THE ROUND MOUNTAIN TRAIL SYSTEM
and Bouman-Stickney Trails

NEW MAP!  October 2020

The official map for the Round Mountain and Bouman-Stickney trails has been revised in a cooperative venture between the Hunterdon County Parks and Readington Township. Accordingly, Readington will now utilize the ROUND MOUNTAIN SECTION OF DEER PATH PARK map created and maintained by Hunterdon County. Following the map/brochure links below will bring you to the Hunterdon County Division of Parks and Recreation Website.

Map of Round Mountain and Bouman-Stickney Trails

Round Mountain Section of Deer Path Park Brochure

Please note: With the help of input from hikers, the colors of the trail blazes have changed in a few short sections to simplify the trail routes, and make them less confusing and easier to navigate from point to point. Thus, because some route colors have changed the hiker may want to carry a copy of the map or have it accessible on the cellphone for reference.

Round Mountain contains 475 acres of combined Readington Township and Hunterdon County parkland and basically covers the entire mountain. An additional 94 acres of Readington’s Bouman-Stickney open space lie north of Stanton Road (Rt. 629).

Mostly wooded, Round Mountain was originally used by the Lenni Lenape for encampments, and by European settlers for timber and farmland, as evidenced by the old logging roads incorporated into the trail system and stone walls which were once possibly the edges of farm fields. Round Mountain is one of the largest contiguous forests remaining in Hunterdon County, and is home to a rich diversity of wildlife, including several endangered plant and animal species.

A Thumbnail Sketch of the Trails

Readington’s trails at Bouman-Stickney and on Round Mountain are constructed in a series of loops and connect with Hunterdon County trails. They span the fields and woods from The Bouman-Stickney Farmstead Museum on Dreahook Road and from the Village of Stanton to Dobozynski Farm Park on Woodschurch Rd. The County’s Peter Buell Trail crosses the mountain from Foothill Road near the Village of Stanton, and ends in Deer Path Park (where on additional Readington and County trails a hiker can travel to the banks of the South Branch Raritan River near Dart's Mill). In all, there are an estimated 15 miles of networked trails between Dreahook Road in the north to the South Branch Raritan River in the south. New trails are being planned as Hunterdon County adds acreage to this parkland.

The orange-blazed Bouman-Stickney Loop begins at the Bouman-Stickney Farmstead Museum parking lot, 114 Dreahook Rd, descends through the meadow below the 1741 cottage, enters a bit of woods, crosses a small stream and then circles around the open fields back to the beginning, an easy half mile ramble. There are Eagle-scout constructed benches for leisurely resting. Check out the historic buildings of this unique, bucolic and historic farmstead! This trail has a difficulty level of EASY, covering mostly dry, level ground, with the exception of one small stream crossing.

The White Trail, or Round Mountain Loop has two major trailheads. Starting at the gravel parking lot at the intersection of Stanton Rd (Rt. 629) and Woodschurch Rd, it travels north toward the farmstead, joins the Bouman-Stickney orange loop for a short distance heading west, and then breaks off to the south across a bridge and along a field back to Stanton Road. From here it then travels west along the road shoulder to the Stanton General Store. Across the road from the store is the other main trailhead. The white trail here heads south through a meadow, into the woods and up the forested side of Round Mountain where it is joined by the County’s Peter Buell Trail (marked with Hunterdon County orange blazes). At the summit, there is a major four-way intersection. Due to the lack of trees at the intersection for posting the blazes, the hiker will need to pause a moment and look around to ascertain the various trails coming together here. Our White Trail Loop continues straight ahead southwards, while the orange-blazed Peter Buell Trail breaks off with a left turn. On the right, the County’s red-blazed trail comes in from the west, joining our white trail for a few feet as it loops to the south, and then breaks off west again. (Note: this portion of the Red Trail until recently was blazed yellow.) Our White Trail then travels south and east across the south slope of the mountain, then turns right and heads back north, eventually emerging back on Stanton Road slightly west of original trailhead. The length of the White Loop is 2.5 miles with a difficulty level of MODERATE, due to its 250' ascent up the mountain, as well as occasional rocky or wet terrain and stream crossings.

The Yellow-blazed Dobozynski Farm Loop trail begins at the trailhead in Dobozynski Farm Park, 42 Woodschurch Road marked by its picturesque red barns, the home of the Readington Community Garden and the location of Readington Recreation’s Dobozynski Cottage, where childrens’ programs and art classes are conducted. From the red barns the yellow trail heads down a meadow, crosses over a bridge and then up the east side of Round Mountain along the edges of fields and through patches of woods. Part way up the mountain there is a second trailhead and parking lot at a bend on Woodschurch Rd. After passing the top of the uppermost field and then up a short woods road the Yellow Trail eventually intersects with the white trail and the orange blazed Peter Buell Trail. At this point the yellow trail immediately turns sharp left and heads back south, downhill, jointly with the Orange Peter Buell Trail for a while until it breaks off left again going under power lines to rejoin the main yellow trail stem. This trail has a difficulty rating of MODERATE, due to the steady 250' climb and is a 1.5-mile trek around the loop and back.

Hunterdon County’s orange-blazed Peter Buell Trail has its northern trailhead at 100 Foothill Road near the village of Stanton and its southern terminus at West Woodschurch Rd in Deer Path Park. It shares the path or crosses Readington’s white and yellow trails in several places, as it winds across the top of the mountain. In general, its difficulty rating is MODERATE due to its 250 foot climb on each side of the mountain, and occasional rocky sections along its 1.1 mile length.

Secondary county trails, red and blue, constitute an additional mile of trails on the north side of the mountain, sometimes quite rocky, and thus at least moderately difficult, but invariably picturesque.

Trails Beyond Round Mountain: For a map of Deer Path Park pathways, see the Deer Path Park map.  For trails south of Deer Path Park, including Readington’s River Trail and Hunterdon County’s trails along the river, see the Wings Section of the South Branch Reservation map.

December 2020