Most Of Double Trouble State Park Open For Hunting This Week

BERKELEY TOWNSHIP - Only a small portion of Double Trouble State Park will be safe to visit this week since the deer hunting firearm season has begun.

Visitors to the massive 8,495-acre park off Pinewald-Keswick Road can still visit the safety zones in the historic village and the cranberry bogs. But with most of the state park open for deer hunting all week, it might not be the best time for a stroll.

"Approximately 93 percent of Double Trouble State Park is available for hunting, with the exclusion of the safety zones around the Double Trouble Historic District and cranberry bogs, according to the Double Trouble State Park Facebook page.

The historic district is the area where workers who harvested the cranberries once lived. It includes a 19th century one-room schoolhouse, general store, bunk house, cook house, shower house, maintenance shop, pickers' cottage, foreman's house, the restored sawmill and the cranberry packing house.

"Hunters and trappers should be especially alert for other park visitors, hikers, dogwalkers, geocachers, horseback riders and canoe and kayak paddlers who may not be familiar with hunting/trapping, and for designated safety zones around the Double Trouble Historic District and leased cranberry bogs," according to the state Department of Environmental Protection.

Park visitors are encourage to wear bright colors.

Nearby Jakes Branch County Park in Beachwood remains open all week, since no hunting is allowed in the park.

To see the park's safety zones, click here: http://njparksandforests.org/…/double_trouble_hunting_safet…

Photo: Patricia A. Miller

Safety zone map: New Jersey Department of Parks and Forestry