MERCER COUNTY PARK
West Windsor Township, Mercer County
2,600 plus acres

Directions:

From the New York City area:  New Jersey Turnpike to exit 8; take Route 33 west into Hightstown; follow it through town and out of town; turn right on Windsor Road/Church Street (Route 641); drive 2.3 miles and turn left onto Old Trenton Road; drive 0.4 of a mile and turn right into the park's south entrance.  Drive 0.6 of a mile and make the right turn for the first parking area (by the tennis courts).

There is a west entrance off of Hughes Street. 

The east entrance, on Edinburg Road (Route 526), gives access only to the east picnic area.  

Trails:

There are several trails, but small ones.

There are lots and lots of ball fields here along with lawns and picnic areas.  Not much here for the serious naturalist.  

Central New Jersey Greenway --  the greenway will go from Trenton to the Atlantic coast across Central New Jersey through Manasquan, Allaire State Park, Manasquan River Reservoir, Turkey Swamp County Park, Turkey Swamp Wildlife Management Area, Assunpink Wildlife Management Area, Mercer County Park, the Delaware & Raritan Canal State Park, to the historic City of Trenton. (http://www.state.nj.us/dep/greenacres/currentstate.htm)

10/25/04.  Parked at the parking area by the tennis courts virtually at the door step of the nature trail.  I took a loop trail walk.  The main path is blazed with three red spruce trees on a white background, but I did not really pay much attention to the trail markers.  It appeared to me that it would be hard to get lost here since the woods are very narrow, caught between the lake and the recreation areas.  It seemed pretty clear. A short walk took me to the edge of the sandy bluff looking down toward the lake shore.  I turned right to find a way down to the path by the shore. Found it and walked along the shore identifying the water tolerant plants.  I walked until the path came out of the woods onto a large open field with the marina in the background.

Turned around and followed the shore trail for a little ways.  Taking a right turn brought me up hill; the trail headed left, taking me back to the trail entrance. 

PLANT LIST:
Dr. Patrick L. Cooney
* = plant found in bloom on date of field trip, 10/25/04

Trees:
Acer rubrum (red maple)
Acer saccharinum (silver maple)
Betula nigra (river birch)
Betula populifolia (gray birch)
Carya tomentosa (mockernut hickory)
Castanea florida (flowering dogwood)
Cornus florida (flowering dogwood)
Fagus grandifolia (American beech)
Fraxinus americana (white ash)
Ilex opaca (American holly)
Juniperus virginiana (red cedar)
Liquidambar styraciflua (sweetgum)
Morus alba (white mulberry)
Nyssa sylvatica (tupelo)
Prunus serotina (black cherry)
Quercus alba (white oak)
Quercus palustris (pin oak)
Quercus prinus (chestnut oak)
Quercus rubra (red oak)
Salix sp. (willow)
Sassafras albidum (sassafras)
Sophora japonica (Japanese pagoda tree)

Shrubs and sub-shrubs:
Alnus serrulata (smooth alder)
Clethra alnifolia (sweet pepper bush)
Cornus amomum (swamp dogwood)
Ilex verticillata (winterberry)
Lonicera morrowii (Morrow's honeysuckle)
Rosa multiflora (multiflora rose)
Rubus hispidus (swamp dewberry)
Rubus sp. (black berry)
Salix discolor (pussy willow)
Salix sp. (willow)
Sambucus canadensis (common elderberry)
Vaccinium corymbosum (highbush blueberry)
Vaccinium pallidum (hillside blueberry)
Viburnum acerifolium (maple-leaved viburnum)
Viburnum dentatum (smooth arrowwood viburnum)

Vines:
Celastrus orbiculatus (Asiatic bittersweet)
Lonicera japonica (Japanese honeysuckle)
Smilax glauca (sawbrier)
Smilax rotundifolia (round-leaved greenbrier)
Toxicodendron radicans (poison ivy)
Vitis sp. (grape)

Herbs:
Alliaria petiolata (garlic mustard)
Artemisia vulgaris (common mugwort)
Asclepias incarnata (swamp milkweed)
Aster spp. (aster) *
Bidens sp. (beggar ticks)
Boehmeria cylindrica (false nettle)
Chelone glabra (white turtlehead)
Epigaea repens (trailing arbutus)
Eubotrys racemosa (fetterbush)
Euthamia graminifolia (grass-leaved goldenrod)
Geum canadense (white avens)
Hibiscus moscheutos (swamp rose mallow)
Hieracium sp. (hawkweed)
Impatiens sp. (jewelweed)
Lespedeza cuneata (Chinese bush clover)
Ludwigia alternifolia (seed box)
Lycopus sp. (water horehound)
Lythrum salicaria (purple loosestrife)
Oenothera biennis (common evening primrose)
Oxalis sp. (yellow wood sorrel) *
Phytolacca americana (pokeweed)
Plantago lanceolata (English plantain)
Polygonum cespitosum (cespitose smartweed) *
Polygonum pensylvanicum (Pennsylvania smartweed) *
Thalictrum dioicum (early meadowrue)

Rushes:
Juncus tenuis (path rush)

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

Grasses:
Eleusine indica (zipper grass)
Microstegium vimineum (Japanese stilt grass)
Panicum clandestinum (deer-tongue grass)

Ferns and fern allies:
Lycopodium obscurum (ground pine)
Dennstaedtia punctilobula (hay-scented fern)
Onoclea sensibilis (sensitive fern)
Osmunda cinnamomea (cinnamon fern)
Osmunda regalis (royal fern)