Lost In Time - The Forked River Mountains

Few places have offered so much in the way of mystery in the Pine Barrens of New Jersey as the Forked River mountains. Contained within it’s twenty thousand acres lie ruins of towns and industry, homes and hunting cabins, all silently crumbling as nature reclaims the spots where they once stood. Two sand hills rise 180 feet over the surrounding forest, affording views of Lakehurst Naval Air Station, Oyster Creek Nuclear Power Station, and Barnegat Light.

When Henry Charlton Beck, newspaper reporter turned Pine Barrens explorer and folklorist, visited in the 1930s, he found the area much as it is today. Bumpy dirt roads winding through stretches of pristine pine forest and dense cedar swamps, cut by the area’s first settlers - colliers, bog iron workers, and hunters. Some of these roads are well travelled - such as the road from Rt. 539 leading to the old foundation of the Cedar Bridge fire tower - while others are not anything more than rutted, narrow, trails barely fit for hiking.

The paving of Rt. 539 and Rt. 72 has made access to the area easier. The best way to come in is off Rt. 539, which leads towards the Cedar Bridge Fire Tower foundations. The tower was moved by helicopter to it’s present location off Rt. 539 in 1988 due to damage from vandals, and a lack of electricity. In the process of moving it to it’s new location, ten feet of the tower base was damaged and removed, making the tower slightly shorter at its new home. You can see a current image of the tower as well as get lat/long coordinates here. You can also see a topographic map of the original location.

To the North of the fire tower lies the ghost town of Aserdaten. This town, up until recently one of the Pine Barrens greatest enigmas, was once the location of a deer farm that raised imported deer for Rutherford Stuyvesant, one of the first large scale land owners in the area. It got it’s name from it’s first caretaker, Asa Dayton who, after dying of natural causes and not muder as Beck suggested, was replaced by Henry Branson. Branson lived in the area until he was elderly, spending his remaining days in Forked River sometime after 1884. Todays traveller will not find anything to mark the spot - the homestead cellar holes are either eroded or hidden deep in the woods. Even the lone apple tree that Beck mentions is gone, most likely the victim of a forest fire. The spot is marked only by an intersection as shown on this topo map.While not shown on the map, the road that leads to the East from Aserdaten is very narrow and leads out to the large “Sand Company” road that cuts through the area. The builders of the Sand Company road have ensured that you can’t get a vehicle down from Aserdaten as several large piles of dirt have been placed to thwart even the most capable of off-road vehicles.

Directly West of Aserdaten, the topo map shows a site marked as “Gun Club.” Gun clubs are usually basic structures that hunters use as a “base camp” for their activities. It provides shelter and a place to congregate with other club members. The Pine Barrens are full of these sites, with the Forked River Mountains containing a large number of them. Many are in ruins - and many are still used as you will see later. This particular one has interested me for a while as nobody has seemed to have ever been to it, and it’s really out of the way. The topo map shows two ways of reaching it. One way, from Aserdaten, thwarted me by leading me to a spong and several large puddles. The second way - from the South seemed like a much bigger road that would take me right to the site.

The problem with topographic maps is that they are not updated often enough. Frequently they are based on data that is as much as 100 years old, with may or may not have been accurate in the first place. The road in from the South is treacherous at best. Several times I wondered if I was on the right road as it was so narrow. While generally puddle free, it was a tight squeeze for my Jeep Cherokee. The next traveller would do well to make the trip with a narrower vehicle or on foot.

I was just about to give up when I spotted a rusted mailbox on the side of the road! The road that I was driving down was never a road - it was a driveway. I began to think of the long drive up and down the driveway to get to the gun club, and the poor soul who had to deliver mail to such a remote, deolate spot. I drove futher on, ever conscious of the screeching sound of branches along the Jeep’s exterior. Finally the road led me to a four-way crossroad where someone had a campfire long ago. According to the topo map, the club site was just over a mile to the north. I decided to hike the rest of the way. The road North continues on growing ever narrow until it reaches a large puddle. As I walked past through the woods, I could see the frogs - not used to a stranger disturbing their sunning - dive for safety in the puddle. Farther along the road I saw a baby snake in the road, enjoying the heat. It unfortunately slithered away before I could get a picture. As the trail bends, there is a clearing to the left, and in there is all that remains of the club. Cinderblock, metal, and broken porcelain litter the area. Here, miles away from anybody, men hunted, drank, and enjoyed their time away from modern life, living nearly identically to the early inhabitants of the area. Now an old refrigerator and rotting trailer stand guard over the spot of the club that most likely succumbed to fire.

More famous than this club are the ruins of the Eureka Gun Club. According to the topo map, it’s not far from the club I visited above, but it’s much more accessable. The club - no more than ruins now - stretches back to the 19th Century when it was owned by Tilly Collins. Later, it was called the Chislers Club. Finally it was purchased by the Bransons and named Eureka. The area was first surveyed for Stuyvesant by a W. Black in 1869. Black left a large stone marker nearby, hidden in a dense forest of pines and briars. Where the road crosses the Chamberlain Branch, a small bridge spans the river. This span has been known as Black’s Bridge. Black - according to the Lacey Township Historical Society, was a surveyor, and it is thought that there are a number of his markers lost in the woods.

Another pair of gun clubs lie to the east. The Ironsides gun club, founded in 1922, is still in use. It’s pinkish colored building is in excellent repair, and the grounds are maintained well. The first time I visited, attempts to photograph the building were thwarted by someone in a truck waiting outside the building. The second time I attempted it, the place was deserted and we could walk around freely. This, however, is private property and the future traveler will do well to explore with caution. Slightly further up the road, the topo map marks a place as “Sportsman Club.” What’s odd about this place is that it’s not marked in white as most private property is marked on topo maps. This, however, is private property and the people who come here do not want you here. As you drive in you’ll see a bunch of broken cement and tile. Presumably this is all that remains of the “Sportsman Club.”

The road forks and is blocked by two gates. Seeing no recent tire tracks beyond the gates, we cautiously slipped inside and walked down the road until we saw a trailer and some buildings. Whether someone lives here or not is uncertain. The first time we visited we were stopped from going any further by muzzle loader fire. Either the owners of this land were shooting target practice, or they wanted to let us know not to go any further. Either way, I would suggest that you not travel back here.

Farther North, near the bed of the old Tuckerton RR, lie a cluster of three dots on the topo map. Not many people travel up into this remote area. The only sign of mankind that we saw was remains of a campfire at the intersection of two roads. Nestled back in the woods, just out of sight of the road, are remains of three buildings. What they were used for, or who used them, nobody knows. Presumably they were hunting cabins, although it is odd to see three gun clubs so close to each other. At least one of these buildings might have been standing until somewhat recently, as there were wooden remains of a stairway made from pressure treated lumber.

Despite our best explorations, the Forked River Mountains still hold many secrets. Where are the rest of Black’s marker stones? Where are the cellar holes at Aserdaten? Where was Stuyvesant’s furnace located? Each trip to the Forked River Mountains answers some questions, but raises more. Perhaps someday we will have the answers, but now the woods are as mysterious as they always were.