The UACNJ Solar System Walk
What is a Solar System Walk?
A Solar System Walk is a scale model of our solar system laid out along a walking path. Each station represents a planet (or other body),
placed at a distance from the Sun proportional to that planet's actual distance in space. The sizes of the planet models at each station
are scaled to match as well, giving you a true sense of just how vast — and how empty — our solar system really is.
It's one thing to read that Neptune is nearly 2.8 billion miles from the Sun. It's another thing entirely to walk that distance yourself and feel it in your legs. By the time you reach the outer planets, the Sun station is far behind you — just as our star would appear from the outer reaches of the solar system: a bright point of light rather than the blazing disk we see from Earth.
Solar System Walks are a wonderful activity for all ages. Children and adults alike come away with a visceral, lasting appreciation for the scale of space that no textbook or planetarium show can quite replicate.
It's one thing to read that Neptune is nearly 2.8 billion miles from the Sun. It's another thing entirely to walk that distance yourself and feel it in your legs. By the time you reach the outer planets, the Sun station is far behind you — just as our star would appear from the outer reaches of the solar system: a bright point of light rather than the blazing disk we see from Earth.
Solar System Walks are a wonderful activity for all ages. Children and adults alike come away with a visceral, lasting appreciation for the scale of space that no textbook or planetarium show can quite replicate.
The Walk in Jenny Jump State Forest
This mile-long scale model of the Solar System follows the Orchard Trail and ends on the Ghost Lake Trail within Jenny Jump State Forest.
Signs mark each planet's location in relation to the Sun, spread across the full length of the trail. The walk was created through a
collaboration between UACNJ and Jenny Jump State Forest, bringing a little piece of the cosmos to the New Jersey Highlands.
To put the scale in perspective: in the vastness of space, the furthest planet, Neptune, is 2,798,660,000 miles from the Sun — and you can walk that entire distance in about an hour.
To put the scale in perspective: in the vastness of space, the furthest planet, Neptune, is 2,798,660,000 miles from the Sun — and you can walk that entire distance in about an hour.
Parking & Getting There
The Solar System Walk is accessible from within Jenny Jump State Forest. Parking is available at the Jenny Jump State Forest office
and at trailhead parking areas within the park. The Orchard Trail trailhead, where the walk begins, is a short walk from the main
parking area.
- Take Route 80 to Exit 12 (Hope), then follow signs toward Jenny Jump State Forest.
- Turn onto State Park Road and follow it into the forest.
- Park at the main Jenny Jump State Forest lot and follow signs to the Orchard Trail trailhead.
- The walk is free and open to the public during normal park hours. No registration is required.
If you're planning to combine the Solar System Walk with one of our Saturday evening public stargazing programs at the UACNJ
observatory nearby, you're more than welcome to do both!
The Planet Signs
At each station along the trail you'll find a sign like the one below, with facts and information about that planet. Here's an
example of what to look for:
The Solar System Walk is free and open to the public during normal Jenny Jump State Forest park hours. No registration required — just show up and start walking!
