A Mid-Winter Afternoon in Double Trouble State Park

The entrance to the Garden State Parkway is less than a mile down the road. But the woods, bogs and streams of are much the same as they were 100 years ago.

The cranberry plants in the massive bogs near the cranberry sorting house are under about a foot of cobalt-blue water. It's a much different scene than last fall, when the bog was dry and the tiny plants were turning crimson in the October sun.

The sugar-sand trails that wind throughout the 8000-acre acre off Pinewald-Keswick road are nearly deserted. A lone jogger, a few hikers and two women taking their dogs for a romp are the only people to be seen. There are ten cars pulled up near the park entrance on a mid-winter afternoon.

The pines and birches cast long shadows that play out over a carpet of pine needles and fallen branches. All is quiet, except for a slight breeze that ruffles the leaves stubbornly clinging to trees.

The is open from 8 a.m. to dusk. Admission is free.