Moore's Creek
end of Hunter Road, West Amwell, Hunterdon County, NJ.
197-acre turkey farm (only a small part, 25 acres, is open to the public)

The only land available will be a public access trail along Moore's Creek, but that has not been prepared as of yet (9/26/04).  Moore's Creek heads southwest down to the Delaware River between Belle Mountain on the north and Strawberry Hill on the south.

Directions:

As of yet, we do not know the actual location of the public trail.  The directions below apply to Fiddler's Creek Farm, but you can't go there because it is private property.  

From Trenton:

Take ROUTE 29 North. Turn Right onto ROUTE 518. Turn Right onto HUNTER ROAD (There is a bike shop, Wheelfine Imports, on the corner and the Lambertville Assembly Church across the street.) Parking is at the Fiddler's Creek Farm on the left.

From Princeton:

Take ROUTE 206 South. Turn Right onto CARTER ROAD. Turn Left onto ROUTE 518 at your 4th Light. At the 2nd light, bear Right to stay on ROUTE 518. Go straight through the light at Route 31. Go straight through the blinking light. Go straight through the light at Route 579. Turn Left onto HUNTER ROAD (There is a bike shop on the corner). Parking is at the Fiddler's Creek Farm on your left.

From Flemington:

Take ROUTE 202/31 South. Take the ROUTE 31 Exit. Turn Right at your second traffic light onto ROUTE 518. Turn Left onto HUNTER ROAD (There is a bike shop on the corner). Parking is at the Fiddler's Creek Farm on your left.

Geology:

It is located on Bald Pate Mountain.  A branch of Moores Creek, which supports 18 species of fish, flows through the property, connecting it to other preserved properties including the Howell Living History Farm and Baldpate Mountain.

History:

1732  --  the 5-bedroom stone farmhouse and barn were built. 

1960s  --  a wealthy Wall Street investment banker founded Fiddler's Creek Farm, Inc. producing smoked turkeys and ham. 

Delaware & Raritan Greenway, the Green Acres Program Hunterdon County and West Amwell Township were partners in the preservation of Fiddler's Creek Farm.

Habitats:

forested stream corridor, hayfields and pasture plus a 360-degree view of the surrounding countryside, the Delaware River and Bowman's Tower in Pennsylvania.

Trails:

The preservation of Fiddler's Creek Farm creates a continuous expanse of preserved land connecting the Delaware River Greenway and the Sourland Mountain Greenway.

As of 5/05/04, there are no trail signs, but they are expected to arrive in the not too distant future. Nice views from the farm of some of the surrounding territory. 

Source: "New Jersey Land Preservation Initiative Moves Forward: DEP Announces Sourlands Acquisitions." http://www.outdoorcentral.com/mc/pr/04/04/15b4.asp

IMPORTANT NOTICE:

> From: "Jo-Ann Munoz" <[email protected]>
> Date: 2004/09/13 Mon PM 01:43:08 CDT
> To: <[email protected]>
> CC: "Bill Rawlyk" <[email protected]>,
> "Kate Buttolph" <[email protected]>,
> "Linda Mead \(Linda Mead\)" <[email protected]>
> Subject: Error in Information on NJ- NY- CT Botany Online
>
> Dear Dr. Cooney:
>
> I am Director of Communications for Delaware & Raritan Greenway, central New
> Jersey's regional land trust. We were a partner in the preservation of a
> 197 acre property in West Amwell Township known as Fiddler's Creak Farm.
>
> The information copied into the body of this email (please scroll down) was
> obtained through a Google search for Fiddler's Creak Farm. It must be
> resident on your website (although when I go to NY-NJ-CT Botany On Line, I
> can't find the page).
>
> Please remove this listing from your website. The information is incorrect.
> The majority of this 197 area property is protected by conservation easement
> and public access consists of a 25 foot trail along the stream corridor
> which has not yet been marked.
>
> The 20 acres of this parcel containing the buildings and farmhouse indicated
> in the information on your website are not part of the conservation
> easement. They are PRIVATE PROPERTY. There is no public access or parking
> here.
>
> And since the public access trail along the stream corridor has not been
> constructed, the public should not be directed to this property for hiking
> or nature study at this time.
>
> Hikers drove up to the private home on the property this weekend and
> disturbed the owner and caretakers. This must not occur again.
>
> If you have any question, I may be reached by return email or at
> 609-924-4646 ext. 125.
>
> Thank you very much for your cooperation in removing this erroneous
> information from your website.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Jo-Ann C. Munoz

MY RESPONSE:

Dear Jo-Ann:

I got the information from:

Source: "New Jersey Land Preservation Initiative Moves Forward: DEP Announces Sourlands Acquisitions." http://www.outdoorcentral.com/mc/pr/04/04/15b4.asp

as it says on my website.

I find that all too many nature-minded organizations are very closed mouthed or close-to-the-vest and this makes it difficult for nature lovers to explore many of the properties because virtually no information is published on the places, even though many of the places are supposedly open to the public.

Many, many a time (hundreds in fact) I have had to use my detective skills to find a nature place that is "open" to the public. Thank goodness for MapTech and detailed County Maps as well as the web.

If there is erroneous information out there, I would think it is more the fault of the nature organizations than those of us who are trying to give the public information on where these places are. Secrecy is great for the CIA and the FBI (up to a point), but I don't think it's so great for nature organizations.

I am sure I have many mistakes on the web. But at least I have provided the start of the public discussion. And what I have done is almost completely without help from the nature organizations.

"Erroneous" information comes about when there is too little information made open to the public on these natural areas, and so organizations or persons like myself have to piece together the information from inadequate or sometimes downright misleading sources.

I went out to the farm myself, but did not want to hike around so I checked my map to figure out where I would go next. The owner or farmer or someone from the farm stopped to ask if I needed help and I talked to him a bit. He did not seem hostile or perturbed. There were no private property signs posted. And there were no signs indicating where the public access is and where it is not. That is another bad practice of the nature organizations; too little signage.

I say shame on the nature organizations, not Outdoor Central or NY-NJ-CT Botany.

In a way, I am kind of glad someone went out there and sought to use the land. At least such visits may get some of these nature organizations off their asses and make information and signage available.

I remember going out to a Nature Conservancy property that was open to the public.  The lady next-door must have freaked out that I was looking at the property and called her neighbor to check me out.  He was perturbed that he had to be called out to talked to me.  And I was perturbed at TNC and other nature organizations for creating such a paranoid-secretive orientation that gets visitors checked out even on public grounds.  If I go visit the place again I have to go visit the woman next-door to tell her not to be afraid or suspicious and not to call out the neighbors.

I am glad you brought the information to my attention, although I did not care for the tone. But I go my own way hoping to open up our natural areas to those who want to know more about them (and even where the hell they are.)

regards,
Patrick L. Cooney, Ph. D.