Central Park

Eggert's Crossing Road, Lawrence Township, Mercer County, New Jersey

Directions:

NJ Turnpike to exit 7A for US 195 west; take US 295 north to US 95 heading toward Pennsylvania; get off at Exit 7 for Route 206 north; turn left onto Eggert's Crossing Road.  Drive around 0.2 of a mile (past the intermediate school on the right) and turn right into the park (by a sign for the ball fields).   

Facilities:

5 baseball fields, 2 soccer fields, a basket ball court, tennis court and playground.

Trails:

5/04/2005.  Ceferino Santana, dog Sonar and I had cool weather for walking.  It has been strangely cool for spring.  This park is mostly ball fields and playing courts.  But on both the right land left side of the fields and courts, there are woodsy areas.  We investigated both sides of the woods areas.  The right side woods are smaller and do not have a formal trail.  But on the left, the woods do have trails.  Near the soccer field we found a wide trail going into the woods.  One side trail goes off to the left and two side trails go to the right. 

Keep going straight and you reach the Johnson Trolley Line south greenway.  There are telephone poles and wires on both sides of the trail.  You can go either right or left (although going right is a little trickier).  This trail heads south parallel with Route 206 and passes over Eldridge Avenue and ends at the township boundary line.  While considering walk down the trail on the left, we saw a red fox and then a little baby fox. 

One item that proved very helpful was the map of the 10 Greenways in Lawrence Township, an eagle scout project done by Benjamin Willis, August 1, 2001.  Dr. Patrick L. Cooney.

PLANT LIST:
Dr. Patrick L. Cooney

* = blooming on date of field trip, 5/04/2005

Trees:
Acer platanoides (Norway maple)
Acer rubrum (red maple)
Acer saccharum (sugar maple)
Betula lenta (black birch)
Carpinus caroliniana (musclewood)
Cercis canadensis (redbud) planted   *
Cornus florida (flowering dogwood)  *
Fagus grandifolia (American beech)
Fraxinus americana (white ash)
Ilex opaca (American holly)
Juniperus virginiana (red cedar)
Liquidambar styraciflua (sweetgum)
Liriodendron tulipifera (tulip tree)
Morus alba (white mulberry)
Picea abies (Norway spruce)
Populus deltoides (cottonwood)
Pinus strobus (white pine)
Prunus serotina (black cherry)
Pyrus sp. (apple) *
Quercus rubra (red oak)
Robinia pseudoacacia (black locust)
Salix sp. (willow)
Sassafras albidum (sassafras)  *just past

Shrubs:
Berberis thunbergii (Japanese barberry)
Cornus amomum (swamp dogwood)
Elaeagnus umbellata (autumn olive) *soon
Ligustrum sp. (privet)
Lindera benzoin (spicebush)
Lonicera morrowii (Morrow's honeysuckle)  *  (including a reddish variety)
Rhodotypos scandens (jet bead)
Rosa multiflora (multiflora rose)
Rubus occidentalis (black raspberry)  *
Rubus phoenicolasius (wineberry)
Rubus sp. (blackberry)
Viburnum dentatum (arrowwood viburnum)  -- hairy leaves
Viburnum prunifolium (blackhaw viburnum)  *soon

Vines:
Celastrus orbiculatus (Asiatic bittersweet)
Lonicera japonica (Japanese honeysuckle)
Parthenocissus quinquefolia (Virginia creeper)
Smilax sp. (greenbrier)  *soon
Toxicodendron radicans (poison ivy)
Vitis sp. (grape)
Wisteria sp. (wisteria)

Herbs:
Achillea millefolium (common yarrow)
Alliaria petiolata (garlic mustard) *
Allium vineale (field garlic)
Apocynum cannabinum (Indian hemp)
Arctium sp. (burdock)
Arisaema triphyllum (Jack-in-the-pulpit)
Artemisia vulgaris (common mugwort)
Barbarea vulgaris (common wintercress)  *
Cardamine parviflora (dry-land bittercress)  *
Cerastium vulgatum (mouse-ear chickweed) 
Cirsium arvense (Canada thistle)
Daucus carota (Queen Anne's lace)
Geum canadense (white avens)
Glechoma hederacea (gill-over-the-ground) *
Hieracium sp. (hawkweed)
Impatiens sp. (jewelweed)
Lamium purpureum (purple dead nettle)
Narcissus sp. (daffodil)
Oxalis sp. (yellow wood sorrel)
Plantago lanceolata (English plantain)
Plantago major (common plantain)
Podophyllum peltatum (may apple) 
Polygonum cuspidatum (Japanese knotweed)
Potentilla canadensis (dwarf cinquefoil)  *
Potentilla simplex (common cinquefoil)  *
Rumex acetosella (sheep sorrel)
Rumex obtusifolius (broad dock)
Senecio obovatus (round-leaved ragwort)  *
Symplocarpus foetidus (skunk cabbage)
Taraxacum officinale (common dandelion) *
Trifolium pratense (red clover)
Veronica serpyllifolia (thyme-leaved speedwell)
Viola sororia (common blue violet) *

Sedges:
Carex sp. (sedge)

Grasses:
Anthoxanthum odoratum (sweet vernal grass)
Phragmites australis (giant reed grass)
Poa annua (annual bluegrass)
Schizachyrium scoparium (little blue stem grass)

Ferns:
Dryopteris sp. (woodfern)
Onoclea sensibilis (sensitive fern)
Thelypteris noveboracensis (New York fern)