Cold Hill Reserve
Mendham Township, Morris County, NJ
46 acres
Directions:
US 80 west to Exit 42 for US 287 south; get off at Exit 30B; merge right onto Childs Road; keep heading straight through the traffic light; shortly on the right bear right as Hard Scrabble Road bears off to the right; at the T-intersection turn left onto Cory Lane, almost immediately make a right onto Talmadge Road; drive 1.3 miles and at the T-intersection turn right onto Hilltop Road; drive across Route 24 onto Mountain Avenue; drive to the T-intersection and turn right onto Mountainside Road; at the T-intersection turn right onto Pitney Road and then make a quick left onto West Main Street; drive 0.7 of a mile and turn left onto Summit Road; in 0.2 of a mile turn left onto Robert Road. Drive the 0.1 of a mile to the dead-end circle and park by the park sign.
Geology:
From the springs and wetlands on this property rise the headwaters of the Whippany River, which flows through Brookside.
History:
1998 -- the property purchased through the generosity of the Storer family.
Habitats:
a small pond, farm fields, wetlands, and steep forested slopes.
Trails:
A trail system is planned for the property in the near future.
11/08/04. Parked along the circle at the dead end of the road. Walked northwest across a large field (more like a lawn actually) with houses on the left and woods on the right. Looking to the left from the top of the field it appears that here we are on the top of a hill and the hill heads downward to a valley and then back up to a mountain range. Walked past a narrow woods border into another field. I walked toward the right looking for a possible path that would let me enter the woods. There was an opening that looked like a path, but it soon petered out. I then bushwhacked downhill looking for a pond. I did find streams heading downhill, but I did not see any pond. But I certainly did not make my way all the way out to the uphill area. I was walking south until I saw a house looming up so I turned left and headed uphill back to the fields. I did see white blazes on some of the trees here but I do not think they constitute a real trail. Made my way through the fields and back to the car. Dr. Patrick L. Cooney.
PLANT LIST:
Dr. Patrick L. Cooney
* = plant found in bloom on date of field trip, 11/08/04
Trees:
Acer rubrum (red maple)
Acer saccharum (sugar maple)
Betula alleghaniensis (yellow birch)
Betula lenta (black birch)
Betula populifolia (gray birch)
Carpinus caroliniana (musclewood)
Carya ovata (shagbark hickory)
Carya sp. (hickory)
Cornus florida (flowering dogwood)
Fagus grandifolia (American beech)
Fraxinus americana (white ash)
Juniperus virginiana (red cedar)
Liriodendron tulipifera (tulip tree)
Morus alba (white mulberry)
Ostrya virginiana (American hop hornbeam)
Prunus serotina (black cherry)
Quercus alba (white oak)
Quercus prinus (chestnut oak)
Quercus rubra (red oak)
Sassafras albidum (sassafras)
Shrubs:
Berberis thunbergii (Japanese barberry) lots
Chimaphila maculata (striped wintergreen)
Elaeagnus umbellata (autumn olive)
Euonymus alatus (winged euonymus)
Hamamelis virginiana (witch hazel) *
Ligustrum sp. (privet)
Lindera benzoin (spicebush)
Lonicera morrowii (Morrow's honeysuckle)
Mitchella repens (partridgeberry)
Rosa multiflora (multiflora rose)
Rubus phoenicolasius (wineberry)
Rubus sp. (blackberry)
Rubus sp. (dewberry)
Vaccinium corymbosum (highbush blueberry)
Viburnum prunifolium (blackhaw viburnum)
Vinca minor (periwinkle)
Vines:
Celastrus orbiculatus (Asiatic bittersweet)
Lonicera japonica (Japanese honeysuckle)
Smilax rotundifolia (round-leaved greenbrier)
Toxicodendron radicans (poison ivy)
Vitis sp. (grape)
Herbs:
Epifagus virginiana (beech drops)
Eupatorium rugosum (white snakeroot)
Galium sp. (bedstraw)
Satureja vulgaris (wild basil) *
Verbascum thapsus (common mullein)
Rushes:
Juncus tenuis (path rush)
Sedges:
Carex laxiflora type (loose-flowered sedge type)
Scirpus cyperinus (woolly grass bulrush)
Grasses:
Bromus inermis (smooth brome grass)
Dactylis glomerata (orchard grass)
Panicum clandestinum (deer-tongue panic grass)
Phragmites australis (giant reed grass)
Schizachyrium scoparium (little blue stem grass)
Setaria faberi (nodding foxtail grass)
Setaria glauca (yellow foxtail grass)
Tridens flavus (purple top grass)
Ferns and fern allies:
Polystichum acrostichoides (Christmas fern)