J
JeffD
Guest
A myriad of interconnecting trails is the highlight of Wells Mills County Park just outside of Waretown. There is a small open field at the entrance and a playground nearby as well as a nature center, where you can get maps and other information and see exibits. From this one and only entrance and parking area, you can pick up any one of several trails, which vary in length, scenery and difficulty. This is a hiking park, with a network of trails that total much more than ten miles. Quite impressive for a 900 acre park!
Aside from some minor inconveniences and slight hints of environmental extremism, the park proved a good place to enjoy and learn about nature as well as the history of the way people used the land here.
The park requires hikers to sign in and out. I couldn't find the sign in sheet on the wooden stand between the parking lot and the nature center where you're supposed to sign in and out. I learned from a staffer inside the nature center that there's a latch underneath, and out of sight, the small desk-like trail sign of the stand. I also found the nature center door locked, more than 1/2 hour before closing time, when I went to return a trail guide after I finished hiking. I glimpsed and saw someone inside, but I decided to walk over to the trail head to return the guide.
I decided to take the almost two mile nature trail. A sign on the stand that held the nature trail guides requested that hikers "recycle" the guides by returning them after hiking. Actually, what I think they meant was to reuse them. I guess "recycle" has become an environmental buzzword, a cliche. I noticed, however, some decomposing vegetation in the transparent box. Maybe if the paper guides stay there long enough to decompose they will indeed be recycled!
The nature trail was interesting and very educational. The guide explained why the pine trees were so large and why they dominated various stands. It explained the trenches that were dug to stop forest fires, and pointed out that in the Pine Barrens, these fire lines run north to south, which can serve as a usefull navigation tool. At every number that corresponded to the trail guide (number 10 was missing), there was something new. The hiker learns about and sees the forest understory, prescribed burns, streams -- ones that noticeably fluxuate with the seasons and one that stays more or less uniform throughout the year-- and about the history of the way people used the land. There was also a good view of a cedar swamp, with stands of very large cedars filling the woods.
At one stop, the guide pointed to a depression on a rise by the trail, where clay was once mined. Plants have colonized the former clay pit.
Part of the trail ran along a road that was used to take clay, timber, and other resources to markets. One part of the trail guide that puzzled me, close to the beginning of the trail at one stop, was the comment that the road you see is evidence of a road's impact on the environment. An impact on the environment? This statement has connotations of the LET'S KEEP OUT THE HUMANS wilderness mentality, with a hint of Slick Willy's Roadless Area Initiative.
The nature trail ended by Wells Mill Lake, where a stream trickled towards the lake. A sign directed hikers to follow another trail, which ran along the lake through stands of cedars and other plants, back to the nature center/parking lot staging area. There was a bench by the lake, which afforded a nice view of the lake in pleasant surroundings.
The trail allows hikers to enjoy nature and to escape into the wilderness, so to speak, inspite of the occasional faint sounds from the nearby highway. There were just enough signs and other accomodations to help the hiker while providing a somewhat rustic experience. The woods were in good shape, with just an occasional dead standing tree, decaying logs, to make the woods presentable. And the park maintains a balance between recreation and environmental protection.
Wells Mill Park has a variety of vegetation and landforms. There's the lake, a large swamp and a few smaller wetlands, and there's highground. I saw on the general trail map that there's a trail that leads to a hill that's 130 feet about sea level. That's guite high for this part of New Jersey! Maybe I'll visit the park another time to hike to that hill.
Wells Mill County Park is off of route 532, a very short jog above Garden State Parkway exit 69, going away from downtown Waretown. The park is on your left. From 539, heading southeast from Allentown, New Jersey, take 72 east a mile or two and turn left on route 532 and drive a few miles. The park is on your right.
Aside from some minor inconveniences and slight hints of environmental extremism, the park proved a good place to enjoy and learn about nature as well as the history of the way people used the land here.
The park requires hikers to sign in and out. I couldn't find the sign in sheet on the wooden stand between the parking lot and the nature center where you're supposed to sign in and out. I learned from a staffer inside the nature center that there's a latch underneath, and out of sight, the small desk-like trail sign of the stand. I also found the nature center door locked, more than 1/2 hour before closing time, when I went to return a trail guide after I finished hiking. I glimpsed and saw someone inside, but I decided to walk over to the trail head to return the guide.
I decided to take the almost two mile nature trail. A sign on the stand that held the nature trail guides requested that hikers "recycle" the guides by returning them after hiking. Actually, what I think they meant was to reuse them. I guess "recycle" has become an environmental buzzword, a cliche. I noticed, however, some decomposing vegetation in the transparent box. Maybe if the paper guides stay there long enough to decompose they will indeed be recycled!
The nature trail was interesting and very educational. The guide explained why the pine trees were so large and why they dominated various stands. It explained the trenches that were dug to stop forest fires, and pointed out that in the Pine Barrens, these fire lines run north to south, which can serve as a usefull navigation tool. At every number that corresponded to the trail guide (number 10 was missing), there was something new. The hiker learns about and sees the forest understory, prescribed burns, streams -- ones that noticeably fluxuate with the seasons and one that stays more or less uniform throughout the year-- and about the history of the way people used the land. There was also a good view of a cedar swamp, with stands of very large cedars filling the woods.
At one stop, the guide pointed to a depression on a rise by the trail, where clay was once mined. Plants have colonized the former clay pit.
Part of the trail ran along a road that was used to take clay, timber, and other resources to markets. One part of the trail guide that puzzled me, close to the beginning of the trail at one stop, was the comment that the road you see is evidence of a road's impact on the environment. An impact on the environment? This statement has connotations of the LET'S KEEP OUT THE HUMANS wilderness mentality, with a hint of Slick Willy's Roadless Area Initiative.
The nature trail ended by Wells Mill Lake, where a stream trickled towards the lake. A sign directed hikers to follow another trail, which ran along the lake through stands of cedars and other plants, back to the nature center/parking lot staging area. There was a bench by the lake, which afforded a nice view of the lake in pleasant surroundings.
The trail allows hikers to enjoy nature and to escape into the wilderness, so to speak, inspite of the occasional faint sounds from the nearby highway. There were just enough signs and other accomodations to help the hiker while providing a somewhat rustic experience. The woods were in good shape, with just an occasional dead standing tree, decaying logs, to make the woods presentable. And the park maintains a balance between recreation and environmental protection.
Wells Mill Park has a variety of vegetation and landforms. There's the lake, a large swamp and a few smaller wetlands, and there's highground. I saw on the general trail map that there's a trail that leads to a hill that's 130 feet about sea level. That's guite high for this part of New Jersey! Maybe I'll visit the park another time to hike to that hill.
Wells Mill County Park is off of route 532, a very short jog above Garden State Parkway exit 69, going away from downtown Waretown. The park is on your left. From 539, heading southeast from Allentown, New Jersey, take 72 east a mile or two and turn left on route 532 and drive a few miles. The park is on your right.