On March 12, 2023 Lager did a very special hike in honor of K9 Veterans Day with his best gal pal, Ellie.
Veteran’s Park is a 333 acre park built in 1977 in honor of Hamilton, NJ’s veterans. The park offers many walking paths, picnic grounds, and athletic fields. We completed a 4.1 mile hike on mostly paved paths as we explored the various memorials throughout the park.
The Hike
M-60-A3 U.S. Army Combat Tank
U.S. Army Ah-1F Cobra Attack Helicopter
Military Working Dog Memorial
U.S. Air Force F-4 Phantom II Jet
9/11 Memorial
Memorial for the Men and Women From Hamilton Township, NJ Who Served in the Armed Forces
Anchor and Two Missiles from World War II Battleships
Another couple of miles in the books with Team Salty Paws ! Yesterday afternoon Whiskey and I met Heather and Ellie at Croft Farm for a hike followed by a picnic lunch.
Croft Farm is on both the NJ and National registers of historical places and the farm house that is still standing dates back to the 1700’s.…Another beautiful trail system nearby that I never knew existed!
The Smithville Village is listed on the National and New Jersey Registers of Historic Places. Smithville began as a small mill operation on the Rancocas Creek and grew to a major industrial plant which employing hundreds of workers from the 1860s to the 1920s. Smithville was well known for its high-quality woodworking machinery, the Smithville-Mt. Holly Bicycle Railroad, and the Star high wheeled bicycle.
2023 with Jägermeister and Our Friend Heather with Her Dog Ellie
2020 with Margarita and Porter
For Margarita’s 10th birthday, she hiked at Historic Smithville Park with brother Porter and Cousin Clyde!
Amico Island Park is a 55-acre peninsula in Riverside, NJ. This park features upland forests, freshwater ponds , wetlands, river shoreline and meadows at the confluence of the Rancocas Creek and Delaware River.
There were several entrances to the beach and Delaware River:
Confluence of the Delaware River and Rancocas Creek:
Located along Forbidden Drive in the Wissahickon Valley Park area of Philadelphia, Valley Green Inn is a great place to end a hike in the Wissahickon Valley Park, and has some great history behind it!
We started my birthday hike in the park at the Inn, and were planning to end our hike here with a reward of good food and drinks. We made reservations for the dog-friendly porch seating area, overlooking the Wissahickon Creek. However, Cello had her own agenda planned. We did not realize it was Wissahickon Day, which included a horse parade down Forbidden Drive. Cello has been very vocal in displaying her distaste for horses lately (something we have begun working on immediately and hope to correct). We decided it would be best for the horses outside of Valley Green Inn if we had lunch elsewhere! We decided to head over to the Fairmount Neighborhood of Philadelphia instead.
We hope to come back to Valley Green Inn someday soon with Cello to enjoy food, drink, and the view of the creek.
Wissahickon Valley Park is located in Pennsylvania, in the Fairmount Park area of Philadelphia. The park consists of 1,800 acres and consists of 50 miles of trails, used by hikers, runners, equestrians, and cyclists. The Wissahickon Creek, which runs through the park, is stocked each year with trout, which draws many fisherman as well.
I picked this hike for us to do on my birthday, as I have had this hike on my All Trails “wish-list” for quite some time.
It just so happened that my birthday also fell on Wissahickon Day, where each year on the last Sunday in April people gather at the park to celebrate the fact that Forbidden Drive ( a gravel road that runs along the Wissahickon Creek) was successfully closed to cars in 1921. Around that time, a turnpike was proposed to run the length of this gravel road. However, equestrian park users protested with a parade of carriages and horses. Hundreds of horses turned out for the parade in protest of the turnpike, and the proposal was defeated. Each year on Wissahickon Day, horses and carriages return to celebrate…festivities include a horse show, parade of carriages and horses, and added this year was a Fancy Hat Competition.
We chose to skip the horse-related activities, as Cello has become “spooked” by horses lately (something we are trying to work on with her). We did see lots of horses and carriages coming and going from their activities though!
We did about a 3.37 hike that led us on the trails, as well as onto Forbidden Drive. The hike took longer than usual because of all the stops we made to take pictures, and also because Cello has suddenly begun to lunge at all bikes, as well as all horses, and random bigger dogs. She was a bit on-edge at the park with all the horses, so we didn’t want to push-it with her. We have contacted a well-recommended local trainer and hope to counter-condition these behaviors.
Here is the hike that we did, recorded on MapMyFitness:
Our hike began on Forbidden Drive at the Valley Green Inn, a historic Inn along Forbidden Drive.
About a half-mile into our hike we came to Magarge Dam that once powered the Margarge Mill wheel, the last active mill in the Wissahickon Valley, which closed in 1883.
At about 1.15 miles, we came across this neat stone bridge, archway, and stairs.
We stopped for a minute so that Cello could go in the Wissahickon Creek
Then at about 1.55 miles we reached Thomas Mill Covered Bridge, the only covered bridge still standing within the city limits of Philadelphia, and the only covered bridge in a U.S. City. The bridge spans across the Wissahickon Creek. As of 1980, the bridge is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Thomas Mill Covered Bridge was originally built in 1855. It was renovated by the Works Progress Administration in 1938, and by the city of Philadelphia in 2000. The bridge is open to pedestrian traffic only.
Our first time walking through a covered bridge!
At this point, we decided to head back to Valley Green Inn, where we parked. We took Forbidden Drive all the way back to our starting point.
Forbidden Drive:
Cello and Brian on Forbidden Drive:
Overall, this is is a great hike with decent trails, historical significance, and beautiful sights along the way!
at Croft Farm for a hike followed by a picnic lunch. 
