TIGER BROOK PARK
Cooper Lane, Chester Township, Morris County, NJ
270 acres

Directions:

From the north heading south. Get off US 287 at exit 30B for Tempe Wick Road and Jockey Hollow. Follow Tempe Wick Road until it reaches Route 24. Turn left. Head through Mendham and Ralston and just before heading into Chester Borough turn left onto Cooper Lane (located 1/4 mile east of Route 206); drive 1.1 miles and turn left into the parking area.

The park is contiguous with MacGregor Preserve.

History:

1980 -- the land was purchased with the assistance of the New Jersey Green Acres Program.

1992 -- a parking lot constructed.

Habitats:

forest, ten acre reservoir

Facilities:

Fishing, hiking trails, scout camping area.

Trails:

The parking lot provides access to the preserve's service road and to a system of trails within the park. (A map of trails is available from the Township Clerk's office.)

Source: http://www.chestertownship.org/parks.cfm

November 15, 2003. Just a quick stop. The park road goes through the middle of the area. On the west side of the area, the Green trail heads slightly south west and hooks up on the left with the yellow and blue trails and later the yellow trail. Following the yellow trail takes you back to the main service road. The yellow and blue trail heads south and then south east back to the service road. On the east side of the area is the red trail heading northeast and connecting to the yellow and blue trails at the service road.

11/15/04.  I walked from MacGregor Preserve through Tiger Brook Preserve to the parking lot on Cooper Lane.  See the trip report for MacGregor Preserve.  (It was just coincidence that I visited the area on the same date two years in a row.)

PLANT LIST FOR TIGER BROOK PARK & MACGREGOR PRESERVE:
Dr. Patrick L. Cooney

Trees:
Acer saccharum (sugar maple)
Betula alleghaniensis (yellow birch)
Betula lenta (black birch)
Betula populifolia (gray birch)
Carpinus caroliniana (musclewood)
Carya sp. (hickory)
Fagus grandifolia (American beech)
Juniperus virginiana (red cedar)
Larix sp. (larch)
Liriodendron tulipifera (tulip tree)
Picea abies (Norway spruce)
Picea pungens var. glauca (blue spruce)
Picea spp. (spruce)
Pinus sp. (pine)
Pinus strobus (white pine)
Populus grandidentata (big-toothed aspen)
Prunus serotina (black cherry)
Quercus alba (white oak)
Quercus prinus (chestnut oak)
Quercus rubra (red oak)
Quercus velutina (black oak)
Sassafras albidum (sassafras)

Shrubs:
Berberis thunbergii (Japanese barberry)
Elaeagnus umbellata (autumn olive)
Hamamelis virginiana (witch hazel)
Ligustrum sp. (privet)
Lindera benzoin (spicebush)
Lonicera morrowii (Morrow's honeysuckle)
Rosa multiflora (multiflora rose)
Rubus occidentalis (black raspberry)
Rubus phoenicolasius (wineberry)
Rubus sp. (blackberry)
Viburnum prunifolium (blackhaw viburnum)

Vines:
Celastrus orbiculatus (Asiatic bittersweet)
Lonicera japonica (Japanese honeysuckle)
Toxicodendron radicans (poison ivy)
Vitis sp. (grape)

Herbs:
Alliaria petiolata (garlic mustard)
Cirsium arvense (Canada thistle)
Epifagus virginiana (beech drops)
Lobelia inflata (Indian tobacco)
Monarda fistulosa (wild bergamot)
Polygonum cuspidatum (Japanese knotweed)
Satureja vulgaris (wild basil)
Solanum carolinense (horse nettle)

Rushes:
Juncus tenuis (path rush)

Sedges:
Carex laxiflora type (loose-flowered type sedge)

Grasses:
Dactylis glomerata (orchard grass)
Elymus hystrix (bottlebrush grass)
Microstegium vimineum (Japanese stilt grass)
Panicum clandestinum (deer-tongue grass)
Phragmites australis (giant reed grass)
Schizachyrium scoparium (little blue stem grass)
Setaria glauca (yellow foxtail grass)
Tridens flavus (purple top grass)

Ferns:
Polystichum acrostichoides (Christmas fern)