Trip report
Jun 30, 2023 — Thompson County Park is a popular strip of green hugging the Swimming River Reservoir. The majority of the park is composed of wide fields, some for sporty recreation and others for open space, with paved trails weaving through them. I’ve always enjoyed Thompson Park for the tree cover and little manmade meadows scattered around. I’ve hiked/run this park through my childhood and on visits home to my family, so it felt fitting to put a little report about it on my site. It’s a great county park that I couldn’t be happier exists. I used to volunteer to water trees (the ones that are still alive near the historic visitor center!), watch all sorts of changes occur over the years, and shoot documentaries for park events. At one point I was a bit upset to see demolition vehicles tearing up various forested areas, so I made a little documentary to find out why. The park manager at the time decided the invasive species were overwhelming the native trees and wanted to turn the landscape more “pastoral”. Years later, large swaths of the park seem to have met this goal, but that project left only short spurts of forest to hike through. Fortunately, a trail system has been preserved and is maintained regularly.
The longest trail in the park, the Reservoir Loop, wraps around a little peninsula surrounding the Swimming River Reservoir. There are other forested trails in the park you could tack on, but I hold fond memories for this particular loop. Starting from the first main parking area, the Reservoir Loop begins by heading south along the paved recreation trail, but then the blue-blazed Reservoir Loop Trail directs you into the forest. Marked clearly, the trail is wide and easy to follow. The hike continues toward Swimming River Reservoir, where it follows its perimeter for a mile or so. It’s a surprisingly secluded-feeling place, despite being in the Monmouth County suburbs. The New Jersey American Water Company has clearly complained about people jumping into the water, since signs have been erected in recent years claiming it’s illegal.
The Reservoir Loop Trail pops out of the forest into a field for only a moment before heading back in for more pretty hiking along the Reservoir’s marshy northern reaches at the base of the Marlu Lake dam. The trail then emerges at Marlu Lake and continues across the small dam that forms the lake. From here, I generally make a right onto a grassy trail, following signs back into the forest. The section forms the northern part of the Reservoir Loop, before heading south and through the center of a large field. At the opposite end of the field is the Monmouth County Park System Historical Services building, but the trail continues away from it along the edge of yet another meadow. The trail reaches its southern point of a small peninsula before starting north again through the forest, passing the same building and then completing the loop at the Marlu Lake dam. You could return the same way or shorten the walk by heading along one of the many other more developed park trails.