South Branch Raritan River in New Jersey

Trip Overview

My husband and I recently bought kayaks, as he was tired of doing all the paddling in our "old pal" canoe, and I was bored with being the passenger, not to mention he was getting all the exercise! Since we spend time in Maine each year, the kayaks were a great choice. Much easier paddling and great speed to go great distances on Maine's huge "ponds".
Well, our home borders the south branch, so we dropped our van in Flagtown near the river bank, and put in from our back yard in Neshanic. It was such a beautiful run, I'm surprised I don't see more paddlers back there. It's serene and remote. We saw dozens of turtles sunning themselves on partly submerged logs, many beautiful and unfamiliar birds and some really huge fish! We saw a dozen white egrets all perched in one tree. It took about 5 hours, and it seemed like we were in another world. Another good spot to start would be Three Bridges.