Hidden Lake Open Space Conservation Area
Hidden Lake Drive, North Brunswick Township, Middlesex County, New Jersey

Directions:

From US 1 in North Brunswick Township, turn right onto Aaron Road; drive 0.5 of a mile and turn right onto Hidden Lake Drive; drive 0.3 of a mile and park just past the intersection with Point of Woods Drive.

Trails:

4/04/2005.  Monday.  Ceferino Santana, dog Sonar and I parked across the street from the sign for the Conservation Area.  There are no established trails, just pieces of informal trails here and there.  So we decided to bushwhack, except, because of the early time of the year, there was little greenery through which to bushwhack.  We walked on the eastern side of the brook.  The area was very wet as the weekend had brought flooding rains. It is not a long walk to Hidden Lake, but it took a while because of the lack of a trail and the frequent wet areas.  And we are very close to the backyards of the private houses lining the way.  Next time we will walk on the western side of the brook leading into Hidden Lake which is much higher ground and will probably provide much easier walking. Dr. Patrick L. Cooney.

PLANT LIST:
Dr. Patrick L. Cooney
* = plant blooming on 4/04/2005

Trees:
Acer rubrum (red maple) *
Carpinus caroliniana (musclewood)
Carya ovata (shagbark hickory)
Fagus grandifolia (American beech)
Juniperus virginiana (red cedar)  -- lots
Nyssa sylvatica (tupelo)
Ostrya virginiana (American hop hornbeam) ?
Paulownia tomentosa (empress tree)
Pinus strobus (white pine)
Quercus alba (white oak)
Quercus palustris (pin oak)
Quercus rubra (red oak)
Sassafras albidum (sassafras)
Ulmus sp. (elm)

Shrubs:
Berberis thunbergii (Japanese barberry)
Cornus amomum (swamp dogwood)
Euonymus alatus (winged euonymus)
Lindera benzoin (spicebush)
Lonicera sp. (honeysuckle)
Rhus sp. (sumac)
Rosa multiflora (multiflora rose)
Rubus occidentalis (black raspberry)
Viburnum prunifolium (blackhaw viburnum)

Vines:
Celastrus orbiculatus (Asiatic bittersweet)
Lonicera japonica (Japanese honeysuckle)
Smilax sp. (greenbrier))
Toxicodendron radicans (poison ivy)
Vitis sp. (grape)

Herbs:
Alliaria petiolata (garlic mustard)
Allium vineale (field garlic)
Artemisia vulgaris (common mugwort)
Cardamine parviflora (few-flowered bittercress) *
Erythronium americanum (trout lily)
Geum scandens (white avens)
Lamium purpureum (purple dead nettle) *
Phytolacca americana (pokeweed)
Symplocarpus foetidus (skunk cabbage)
(chives)?  thick, close clump with plants arising from an onion bulb