Alexauken Creek Wildlife Management Area
Rocktown-Lambertville Road, West Amwell Township, Hunterdon County, NJ
419 acres

Located very close to Amwell Lake Wildlife Management Area off Route 31.

Directions:

From Lambertville, take Rocktown Road northeast towards the village of Rocktown. Pass by Rt. 601.  The area is on the left near the lake in the area. Parking is available on Lambertville-Rocktown Road.

The entrance is on Rocktown-Lambertville Road, 1.2 miles northeast of its intersection with Mt. Airy-Harbourton Road.  (Or the entrance is 0.8 of a miles southwest of its intersection with Route 31/579.)

Geology:

In the foothills of the Sourland Mountains (the back of West Amwell Township).  Alexauken Creek starts in the Sourland Mountain ridge and then heads through Hunterdon County (and Alexauken Creek Wildlife Management Area) to the Delaware River just north of Lambertville.

History:

Alexauken means Aleschen, "to separate."

West Amwell's early industries were located on Alexauken Creek to make use of the water power.  At Old Mill Road traces of old dams and mill races can still be seen.  There was a saw mill, a flax seed mill, and a grist mill.  (Source: West Amwell Township: A Brief Early History; http://www.rootsweb.com/~njhunter/Histories/WestAmwell.htm)

Alexauken Creek Watershed was the site of  a refuge for the Continental Army during the American Revolution. 

The former Mantell Property.

October 31, 2001  -- the land acquired by the State of New Jersey.  The Division of Fish and Wildlife will manage the property in cooperation with West Amwell Township.

2003  --  Green Acres and the Hunterdon Land Trust Alliance (HLTA) cooperated in the acquisition of the Risi Acres and Good Shepard properties (constituting 160 acres) with the majority of the funding coming from the state. The township contributed $116,500 out of the $1,625,000 total purchase price. The West Amwell funding allowed HLTA to access $150,000 from their Green Acres Alexauken Creek project account.

Green Acres also acquired an adjacent 136 acre property owned by Robert and Barbara Blanche, including conservation easements on 112 acres and a purchase of an 11 acre trail corridor connecting Rocktown-Lambertville Road near the WMA parking lot to the Risi Acres and Good Shepard properties.

Habitats:

2 miles of frontage on rocky Alexauken Creek (trout-maintained), forested hills; hillside meadows; pond

Trails:

extensive trail opportunities, but the trails are obscure and not marked; there is an additional 300 acres of adjoining land that has been preserved by the Green Acres Program, Hunterdon County and the Hunterdon Land Trust Alliance.

Maps of the area will be available at the municipal building and also on the DEP website.

Source: http://www.state.nj.us/dep/greenacres/mantell.htm

http://www.westamwelltwp.org/3Q2003OpenSpaceReport.htm

5/05/04. My dog Sonar and I walked up the middle of the field by the parking lot and over to the right side of the field.  Then we went through a small patch of woods and back into a small field and then down to an abandoned house.  Behind the house is a dammed pond and waterfall along with a stream.  It is a pretty setting.  Returned along the western side of the field to the car.  There is a lot of invasive species here, foremost among them multiflora rose and Japanese barberry.

There are other informal trails one can walk.

PLANT LIST:
Dr. Patrick L. Cooney
* = date plant found in bloom, 5/05/04; brief visit

Trees:
Acer platanoides (Norway maple)
Acer rubrum (red maple)
Acer saccharum (sugar maple)
Betula lenta (black birch)
Betula nigra (river birch)
Carpinus caroliniana (musclewood)
Carya ovata (shagbark hickory)
Carya sp. (hickory)
Cornus florida (flowering dogwood) *
Fraxinus americana (white ash)
Juniperus virginiana (red cedar)
Liriodendron tulipifera (tulip tree)
Picea abies (Norway spruce)
Prunus serotina (black cherry)
Quercus alba (white oak)
Quercus palustris (pin oak)
Quercus rubra (red oak)
Sassafras albidum (sassafras) *
Ulmus americana (American elm)

Shrubs and sub-shrubs:
Berberis thunbergii (Japanese barberry) *
Elaeagnus umbellata (autumn olive) *
Forsythia sp. (golden bells) *
Lindera benzoin (spicebush)
Lonicera morrowii (Morrow's honeysuckle) *
Rosa multiflora (multiflora rose)
Rubus alleghaniensis (common blackberry)
Rubus occidentalis (black raspberry)
Rubus phoenicolasius (wineberry)
Viburnum prunifolium (blackhaw viburnum) *
Vinca minor (periwinkle) *

Vines:
Lonicera japonica (Japanese honeysuckle)
Toxicodendron radicans (poison ivy)
Vitis sp. (grape)

Herbs:
Achillea millefolium (yarrow)
Ajuga reptans (ajuga) *
Alliaria petiolata (garlic mustard) *
Allium vineale (field garlic)
Arctium sp. (burdock)
Arisaema triphyllum (jack-in-the-pulpit)
Barbarea vulgaris (common wintercress) *
Capsella bursa-pastoris (shepherd's purse) *
Cardamine hirsuta (hoary bittercress) *
Circaea lutetiana (enchanter's nightshade)
Cirsium arvense (Canada thistle)
Cirsium sp. (thistle)
Claytonia virginica (spring beauty) *
Daucus carota (Queen Anne's lace)
Erythronium americanum (trout lily)
Euphorbia esula (leafy spurge) *
Galium sp. (bedstraw)
Geum canadense (white avens)
Glechoma hederacea (gill over the ground) *
Hemerocallis fulva (tawny day lily)
Hosta sp. (hosta) planted
Impatiens sp. (jewelweed)
Lamium purpureum (purple dead nettle) *
Leonurus cardiaca (motherwort)
Narcissus sp. (daffodil)
Podophyllum peltatum (mayapple)
Polygonatum biflorum (smooth true Solomon's seal)
Polygonum virginianum (jumpseed)
Potentilla simplex (common cinquefoil) *
Ranunculus abortivus (kidney-leaved crowfoot) *
Ranunculus ficaria (lesser celandine) *
Ranunculus recurvatus (hooked crowfoot)
Rumex crispus (curled dock)
Rumex obtusifolius (broad dock)
Smilacina racemosa (false Solomon's seal)
Stellaria media (common chickweed) *
Symplocarpus foetidus (skunk cabbage)
Taraxacum officinale (dandelion) *
Trifolium pratense (red clover)
Verbascum thapsus (common mullein)
Veronica serpyllifolia (thyme-leaved speedwell) *
Viola sororia (common blue violet) *
Viola sororia f. (confederate violet) *

Rushes:
Juncus effusus (soft rush)

Sedges:
Eleocharis sp. (spike rush)

Grasses:
Anthoxanthum odoratum (sweet vernal grass) *
Dactylis glomerata (orchard grass)
Poa annua (annual bluegrass) *

Ferns and Fern Allies:
Onoclea sensibilis (sensitive fern)
Osmunda cinnamomea (cinnamon fern)
Polystichum acrostichoides (Christmas fern)