The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1890-08-07
BEAUTIFUL DRIVES.
Northern NV J(rssy'> A
fractions for Lovers Of
Horseflesh.

1t is not all difficult to pick out an OBJ
jective point for a pleasant drive in
Northern New Jersey. The roads are not
impossible anywhere and in many direc-
tions they are really excellent in good
weather. One cannot always find roads
as good as those put down by the free
holders in Essex county, nor as good as
the slate roads of Sussex, which are so
easily made that there is no excuse for
letting them get out of order. There are
other good roads, however, and some are
described below which furnish O drive of
unusual interest, because it's objective
point is the scene of the great work which
the East Jersey Water Company is doing
to supply Newark with drinkable water.
To starG it is necessary to drive to New
ark. From Newark to the Oak Ridge the
distance as the crow flies is scarcely TWEEN
ty-fve miles and by road it is thirty one
and half miles from the corner of Broad
and Market streets to the Susquehanna
station and one and half miles more to
the site of the great reservoir.
THE ROUTE TO OAK RIDGE.
The route is through Bloomfield and
Montclair on the macadam to the top of
the mountain, where the first road to the
right is taken. This is the Pompton
turnpike and it leads through Cedar
L
Singac eleven miles from Newark 1t is
straight, hard road through Mountain
View and Wayne. and just beyond the
latter place it turns abruptly to the right
to Pequannock and then to the left again
through Pompton Plains and Pompton to
enteen miles from Newark. After leay-
ing Singac the road is level to this point,
distance of nine miles.
PRETTY SCENES
Now the road slowly follows the line of
the river through the picturesque valley
of the Pequannock. 1t is up hill and
down the remainder OF the way, but the
road is good and the scenery beautiful
Old Bloomingdale and Butler are the first
towns passed on the way, and one and
half miles further Smiths Mills is passed.
There is nothing to mark this place, how
ever, but an old grist mill and a store by
the roadside. just beyond this point the
first evidences of the work of the water
company are seen. Italian quarters are
seen at the roadside, and paralleling the
road for some distance is the trench
which is to carry the big iron pipe.
Glimpses of men working at this trench
can be caught through the thick foliage
at various points for two miles above
Smiths Mills. Then as the car
riage emerges from the road
great scene of industry is presented
TO the eye The carriage is now rolling
|
the water company built, and below in
the river bed where the old road was.
acres of rocks are laid bare and tons upon
tons have been broken up and hauled
out or piled up in great heaps by two
powerful steam derricks. The rock here
is good quality of granite and stone
cutters are on the spot cutting huge
blocks for the dam which is to be erected
at this point This is the Macopin reser-
yoir site, where the pipe line is to begin,
and it is almost as important, in an en-
gineering sense, as the job at Oak Ridge.
Great difficulty has been met in finding
solid foundation for the dam in the bed
of the river. When it is finally erected it
will make pond nearly three-quarters of
a mile long.
NEWFOUNDLAND.
Above the Macopin intake about mile
the road leaves the river and cuts across
the big loop which the river makes in
flowing through Charlottesburg. A mile
further up the road passes through the
gap between Copperas and Kanouse
mountains and leads down into the beau
tiful amphitheatre in which Newfound-
land nestles. A lovely view is presented
to the eye as the carriage emerges from
| the timber on the mountain side. The
valley appears TO be almost circular and
walled in by tall mountains. the most
imposing of which is the rugged wall or
| rock known as Green Pond Mountain and
IL
village of Newfoundland. The most un-
slightly thing in sight is the pumping sta
tion of the oil pipe line, with its two enOr-
| nous black tanks, between which the
railroad runs. Crossing the Pequannock
again the smooth hard roads runs
through the village, passing the door of
the famous hostelry kept by John p.
Brown, the richest saan in the township
and the autocrat of the village. His
doorstep is twenty-seven miles ftom the
corner of Broad and Market streets, and
here halt should be called for dinner.
| That is, if it happens to be before the din
| ner hour, for should you be late you will
have to wait until supper timely, for
there is no sign of restaurant, meals ut
all hours, y in the hotel Kept by John p.
AT THE RESERVOIR.
| The ride from Newfoundland to Oak
| Ridge is over good road, with but one
sharp hill, and the scenery on either side
| of the road is decidedly interesting. Th
| proper thing to do after reaching the site
| of the reservoir is to inspect the work.
| see dynamite blast fired, if possible, and
| then pass around the reservoir site and
| try to imagine it full of water. II the
team is u good one and is not exhausted
| by the drive, it will pay to drive down
| from Wallace's Corners two miles to-
ward Newfoundland and take the second
road to the left, which leads to Clinton
| Falls, the site of another great reservoir.
|
New Jersey. The glen and falls are one
and half miles from the Newfoundland
road. On leaving Clinton Falls and re-
turning to Newfoundland the team
| should be put up for the night, for they
have still harder drive next day ii the
| course laid down here is followed.
GREEN POND.
| The first stage on this route is three and
| one-quarter miles from Newfoundland
TO Green Pond, the most picturesque and
attractive lake in New Jersey without ex
ception. The road to the lake is in good
| condition, but two-thirds of it is up hill
through heavy growth of timber. An
| hour can proAtably be spent at the lake
| and then away for Greenville. Passing
J behind the old hotel at Green Pond. Cop
peras mountain slope is easily climbed
| but the descent upon the east side is steep
| and trying and the road is rough one,
| but the surroundings are beautiful and il
there is no brake on the wagon it will be
we'll to walk and lead the horse down, for
if anything should break, there would be
u disaster otherwise.
ANOTHER BEAUTIFUL LAKE
| Take the second turn to the left two
| miles from Green POND and mile fur
| ther again take the left hand road and
follow this red dirt road through the woods
one mile to the foot of Splitrock pond.
This trip through the woods will be the
most romantic part of the trip. The road
| is bad and steep in one spot, but it is
amid wild and rugged surroundings and
I