Fox Hill Preserve
Tewksbury, Hunterdon County, NJ
more than 50 acres

Directions:

From I-78: Take the exit for County Route 523 North. Turn right onto Route 523 (going straight through Oldwick, where it becomes Route 517) and rive 2.3 miles to make a right turn onto Homestead Road. Drive 0.3 of a mile and turn left onto Fox Hill Road. The URWA property is approximately 0.4 of a mile up the road, on the right. There is an opening in the trees where a Green Acres sign is posted and a rope is stretched across the opening.  You may park at the roadside, although parking here is difficult.

If you wish to begin your exploration at the opposite side of the property, continue on Fox Hill Road. Turn right onto Palatine Road (a dirt road). Roadside parking is available approximately 1/2 mile down the road, at the bottom of the hill. A Green Acres sign is posted at a stream crossing where the site may be accessed.

Parking at the site is limited to the adjacent roads.

Habitats:

fields, woodland

Trails:

A trail that traverses the property from Fox Hill Road to Palatine Road is maintained by a local trail association, and is mainly used as a bridle path. There is a broad valley view of farm lands and forest.

URWA Properties in Tewksbury (Upper Raritan Watershed Association); http://www.urwa.org/land/tewksbury.htm

5/29/04.  Rosemary and I parked on the side of the road by the blue rope slung across a small opening in the edge vegetation.  We crossed over the rope and then turned/bore left and walked east and north along the edge of fields and into the woods.  Pass by a path on the right (you can return this way).  Came to a T-intersection and turned left.  Soon came to the end of the property at the old dirt road.  Turned around and came back to the T-intersection.  Kept going straight, past the T-intersection, and came to an apple orchard.  Turned right and walked alongside the orchard's edge.  Being blocked by the end of the open area, we turned right and found a path.  Turned left on the path.  It soon came back to the path we had started on.  We followed this trail back to the car.  Some of the trails were a bit muddy, damaged by the horse treads, but it was only an inconvenience.  There are some good scenic views south and east over farms, fields and woods to two mountain ridges in the background. The Asiatic bittersweet is a problem here.  (Someone cut the vines please!)

PLANT LIST:
Dr. Patrick L. Cooney
* = date plant found in bloom, 5/29/04; brief visit

Trees:
Acer negundo (box elder maple)
Ailanthus altissima (tree of heaven)
Betula lenta (black birch)
Carya sp. (hickory)
Celtis occidentalis (hackberry)
Cornus florida (flowering dogwood)
Fraxinus americana (white ash)
Gleditsia triacanthos (honey locust)
Juglans nigra (black walnut)
Juniperus virginiana (red cedar)
Liriodendron tulipifera (tulip tree) lots
Prunus serotina (black cherry)
Pyrus sp. (apple) orchard here
Quercus palustris (pin oak)
Quercus rubra (red oak)
Sassafras albidum (sassafras)

Shrubs and sub-shrubs:
Berberis thunbergii (Japanese barberry)
Cornus racemosa (gray stem dogwood) *
Elaeagnus umbellata (autumn olive)
Hamamelis virginiana (witch hazel)
Ligustrum sp. (privet)
Lindera benzoin (spicebush)
Lonicera morrowii (Morrow's honeysuckle)
Rhus glabra (smooth sumac)
Rhus typhina (staghorn sumac)
Rosa multiflora (multiflora rose) *
Rubus alleghaniensis (common blackberry)
Rubus occidentalis (black raspberry)
Rubus phoenicolasius (wineberry)
Viburnum prunifolium (blackhaw viburnum)

Vines:
Celastrus orbiculatus (Asiatic bittersweet)
Calystegia sepium (hedge bindweed)
Dioscorea villosa (wild yam root)
Lonicera japonica (Japanese honeysuckle) *
Parthenocissus quinquefolia (Virginia creeper)
Toxicodendron radicans (poison ivy)
Vitis aestivalis (summer grape)
Vitis labrusca (fox grape)

Herbs:
Achillea millefolium (yarrow) *soon
Alliaria petiolata (garlic mustard)
Allium canadense (Canada onion) ?
Ambrosia artemisiifolia (common ragweed)
Ambrosia trifida (giant ragweed)
Amphicarpaea bracteata (hog peanut)
Apocynum cannabinum (Indian hemp) *
Arctium sp. (burdock)
Arisaema triphyllum (jack-in-the-pulpit)
Barbarea vulgaris (common wintercress) *
Cerastium vulgatum (mouse-ear chickweed) *
Chrysanthemum leucanthemum (ox-eye daisy) *
Circaea lutetiana (enchanter's nightshade)
Cirsium discolor (field thistle)
Daucus carota (Queen Anne's lace)
Erigeron annuus (daisy fleabane) *
Eupatorium rugosum (white snakeroot)
Fragaria virginiana (wild strawberry)
Galium aparine (cleavers) 
Galium mollugo (wild madder)
Hieracium caespitosum (field hawkweed) *
Hieracium piloselloides (smooth hawkweed) *
Impatiens sp. (jewelweed)
Osmorhiza longistlyis (aniseroot)
Oxalis sp. (yellow wood sorrel) *
Phytolacca americana (pokeweed)
Plantago lanceolata (English plantain) *
Plantago major (common plantain)
Polygonum cespitosum (cespitose smartweed) *
Polygonum virginianum (jumpseed)
Potentilla simplex (common cinquefoil) *
Ranunculus abortivus (kidney-leaved crowfoot)
Ranunculus acris (tall buttercup) *
Rumex acetosella (field sorrel) *
Rumex crispus (curled dock)
Rumex obtusifolius (broad dock)
Sanguinaria canadensis (bloodroot)
Sanicula canadensis (short-styled snakeroot)
Silene vulgaris (bladder campion) *
Taraxacum officinale (dandelion) *
Thlaspi arvense (American pennycress)
Trifolium pratense (red clover) *
Trifolium repens (white clover) *
Viola sp. (violet)

Rushes:
Juncus effusus (soft rush)

Sedges:
Carex sp. (sedge)

Grasses:
Anthoxanthum odoratum (sweet vernal grass)
Bromus inermis (smooth brome grass)
Dactylis glomerata (orchard grass)
Microstegium vimineum (Japanese stilt grass)

Ferns and Fern Allies:
Athyrium thelypteroides (silvery glade fern)
Onoclea sensibilis (sensitive fern)
Polystichum acrostichoides (Christmas fern)