Brookside Park
Hetfield Avenue, Scotch Plains, Union County, New Jersey
29 acres

Directions:

NJ Turnpike to US 78 (exit 14, the Newark Airport Exit). US 78 to Garden State Parkway, exit 135. Turn right, heading northwest on Central Avenue. Very soon turn left onto Raritan Road and take it to a right turn onto Westfield Avenue. Turn left onto Lamberts Mill Road.  At the T-intersection turn left onto Broad Street and then a quick right onto Hetfield Avenue.  In about 0.1 of a mile turn right into the parking lot entrance.  

History:

1997 – 85 Girl and Boy Scouts built a new trail to the north of the playground equipment running to the Winding Brook, a tributary of the Robinson's Branch of the Rahway River, to hook up to an existing nature trail that runs the length of the brook on the eastern side of the park which borders on Memorial Park in Westfield. The new trail creates a circuit path.

Scotch Plains Scouts Build New Trail in Brookside Park; The Westfield Leader
http://www.goleader.com/97stories/97may08brooksidepark.htm

Habitats:

Brookside Park Pond created by damming the stream. 

Facilities:

At the Hetfield Avenue parking area:
tennis, baseball, basketball, playground, picnic area with tables, lawn

At the off Scotch Plains Avenue parking area:
soccer, tennis, handball, baseball and a swimming pool

Trails:

01/11/2005.   There are two parts to this park separated by a stream.  We walked over to the pond and then to the street to cross over the dammed stream.  From here we could pick up the gravel trail on the other side of the stream.  The trail hugs the stream all the way to the end of the park at the intersection of Elizabeth Avenue and South Avenue in Westfield.  We crossed the busy street and got a couple of drinks at the 7-11 store.  We then took the stream trail back to the car.  Dr. Patrick L. Cooney. 

PLANT LIST
Dr. Patrick L. Cooney

Trees:
Ailanthus altissima (tree-of-heaven)
Alnus glutinosa (black alder)
Betula nigra (river birch) on the small island in the pond
Betula populifolia (gray birch)
Carpinus caroliniana (musclewood)
Carya sp. (hickory)
Fagus grandifolia (American beech)
Fraxinus americana (white ash)
Liquidambar styraciflua (sweetgum)
Liriodendron tulipifera (tulip tree)
Morus alba (white mulberry)
Platanus occidentalis (American sycamore)
Prunus serotina (black cherry)
Quercus alba (white oak)
Quercus rubra (red oak)
Quercus velutina (black oak)
Robinia pseudoacacia (black locust)
Sassafras albidum (sassafras)
Ulmus sp. (elm)

Shrubs:
Berberis thunbergii (Japanese barberry)
Euonymus alatus (winged euonymus)
Hamamelis virginiana (witch hazel)
Ligustrum sp. (privet)
Lindera benzoin (spicebush)
Pachysandra terminalis (pachysandra)
Rosa multiflora (multiflora rose)
Rubus sp. (blackberry)
Spiraea sp. (spiraea) planted
Taxus sp. (yew)

Vines:
Clematis terniflora (sweet autumn olive)
Hedera helix (English ivy)
Lonicera japonica (Japanese honeysuckle)
Smilax rotundifolia (round-leaved greenbrier)
Toxicodendron radicans (poison ivy)
Vitis sp. (grape)

Herbs:
Alliaria petiolata (garlic mustard)
Allium vineale (field garlic)
Artemisia vulgaris (common mugwort)
Cirsium sp. (thistle)
Daucus carota (Queen Anne's lace)
Glechoma hederacea (gill-over-the-ground)
Plantago lanceolata (English plantain)
Polygonum cuspidatum (Japanese knotweed)
Rumex crispus (curled dock)
Taraxacum officinale (common dandelion)