State Park and Norvin Green State Forest (North). In recent years, this trail system has been revamped, in partnership with JORBA (Jersey Off Road Bicycling Association), to accommodate a spike in visitation. Along with the increase in visitation, there was also a rise in lost hikers, therefore putting a strain on local Search and Rescue crews. This magnified the need for proper blazing and well defined trails to keep visitors on-track with minimal confusion. 

After a recent visit to the Tapawingo Trail, it has been discovered that numerous blazes have been vandalized and ripped from trees, leaving numerous locations where visitors may question where to go. With the help from the Sassquad Trail Runners, we will work to not only replace any metal blazes that have been removed, but paint blazes directly on the tree and cover them with the metal blazes, therefore making the trail much more vandal resistant. There are numerous locations where blazes have been removed, providing a great opportunity for volunteers to learn how to properly blaze a trail. Aside from blazing, there is also other general maintenance work to be done such as clipping back brush that impedes on the trail corridor, raking tread to better define the trail, and removing leaf build-up that has accumulated along the fence next to the trail. These improvements will greatly improve this section of trail, leaving visitors with a positive experience and decreasing the chances of them getting lost or wandering off-course.

Gear List:

- Sturdy boots/shoes

- Plenty of water, food, snacks

- Clothing that may get painted on

- Long pants may be preferred, though not mandatory.