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Apple Pie Hill in NJ

4K views 29 replies 12 participants last post by  mudboy 
#1 ·
copy and pasted from another forum:

Apple Pie Hill Has Been Closed To The Public
As I approached Apple Pie Hill this afternoon from the south on the Batona Trail, I encountered three signs from the NJ Div of Parks nailed to trees that said no littering, no dumping, or motorized vehicles are allowed on Apple Pie Hill. The when I reached the north side of Apple Pie Hill I encountered no tresspassing signs up all along the dirt road warning that the area is closed for all public use and anyone caught there would be prosecuted. These warnings are posted on 8 1/2" X 11" sheets of paper that have been tacked to the trees. Not sure why they made these signs out of paper since they can be easily torn down and at best will only be legible until the next rain storm.

I'm assuming, or at least hoping, they won't enforce the "no tresspassing" provision against hikers since the Batona Trail goes right through Apple Pie Hill. The way people have repeatedly trashed that area is a disgrace and I have felt something should be done for a long time, but I really don't think making it a "no tresspassing" zone is the answer. I don't think that is going to deter the vandals. It certainly didn't deter the two car loads of people who were climbing the tower when I walked by.


Now from what I heard this was done specifically so tickets can be written to vandals. FFS is talking about putting Jersey barriers up blocking all traffic. So if you know anyone who has littered/partied/ or thrown TVS off of there you can soon thank them for your new hiking expierience on up to Apple Pie Hill. State is also taking about bringin Jersey barriers to block off the driving trails up to the tower.
 
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#8 ·
Either way you'll still be able to go up there for the Batona goes right to it. You just will soon have to park and walk a few thousand feet. Not a big deal really. Just needed to do something to deter people from dropping the TVs off of the top.
 
#4 ·
Thats odd. A group I know went up there yesterday with permission and did some repairs to the tower, moved some dirt around, painted some railings, and cleaned up trash. The Park Police actually met them there during this. No one from that group has mentioned anything about it being blocked off or closed as of yet.
 
#6 ·
Thats odd. A group I know went up there yesterday with permission and did some repairs to the tower, moved some dirt around, painted some railings, and cleaned up trash. The Park Police actually met them there during this. No one has mentioned anything about it being blocked off or closed as of yet.
I'm in that group and was not at apple pie hill for i was in North Carolina for the weekend. The road is not blocked yet, just teh signs are there.
 
#5 ·
Yes but it was confirmed by state officials that these are just temporary. FFS has placed them there. It was only a matter of time until this happened. Everytime you'd clean it up back there there would be another TV smashed within a week.
 
#12 ·
If they do.... not as many. I know i sure as hell wouldn't want to carry one that far up hill and over barriers. In previous places they have actual dismantled the fire towers. this is what people are trying to prevent from happening. It's one of the only places in South Jersey you can view all the way from one side of the state to another (Philadelphia to your Northwest and Atlantic City to your Southeast)
 
#16 ·
I've never been down over there and usually don't spend much time in jersey in general, but what are these towers like. is it stairs heading up to some observation booth or something. Can it be closed off with some wire mesh to keep any tv's inside ? Just an idea.
 
#22 ·
Here's another hope that it's temporary. I usually make the tower one of the last places I stop if I'm taking anybody through the forest. Got inside it one day since it was staffed with a fire spotter, pretty cool! Guy let a couple of us inside to see the maps and look around.
 
#23 ·
From what I understand, I'll confirm later on, that they aren't enforcing anything on people who walk up to the tower(The batona Trail goes right to the tower). Its just gonna be for vehicle access. You want to go up the tower? you walk for a couple minutes. Not bad really.
 
#26 ·
Was just up there Friday night...didnt see any signs, but there is more ranger activity in wharton lately. They have been checking registration of vehicles and things like that. Not that they shouldnt do this if you were in the wrong, but they have been said to pull over groups at random to check now.

Wharton is a great place, and as said, most of the issue revolves around the small group that goes back there to smash tv's, get smashed themselves, dump trash, and throw stuff in the holes.

Be smart when you wheel, and you should be OK. Hope they dont really put up barriers.
 
#27 ·
I personally would like to see the barriers due to the fact that it should deter a majority of the idiots. Walking a 1000 feet aint that big of a deal really. Until peopel stop going where theyre not supposed to be, expect the state park police to continue to discriminate some. They are getting alot of heat put on them from all of the negative media(1/4 mile and a few other spots). Freedom back there is going to continue to dwindle as long as people are going where they shouldn't be,having fires and not distinguishing them and trashing areas. Trash has been a problem in Wharton since i can remember, it's just the area we live in consists of a lot of scumbags.Areas where we shouldn't be dates back to when rangers where a once a year site, not as many people cared about the environment back in the 80s as they do now. Also a up to date map of the legal trails needs to be publicly available. The Pinelands Preservation as a whole is going to get cracked down on pretty hard ever since they'd been reviewed horrible. Compare the pinelands to the rest of the perserves in the country and ours is sorta in an outlaw state compared to others. Thats all going to dwindle soon, not just in Wharton but other state forests and WMAs. I've been preaching this to people for years but everyone blew me off and continued on with their ways, now we all are going to pay.
 
#29 ·
You do have to go back to the history of Wharton State forest to understand the liberal nature. It is surely not the state. Wharton was an extremely wealthy philanthropist in this area many years ago. He bought a vast tract of land in the Pine Barrens and handed it to the state to be turned into a State Forest. His intention was to keep this area preserved for recreational use. Im not sure he intended for us to be wheelin with 12" lifts and 44's, but hey, it happened. It is thanks to Wharton, the person that we have the freedom in NJ. But as said, this is changing, and very quickly I may add. Its within the last year Ive been hearing stuff like this. Never had a problem myself. And we drove right past a ranger not to far off of quarter mile this weekend. He just waved and went along his way.
 
#30 ·
It's the only national preserve where the non tread lightly ways of people have slid by the way they have(I'm guilty of it myself in my younger years). The good thing is that "trail riding" will still be allowed as long as people don't mess it up.
 
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