Friends of Hopewell Valley Open Space (FoHVOS) has introduced a second edition of its popular Guide to Walking Trails in the Hopewell Valley. The new trail guide includes descriptions and maps for trails at 22 sites in the Hopewell Valley. Three new sites where trails have just recently been developed are included in the second edition. The new sites are the Fiddler’s Creek Preserve (across from Baldpate Mountain), Mercer Meadows (Pole Farm) and Hopewell Township’s Alliger Park which hosts the Woolsey Brook trails.
The Trail Guide was officially introduced on September 20, 2015 at the annual FoHVOS fall event at the Ted Stiles Preserve atop Baldpate Mountain. FoHVOS, and in particular long time FoHVOS president Ted Stiles, helped to preserve Baldpate Mt. in 1998.
Five years ago Friends of Hopewell Valley Open Space produced Hopewell Valley’s first trail guide. It was a hit with Hopewell Valley residents as they picked up the entire press run of some 3,000 copies within just two years. Copies were mainly distributed at local libraries and community events.
As with the first edition, the cost of printing the second edition of the Trail Guide was supported by the late James Vinson and his wife Rhonda and by Church and Dwight Employee Giving Fund. The design and graphics of the first and second editions were done by Hopewell Township resident Mahlon Lovett. Simcha Rudolph also of Hopewell Township created the trail maps. Most content was provided by the NJ Trails Association which is affiliated with D & R Greenway Land Trust.
Readers can stop by the FoHVOS booth on Saturday, September 26 at the Hopewell Harvest Fair for their copy of the trail guide. Copies of the trail guide will also be available at all local libraries and at the Stony Brook–Millstone Watershed Environmental Center.
