Well, this is pretty cool. Passaic County officials and the New York – New Jersey Trail Conference announced a partnership with Google maps to provide “street views” of approximately 2,000 miles of hiking trails throughout the Apshawa Preserve in West Milford. The 360 degree cameras, which Google provided, have recorded about 85 miles of trails so far and will give hikers a preview of their route before they venture out.

When people think about NJ, hiking is not exactly the first thing that comes to mind. But there are thousands of acres worth of state and local parks to explore. In fact, one of the reasons we chose to move to Cranford was because of the Union County Parks Department. Union County houses 36 parks totaling nearly 6,200 acres, including the 2,200-acre Watchung Reservation. And our neighbors in Essex County have 6,000 acres in their Park System which is home to the South Mountain Reservation. Would love to see this “street view” program expanded into some of the trails and parks in our neck of the woods!