Please forward this error screen to host. To access the ore and to transport it to Kingston, New York, they constructed a road, now known as the Old Mine Road. Winter solstice: For a russian dating nj treat, on the first day of winter, pull over into the grassy overflow parking area just across Dunnfield Creek.
Look back, and, if you are here early enough, you will see the sun rise out of the middle of the Water Gap. Flood damage sometimes obstructs part of the road that closely follows the river’s contour. Yet again there are whispers about damming the Delaware. Still, the road’s natural beauty and solitude make for a beautiful drive along its accessible portions.
And knowing what was once along the route gives a better appreciation of the character of the old road and the people who have lived along its edges. Interstate Route 80 west provides easy access to the southern portion of Old Mine Road and leads past some interesting sites on the way. Interstate passes under a huge former railroad bridge that crosses the Delaware River. When it was built in the early 1900s, this viaduct was the world’s longest poured concrete bridge.
The former site of Dunnfield, another hamlet consisting of a few houses, a post office, train station, and a thriving slate business, is now a parking area for the Dunnfield Creek Trail and others. Turn right at the bottom of the ramp and proceed to the 3-minute traffic light that accommodates a one-way stretch ahead. Western once ran along the river, carrying passengers, freight and milk from local farms. It passed through Dunnfield and crossed the river about a mile ahead. Today the old railbed is used as the Karamac hiking trail. Past the light, the single-lane road seems to hang from the edge of the cliff, indicating how difficult travel once was around the mountain.
The narrowest portion of the Water Gap has been known as “Indian Ladder” for centuries. Before blasting for the railroad and the highway that later followed cleared the way, travelers needed to use a notched log or rope to assist them up and over the projecting rocky outcropping that came straight down to the river. Ground Hog Hollow rises into the mountain on your right. This area was once peppered with estates used as vacation getaways by prominent New Yorkers. Today only large cellar holes up on the mountain above the hollow remain to mark where these large homes were located. More recent tenants live in an active bear’s den farther up the hollow and a fox den down toward the river. About a mile beyond, Karamac Trail heads toward the river where it merges with the old railbed.
The Farview Trail, an antique mountain road, heads up and over the mountain, passes by an old home site or two and eventually meets the Appalachian Trail. The trail names recall the former Camp Karamac, a large resort, popular in its day, and its predecessor, the Far View House. Following the watercourse up the mountain for a quarter-mile or so will lead you to the Paint Springs. A small riverside hamlet called Brotzmansville once sat below the old dam.
Over the years the hamlet had a few mills, houses, a school, and a post office. Nearly all traces were washed away in 1955 when the Delaware River rose to a level eclipsing even the recent floods. From the Interstate exit to here, the road has passed mostly through Worthington State Forest, named after C. Worthington, a wealthy late nineteenth century industrialist who once owned all 8,000 acres contained within the park, and hundreds more across the river. Across the road from the headquarters, a beautiful waterfall cascades down the mountain. Farther up the steep mountainside an ancient stone bridge spans the watercourse above the waterfall. Near this old bridge are the remnants of a terracotta pipeline that once ran from Sunfish Pond at the top of the mountain to the ferry farm below.
