Great Egg Harbor River

The Great Egg Harbor River is the longest navigable river in the Pine Barrens. The upper section is wild and strewn with logs. It is a strenuous run, but it has a powerful attraction for paddlers, who persist in efforts to keep it open. In the nineteenth century the river was kept clear for commercial reasons. In Exploring the Little Rivers of New Jersey, the Cawleys note a traveler’s 1907 recollection of a boat ride down the Great Egg at a time when the river was free of the rubble that is common today. Many years ago, a local resident frequently took his wife for a day trip on the upper section. He kept the river clean single-handedly by rowing a boat upstream and sawing debris as he came to it. Now the river is maintained by members of the South Jersey Canoe Club, although now and then they find 3- and 4-inch trees cleared by an unknown individual. The beauty of the upper section makes up for the labor. The river passes through a great continuous swamp that is shaded more heavily than any other Pine Barrens stream. Live trees and dead logs are entangled in contorted, moss-covered masses. Some trees are supported by only half their root systems; others, fallen down, lie with roots high in the air. Great sheets of brier that drape over dense bushes and hang like Spanish moss provide an additional wilderness touch. One can drift happily through this jungle and watch the bubbles on the water and the sun shining through the trees and backlighting the leaves. For those people who like isolation and paddling as a pleasure in itself, traveling down the upper Great Egg Harbor River is an enjoyable experience. Much of the upper section, down to Piney Hollow Road, is owned by the state and runs through the Winslow Wildlife Management Area.