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Print Friendly MapThe Swamp Forest Trail loops through Lums Pond State Park on a packed earth surface that accommodates hikers and cyclists. The trail is the shorter of two loops; the Little Jersey Trail runs closer to the perimeter of the park, and the wider trail also allows equestrian use.
True to its name, the Swamp Forest Trail runs through wetland forests on the edge of Lums Pond at the center of the park. Trail users will encounter several bridges and boardwalk sections along the way.
Parking for the Swamp Forest Trail is available at either Lums Pond State Park's main office or nature center. Both can be reached from Howell School Road, which is just east of US 301 between Glasgow and Middletown.
Had fun biking it, but didn’t expect the challenge. Rode the longer Little Jersey trail first, which was pretty smooth and flat. This trail is not smooth. Wife crashed 3 times. Not a rail trail. Gotta have some rough trail mountain biking experience to safely negotiate entire trail.
I would give ZERO stars if I could. The trail is not clean of debris, not graveled, and extremely muddy. Most of the trail is not family friendly, especially for strollers. The grass on the Jersey trail was nearly knee deep. Mosquitoes were absolutely horrendous! I highly recommend going somewhere else!
This trail is beautiful cycled around this trail and it has lot of fun spots. If you are an avid biker there are enough challenges to keep you going. Roots, logs, little jumps , small alternate challenges to make more interesting and challenging. A gem indeed
Trail is a mix of surfaces, great views of the Pond and Fall foliage. Seemed about 8 miles. Lovely hike.
I enjoyed this trail very much. I made it all the way around without any problems. It was a little muddy because of the rain in the morning but overall the walk was excellent and the scenery. I was able to get some good photos of some of the birds and turtles there.
The Lums Pond State Park information map, http://www.destateparks.com/downloads/maps/lums-pond/lums-pond.pdf lists two trails, Swamp Forest and Little Jersey. The trail heads for both trails are near the Nature Center which has good parking and rest rooms. The Swamp Forest trails begins with crushed stone, but deteriorates quickly to dirt, stones, and mud. It wanders through narrow passes between trees. It crosses streams with wooden bridges. A mountain bike is needed. Our group of four had hybrids, and we didn't enjoy the trail. It lives up to its name - it's in the woods, and lots of mud.
"My mom and I rode the trail on July 03, 2004, and the best way to describe this is ""different."" We arrived at Lums Pond State Park and to our pleasant surprise we ran into a park ranger on his bicycle. The park ranger took us right to the park map on a bulletin board and showed us where to go and, just as important, where not to go.
Since my dad dropped us off and we bicycled into the park past the official pay booth entrance to the park, we did not have to pay the entrance fee. The ride, unfortunately, is difficult to follow and had numerous mud puddles that required us to dismount and go around. The surface is more like what you'd expect for beginning mountain bikers. There were a lot of roots, rocks and depressions on the way. We also had to bike through fairly high grass as well. I would never take a road bike on this trail.
Lums Pond State Park has a lot to offer, including a very nice disc golf course. This was hardly a difficult course. My mother is 66 and she never seemed to labor on the course. The ladies manning the park station and gift shop could NOT have been nicer or more friendly!!"
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