By Allison Perrine
MONMOUTH COUNTY – You may be familiar with the county’s Henry Hudson Trail, and you may have even walked along parts of it over the years. But have you ever walked the entire 24-mile trail, from start to finish?
Keansburg resident Brian Katz has. He spent his days April 7 and 8 hiking the northern and southern parts of the trail, which stretches from Freehold to Marlboro and Aberdeen to Highlands. He even spent the night near – but not on – the trail in a one-person tent halfway through the trek.
“Lots of people are on it but not everybody goes end to end like that,” said Katz.
His quest to find the right hiking trail started in 2020 before the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. He and a friend were looking to explore some trails but once lockdowns began, they decided to put that adventure on hold. In the meantime, Katz purchased proper hiking equipment and waited to find the right spot.
“Since then, I’ve had all this equipment and I wanted to hike something, somewhere, and I decided I would hike this Henry Hudson Trail,” he said. “I’ve bicycled a bunch of different parts and I’ve walked and hiked different parts. At one time I was a seasonal park ranger.”
The Henry Hudson Trail is about 10 feet wide and 24 miles long. It is relatively flat and consists of both man-made and natural environments. A large part of the trail is lined by trees and other parts have views of wetlands, streams and fields, according to the county, who maintains the trail. The northern section stretches 12 miles from the Aberdeen and Keyport border to the Leonardo section of Middletown and Atlantic Highlands. It resumes at the Atlantic Highlands Marina and continues along the Sandy Hook Bay to the Atlantic Highlands and Highlands border, the county states.
Katz started the journey Wednesday, April 7 at 9 a.m., by himself, in the southern section in Freehold. He walked about 13 miles to the end of the section and stopped at about 2 p.m. for lunch and to rest. With sore legs, he pitched a one-person tent off the trail in Matawan, spent the night and cleaned up his area the next morning before continuing his journey. It took about 10 more hours to finish the northern half April 8.
“I was sore at the end of the day, I was tired,” he said, estimating that by walking the length of a marathon, he likely took about 54,000 steps.
Katz added that his favorite part of the trail was the Marlboro section, saying that it was “really beautiful,” with grassland views on one side of the trail and forest on the other. “I kind of felt like I was out in nature in that part,” he said. And he hopes to do it again – but this time in one day – and also hike the entirety of other trails in New Jersey.
This article originally appeared in the April 29, 2021 print edition of The Two River Times.
