Drake's Brook Greenway
Bartley-Long Valley Road, Mount Olive Township, Morris County, NJ
3 acres

Directions:

US 80 to Exit 27 for Route 206 south; going past mile marker 91 turn right onto Flanders Bartley Road (Route 612); this road in parts parallels the South Branch of the Raritan River; drive past  (at 1.6 miles) the first parking area for the South Branch of the Raritan River Wildlife Management Area. Turn Right onto Bartley-Long Valley Road.  Drive 1.0 mile south on Bartley-Long Valley Road, turn left for Central High School.  Park just to the left of Crazy Horse Farm/Ranch entrance across from the highschool.

Drake's Brook is a tributary of the South Branch of the Raritan River (a Highlands Critical Treasure).

A Morrisland Conservancy Purchase.  This important property lies along the South Branch of the Raritan River, just south of Budd Lake. It is part of a wetland system that has remained relatively undisturbed for the past century and supports rare plant species. The property was identified as a high priority for preservation in a Morris County Park Commission study of the South Branch. The property was generously donated by three brothers, Anthony, Brian, and Tim DeBiasse, whose father had had the idea of protecting the land in perpetuity. The Conservancy donated the property to Mount Olive Township as part of a greenway that is being developed along the South Branch of the Raritan River and Drake's Brook.

Source: http://www.morrislandconservancy.org/page14.html

Parcels of 15 and 3 acres in Mount Olive Twp. in Drake's Brook Greenway, both transferred to the Township.

(Source: The Highlands Coalition’s quarterly newsletter "High Grounds" Winter 2001 published by the Association of New Jersey Environmental Commissions (ANJEC); http://www.highlandscoalition.org/highground.htm)

Trails:

04/20/2005.  Ceferino Santana, dog Sonar and I parked by the Crazy Horse Farm/Ranch.  There is a short path to Drake's Brook.  There does not appear to be any formal path for Drake's Brook.  Did not stay long.  Dr. Patrick L. Cooney.

PLANT LIST:
Dr. Patrick L. Cooney

* = plant found in bloom on date of field trip, 4/202005

Trees:
Acer rubrum (red maple) *
Fraxinus americana (white ash)
Platanus occidentalis (American sycamore)
Prunus serotina (black cherry)

Shrubs:
Lindera benzoin (spicebush) *
Lonicera morrowii (Morrow's honeysuckle)
Rosa multiflora (multiflora rose)
Rubus phoenicolasius (wineberry)

Vines:
Celastrus orbiculatus (Asiatic bittersweet)
Dioscorea villosa (wild yam root)
Smilax sp. (greenbrier)
Toxicodendron radicans (poison ivy)

Herbs:
Alliaria petiolata (garlic mustard)
Allium vineale (field garlic)
Artemisia vulgaris (common mugwort)
Cardamine spp. (bittercress)
Erythronium americanum (trout lily)
Geum canadense (white avens)
Hemerocallis fulva (tawny day lily)
Phytolacca americana (pokeweed)
Rumex crispus (curled dock)
Symplocarpus foetidus (skunk cabbage)
Viola pubescens (yellow forest violet) *

Grasses:
Microstegium vimineum (Japanese stilt grass)