Jenny Jump State Park

Last summer my husband and my daughter went on a weekend trip to Jenny Jump State Park, camping and hiking with some friends. My husband has been spending a weekend camping with some of these friends at various New Jersey (and occasionally New York and Pennsylvania) state parks and forests for almost twenty years, taking our children since they were toddlers. The Parker family is often part of the group, and every year John Parker sends us some of his beautiful photos. There are always photos of the children, and of the whole party at the most interesting parts of their hike, or the most scenic spots, or the highest places they climbed. This year there were some beautiful photos of the park, and I want you to see them and start planning a trip to Jenny Jump State Park for this year. From Montgomery it is a drive of an hour and a half, so you can just go for an afternoon.

The first two photos are the beautiful views from a lookout point.

All the other pictures are lovely things seen along the trail. John says that he likes to photograph "wildflowers and dead trees and things people usually don't notice as they pass by."

The third photo is the woods the hikers walked through, and the fourth is a boulder in the woods.

The fifth photo is a snake found beside the trail. This was very unusual and exciting, and it is not poisonous, so if you are afraid of snakes don't let this discourage you from visiting the park.

The sixth photo shows Virginia creeper and native grasses growing around a rock outcrop. The seventh features the berries of Virginia creeper, blue with red stems. Virginia creeper is a beautiful plant, under-appreciated here in the US, but often planted to grow on stately homes in Europe.

The eighth photo shows the beautiful fall color of red maple leaves, with a few heart-leaf aster flowers and leaves in the background. Next you see partridge berry, a slow-growing native groundcover, in the ninth photo.

Last of all is a picture of a face in a tree trunk. I think it looks friendly, but others may see a different expression.

Thanks for the pictures, John!