Etra Lake Park

Disbrow Hill Road, East Windsor Township, Mercer County, New Jersey

Directions:

They blocked off access via Milford Road, so I had to take follow their detour, presented below:

New Jersey Turnpike south to Exit 8; turn right heading west on Route 33; in 0.1 of a mile turn left onto Maxwell Avenue.  Drive 0.3 of a mile and turn left onto Ward Street.  Drive one mile and turn left onto Etra Road.  Driving 1.8 miles will bring the driver to the intersection with Milford Road, but drive a little farther down Etra Road and turn left onto Disbrow Hill Road.  (At this intersection there is a parking area by the lake but this is not the formal park).  Drive 0.1 of a mile and turn left into the park entrance. 

Geology:

Part of the Rocky Brook Watershed

Facilities:

Tot Lot, Fitness Trail, Environmental Center, Picnic Area, Basketball Court, Shuffleboard, Bocce, Horseshoes, Volleyball, Site of Egg Hunt, Independence Day Celebration, Summer Concerts, Pre-School Program, Senior Games

Trails:

This recreational park is a large one with beautiful expanses of green lawn, but there is narrow strip of woods along the lake's eastern shore.  Joggers can run between the woods and the lawns to the eastern end of the park and then turn left and jog along the path through the farmer's fields to a loop and then back.

10/21/04.  Dog Sonar and I stopped at the pull-off by the lake at the intersection of Etra Road and Disbrow Hill Road.  I could see the children's playground through the trees to the east, but there is no way to walk directly to the park area.  So I had to get back in the car and head for the park entrance a short drive down Disbrow Hill Road.  Beautiful park with huge lawns.  Walked along the woods and once in a while would work my way over to the lake shore.  Walked onto two peninsulas heading into the lake.  The walk did not take long as the woods are just not that large.  Dr. Patrick L. Cooney.

PLANT LIST:
Dr. Patrick L. Cooney
* = plant found in bloom on date of field trip, 10/21/04

Trees:
Acer rubrum (red maple)
Amelanchier sp. (shadbush)
Betula nigra (river birch)
Carya tomentosa (mockernut hickory)
Cornus florida (flowering dogwood)
Ilex opaca (American holly)
Liquidambar styraciflua (sweetgum)
Liriodendron tulipifera (tulip tree)
Morus alba (white mulberry)
Nyssa sylvatica (tupelo)
Pinus strobus (white pine) planted
Prunus serotina (black cherry)
Quercus alba (white oak)
Quercus palustris (pin oak)
Quercus phellos (willow oak)
Quercus rubra (red oak)
Quercus velutina (black oak)
Robinia pseudoacacia (black locust)
Salix sp. (willow)
Sassafras albidum (sassafras)
Tsuga canadensis (eastern hemlock)

Shrubs and sub-shrubs:
Alnus serrulata (smooth alder)
Cephalanthus occidentalis (buttonbush)
Clethra alnifolia (sweet pepper bush)
Cornus amomum (swamp dogwood)
Cornus mas (cornelian cherry dogwood) planted
Elaeagnus umbellata (autumn olive)
Euonymus alatus (winged euonymus)
Juniperus sp. (cedar)
Leucothoe sp. (leucothoe) planted
Lindera benzoin (spicebush)
Lonicera morrowii (Morrow's honeysuckle)
Myrica pensylvanica (northern bayberry) planted
Rhododendron maximum (rosebay rhododendron)
Rhus copallina (winged sumac)
Rhus typhina (staghorn sumac)
Rosa multiflora (multiflora rose)
Rubus occidentalis (black raspberry)
Rubus sp. (black berry)
Sambucus canadensis (common elderberry)
Vaccinium corymbosum (highbush blueberry)
Viburnum dentatum (arrowwood viburnum)

Vines:
Celastrus orbiculatus (Asiatic bittersweet)
Cuscuta sp. (dodder)
Lonicera japonica (Japanese honeysuckle) *
Mikania scandens (climbing hempweed)
Parthenocissus quinquefolia (Virginia creeper)
Smilax rotundifolia (round-leaved greenbrier)
Toxicodendron radicans (poison ivy)
Vitis sp.(grape)

Herbs:
Acalypha sp. (three-seeded mercury)
Achillea millefolium (common yarrow)
Allium vineale (field garlic)
Ambrosia artemisiifolia (common ragweed)
Asclepias incarnata (swamp milkweed)
Asclepias syriaca (common milkweed)
Aster spp. (aster) *
Bidens sp. (beggar ticks)
Boehmeria cylindrica (false nettle)
Chelone glabra (white turtlehead)
Chenopodium album (pigweed)
Cichorium intybus (chicory) *
Daucus carota (Queen Anne's lace)
Epilobium coloratum (purple-leaved willowherb)
Gnaphalium obtusifolium (sweet everlasting) *
Hemerocallis fulva (tawny day lily)
Hieracium sp. (hawkweed)
Impatiens sp. (jewelweed)
Iris sp. (iris)
Lemna sp. (duckweed)
Lepidium virginicum (poor man's pepper) *
Lycopus sp. (water horehound)
Lythrum salicaria (purple loosestrife)
Nuphar advena (southern pond lily) ?
Oenothera biennis (common evening primrose)
Peltandra virginica (arrow arum)
Phytolacca americana (pokeweed)
Plantago lanceolata (English plantain)
Plantago major (common plantain)
Polygonum cespitosum (cespitose smartweed) *
Polygonum hydropiper (water pepper) *
Polygonum sagittatum (arrow-leaved tearthumb)
Rumex obtusifolius (broad dock)
Scutellaria lateriflora (mad-dog skullcap) 
Solanum dulcamara (bittersweet nightshade)
Solidago canadensis (Canada goldenrod) *
Taraxacum officinale (common dandelion) *
Trifolium repens (white clover) *
Verbena urticifolia (white vervain)

Rushes:
Juncus effusus (soft rush)
Juncus tenuis (path rush)

Sedges:
Carex pensylvanica (Pennsylvania sedge)
Cyperus sp. (nut or umbrella sedge)
Dulichium arundinaceum (three-way sedge)

Grasses:
Digitaria sp. (crab grass)
Echinochloa sp. (barnyard grass)
Eleusine indica (zipper grass)
Microstegium vimineum (Japanese stilt grass)
Panicum clandestinum (deer-tongue grass)
Poa annua (annual bluegrass)
Setaria faberi (nodding foxtail grass)
Setaria glauca (yellow foxtail grass)
Tridens flavus (purple top grass)

Ferns and fern allies:
Onoclea sensibilis (sensitive fern)
Pteridium aquilinum (bracken fern)