Remains of a hearth built by the soldiers of the New Jersey Brigade during their 1799-80 winter encampment at Morristown, Morristown National Historical Park

MORRISTOWN NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK TOUR

STOP 7: NEW JERSEY BRIGADE ENCAMPMENT

Allow 90 minutes for a visit if hiking the trail to the encampment site

The New Jersey Brigade Encampment Area is the final stop on a tour of Morristown National Historical Park. While the New Jersey soldiers camped throughout the area, all signs of their stay have disappeared except at one location that can be reached by hiking 1.5 miles round trip from a parking area at Cross Estate Gardens. Here you can see remnants of fireplace hearths and trash pits built by the men. For complete details on hiking to the camp, be sure to read the New Jersey Brigade Trail review here on National Park Planner. If you are not willing to hike the trail, there is no need to drive to this tour stop, as there is nothing to see at the parking lot.

Parking area at the Cross Estate Gardens for the New Jersey Encampment Area at Morristown National Historical Park

There are wayside exhibits at the camp site that tell the story of the New Jersey Brigade and the significance of the archaeological finds at the site. Logs and small rocks have been placed on either side of the trail to mark off the route.

Wayside exhibits at the New Jersey Brigade Encampment Site, Morristown National Historical Park

There are all sorts of boulders and other rocks that look as if they were purposely arranged. Was this done by modern hikers or George Washington’s guys? You will also see the fireplace hearths mentioned earlier.

Stones possibly arranged by soldiers of the New Jersey Brigade during their 1799-80 winter encampment at Morristown, Morristown National Historical Park

Remains of an original hearth built by the soldiers of the New Jersey Brigade during their 1799-80 winter encampment at Morristown, Morristown National Historical Park

If you don’t mind hiking, I highly recommend a visit to the New Jersey camp. What I thought was going to be an empty field turned out to be the neatest place in Morristown National Historical Park. The only other camp that has any exhibits is the Pennsylvania Line Encampment Site where some replica cabins have been built. That stop on the tour gets a lot of visitors since it has its own parking lot and no hiking is required. Very few people hike to the New Jersey Brigade campsite, so it feels as if you stumbled upon the ruins for the first time.

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