The Jackson Pathfinders

JACKSON – The Jackson Pathfinders are a friendly group of men, women, teens and scouts who love to be out on a trail in the beautiful natural lands of our town. We charge no dues or fees. All we seek from our participants are interest and enthusiasm.

Pathfinders volunteers maintain four woodland trails in Jackson:

• The Silver Stream Trail, across from 254 Frank Applegate Road and within the Metedeconk Preserve of the New Jersey Conservation Foundation. The Pathfinders are honored to be designated by NJCF as official guardians of the Silver Stream Trail.

• The Steve Kitay Living Trail, on Jackson Township land, accessed via the Silver Stream Trail.

• The Purple Heart Trail, across from 820 East Veterans Hwy (Routes 527/528) and within the Bunker Hill Bogs Recreation Area of Jackson Township.

• The Jackson Jungle Children’s Trail, within the Jackson Justice Complex. Adjacent to the Jackson Jungle Play Park, it is to the left on your way to the Ocean County Library.

Free and open to the public every day, our Pathfinders trails are for nature appreciation, hiking and mountain biking (no bikes on Children’s Trail). Visit our website for downloadable PDF maps and interactive Google maps of these Pathfinders trails and of several other trails in Jackson, including those at the Forest Resource Education Center.

News of our trails:

Purple Heart Trail - Our volunteers have completed restoration of the long-forgotten Green

Loop East, and it is now ready for visitors. It has also been mapped, and we hope to have it added to our website soon. In addition, we are planning to install some signs at key trail intersections to guide visitors around the Green Loop area.

Silver Stream Trail - One of the gems of this beautiful preserve is Metedeconk Island at the east end of the oval-shaped Silver Stream Trail. The Pathfinders will soon be improving and extending a spur trail there alongside the South Branch of the Metedeconk River.

Steve Kitay Living Trail - One of the bridges across Kitay Brook was recently rebuilt by an Eagle Scout candidate, but some of our visitors find it a little too narrow, so Pathfinders volunteers will soon be widening it for the comfort of all.

More about the Jackson Pathfinders: Our volunteers trim branches and briars, clear fallen trees, install trail markers and signs, maintain boardwalks and bridges--and much more. We love the beauty of nature and do everything we can to pass that love along to others. The Pathfinders are supported by Jackson’s Town Council, Public Works Department, Recreation Department and Environmental Commission. We serve as the local advocacy group for New Jersey’s Forest Resource Education Center, and we gladly partner with Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts on their own special projects.

The beauty of Jackson’s natural lands calls to us. Out on the trail we experience the refreshing scent of the forest, the clean and awesome streams and the freedom from crowds and traffic. The Jackson Pathfinders look forward to sharing with you our love for nature and for the trails which lead us there!