Hike from old iron town of Batsto

Ample public parking is available at Batsto,once a thriving center of the bog iron industry of the pine barrens.Surrounded by Wharton state forest,it is a more relaxed alternative to the crass commercialism of the N.J. Shore area.Historically rebuilt,Batsto itself is worth a visit.See how the self-sufficent village thrived in the 1800s by making iron from raw ore extracted from bogs and streams in the surrounding woods.From Batsto,old sand roads radiate in all directions,offering the hiker so many choices as to require return visits.Hiking along Batsto River is one of the best.You will come upon ruins,old dams,and various reminders of busy times when the area was a beehive of activity.It seems the village is frozen in a past era,when horses,farms,and the harmony of the land blended in a peaceful and unhurried blissfulness.