Category Archives: Kids

Bread and Circus Training (Trenton Circus Squad)

Trenton Circus Squad is a truly remarkable organization located in the historic (and extremely photogenic) Roebling Machine Shop, adjoining Roebling Market.  Kids aged 6-18 are eligible to take free classes in circus arts:  riding a unicycle, walking on stilts, juggling, wire walking, acrobatics, trapeze, slapstick comedy, human pyramids, German wheel and mini-trampoline. [sphere 9296 long=”180″] … Continue reading Bread and Circus Training


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School, Old (Tyler State Park)

Tyler is an old school park. Yes, there’s some nature. You can hike, but mostly on paved or gravel paths. More to the point (and why it seems “old school” to me) it’s really about “activities”. Depending on the season you might find yourself riding a horse, paddling a canoe, playing “golf” with a Frisbee, swimming, fishing, cycling, sledding, or x-country skiing. (Driving time is about 25 mintues; as a hiking destination it’s rated for beginners)


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Nocka-Rocka Scramble (Haycock Mountain at Nockamixon State Park)

Haycock Mountain is an entertaining, short hike (only about 0.75 mile from the trailhead to summit). You gain 460 vertical feet in this distance, which puts the average gradient about 12%, though the hike gets a fair bit steeper as you approach the summit. The payoff is the scramble: from roughly the midpoint of the hike to the summit, you’re picking your way through giant boulders. The short length and scrambly nature of the hike makes it particularly entertaining for experienced hiker-kids. It does require experienced hiker-adults to accompany them because the trail is poorly blazed, and appears as if it was never officially marked. (Driving time is just about an hour; rated for experienced hikers for elevation gain, scrambly nature, and poor blazing).


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Fiddle Dee Dee (Fiddler's Creek Preserve)

Fiddler’s Creek Preserve is a 120 acre parcel directly south of the Baldpate Preserve, on the opposite side of Fiddler’s Creek Road. It provides two miles of Beginner to Intermediate trails, none with more than 80 feet of vertical elevation change, through fields, woods, and (most interestingly) Fiddler’s Creek Ravine. Kids will enjoy the rock walls of the ravine and the historic ruins. These trails offer about 45 minutes of easy walking, and can be combined with the Summit Trail of Baldpate Mountain via a connector trail for a longer hike. (The Ravine trail and Stoneface trails are rated Intermediate, though spry Beginners should be able to handle them. All other trails are Beginner. Driving time is about 20 minutes from downtown Trenton.)


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Kids’ Kamping (Teetertown Preserve)

For young kids, there’s something about sleeping in a tent outdoors that’s truly exciting. It’s great even when it’s in the back yard. When it’s in the woods with a blazing camp fire, next to a farm, a short walk from a pond that’s stocked with trout, and adjacent to fun hiking trails, it’s an experience they’ll remember for a lifetime. (Driving time is about 75 minutes from Trenton, Walks are rated Beginner to Intermediate)


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Coastal Caper (Hartshorne Woods Park)

Hartshorne Woods is a magical place for walking or mountain biking (or fishing or birding), located on the highest coastal escarpment on the Atlantic seaboard south of Maine. A little over an hour from Trenton, east of Red Bank, and opposite Sandy Hook, it makes a wonderful half-day excursion in its own right, or combined with a half-day at the beach. Kids will love the lush terrain so close to the ocean, and the military anachronisms such as the WWII pillboxes (Driving time is about 75 minutes; Rated Intermediate for cumulative elevation gain)


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A Revolutionary Observation (Goat Hill Park)

Goat Hill towers 400 feet above the Delaware River, and provides spectacular views of New Hope, Lambertville, and Bucks/Hunterdon counties. Local legend has it that Washington visited the site before he crossed the Delaware. Kids will love the views and will be intrigued by the history. (Driving time is about 25 minutes, Rated for Beginner to Experienced hikers, depending on where you go)


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Vertical Elevation Gain (Sourlands Preserve)

The Sourlands is one of the few hiking spots close to Trenton where you can experience reasonable elevation gain, second only to the Ted Stiles Preserve at Baldpate Mountain. Yes, it is about 40 minutes away (compared to Baldpate’s 20 minutes) and in the Sourlands you gain up to about 350 vertical feet on the steepest trail (compared to Baldpate’s 425). But, the Sourlands have miles of reasonably challenging forest-hiking trails to enjoy… There are trails suitable for all levels of walkers from Beginner to Advanced. Beginners can do some short loop hikes near the parking lot, while Intermediate hikers have miles of trails in the southern section with moderate grades. (Driving time is 40 min; Rated Beginner to Experienced depending on where you go)


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Kid Writes (State Street Project)

The “State Street Project” is the umbrella name for the programs at Passage Theatre that work with inner-city Trenton youth. It’s a huge part of what Passage does, much of it behind the scenes. When they mount a public production, RUN, don’t walk to your phone and reserve seats (they’re always inexpensive, and often free). Everything they do is worth seeing by kids and adults alike.


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