Cedar Swamp Trail is a 2.6-mile looped trek found in High Point State Park near Montague Township, New Jersey. Along the fairly packed trail, you encounter a variety of flora like the American Chestnut, the cedar trees, Mountain laurel, different fauna (occasional bear encounter), flowers and thick moss. With its slight elevation, you can have your kids or dog with you and spend about 45 minutes on this lovely bog. And the word swamp should not mislead you into avoiding the Cedar Swamp Trail, NJ. It is a chance to see a wide range of flowers and vegetation that are rarely found in New Jersey. The fantastic bog with its geographical and historical story makes it one of a kind. As you pass the Monument you can take a detour and climb up its 21 stairs to the top. But even from the outside, the birds-eye-view is attention-grabbing if not peaceful. This is quite an easy hike with family activities such as camping and maybe a cool swim in summer. But get ready to get muddy shoes as you pass swampy areas of the trail.
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Cedar Swamp has been classified as a glacial bog. About 15,000 years ago, a 30-acre pond was formed as a result of a retreating glacier. Then life started appearing. First came the lichens, then mosses and after a while herbaceous and woody vegetation. Scientists claim that the White cedar has a relatively short history (about 300 years). It probably came to grow here through a pollinating agent such as an animal or bird. However, the white cedars are naturally being phased out as trees that require less sunlight begin to blossom. The lush Eastern Hemlock the black birch, the wild calla and plenty of fauna will enthrall the nature-lover in you.
Bogs form from millions of bogs. When the mosses grow on a pond, you get other plants growing on them. These plants and mosses die and sink. But full decomposition doesn’t happen. So, these partly decayed material start filling the shallow ends. After millennia the pond became full of the partly-decayed plants. Shrubs and trees now thrive where a 20-feet pond once stood.
https://www.state.nj.us/dep/parksandforests/parks/maps/Cedar_swamp_trail_booklet_web2.pdf
https://www.eastcoasthiker.com/trails/highpointnj/
http://thebotanicalhiker.blogspot.com/2016/11/the-cedar-swamp-at-high-point-state-park.html
https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/new-jersey/white-cedar-swamp-trail
