Miller Lane Recreation Area
Bedminster Township, Somerset County, NJ
Location:
Off Route 202 (Somerville Road) on Miller Lane; (adjacent to the Township’s Public Works facility). Miller Lane Field is near the elementary school
US 80 west to US 287 south; take Exit 22; turn right onto Rt. 202/206; drive past the “jug handle” and the exit for A. T&T. and take the exit for Route 202 North (Somerville Road). In a short distance turn right onto Miller Lane where the municipal offices, Dept. of Public Works and the Police are located. Drive to the end of the short road and park at the fence by the park.
Facilities:
3 Baseball Fields for different levels of play (when no soccer);
1 Soccer (when no baseball in play);
Fishing—Access to North Branch Raritan River;
children's playground.
Access to Hike & Bike Trail:
Trail begins on Main Street at the old school, connecting the Bedminster Township Elementary School to Miller Lane Recreation Area, follows the Albert Winkler/Herbert Snyder Nature Trail, around “The Pond”, past AT&T’s Headquarters to River Road Park. Connection to Robertson Drive in The Hills is expected to be completed in late Spring 2003.
11/01/04. Walked past the border fence and turned right onto the parallel Bedminster Hike and Bike Trail. At the border with the park and woods, there is a sign along the trail indicating that this part of the trail is the Albert Winkler/Herbert Snyder Nature Trail. Pass a red cedar forest. Pass by a colony of Hercules' club. Head across a bridge over a ditch and bear left. See the backside of a sign indicating the end of the Nature Trail. The trail goes on the east side of more lake-size "The Pond." The North Branch of the Raritan River comes in on the left.
Come to an open area. The path goes straight and to the right. I take the path to the right. The path takes dog Sonar and me along the highway and then up the pedestrian overpass to River Road Park.
I turned around and head back to the fork in the road. I take the straight path. The path goes along the River and bears right. The River runs along steep embankments on the opposite side of the river. Come to a sign that says End of the Biking Trail. But actually the trail keeps going making an abrupt U turn to get around the highway obstacles. The trail goes across a bridge over the Raritan River. From this area it is about 0.6 of a mile to the real end of the trail.
The path heads south parallel to the river, but on the opposite side. Turn right and go uphill. I am fenced in by a wire fence keeping the hiker away from the highway on the left and a wooden fence on the right. This is really intersection hell with highways coming and going and turning right and left. And it is noisy. I see a sign for Exit 21 A-B, US 78. Back onto a pedestrian overpass. See a sign saying Schley Mt. Road, Next Left and another sign saying To North 287. Come to another pedestrian bridge heading over two highways. It is a big overpass and it ends near a huge apartment complex. A hundred more yards and the bike trail stops. I turn around and return the way I went out. Dr. Patrick L. Cooney.
Source: Bedminister Township http://www.bedminster-nj.com/index.asp?Type=B_BASIC&SEC={EAD66730-DC49-426A-BDD7-405A395885BF}
PLANT LIST:
Dr. Patrick L. Cooney
* = plant found in bloom on date of field trip, 11/01/04
Trees:
Acer negundo (ash-leaf maple)
Acer rubrum (red maple)
Acer saccharum (sugar maple)
Acer saccharinum (silver maple)
Ailanthus altissima (tree-of-heaven)
Alnus glutinosa (European alder)
Aralia spinosa (Hercules club)
Betula nigra (river birch)
Betula populifolia (gray birch)
Carya ovata (shagbark hickory)
Carya tomentosa (mockernut hickory)
Fraxinus americana (white ash)
Gleditsia triacanthos (honey locust)
Ilex opaca (American holly)
Juniperus virginiana (red cedar)
Morus alba (white mulberry)
Pinus sp. (pine)
Pinus sylvestris (Scots pine)
Platanus occidentalis (American sycamore)
Prunus serotina (black cherry)
Quercus coccinea (scarlet oak)
Quercus palustris (pin oak)
Quercus rubra (red oak)
Robinia pseudoacacia (black locust)
Salix sp. (willow)
Sassafras albidum (sassafras)
Tsuga canadensis (eastern hemlock) ?
Shrubs:
Berberis thunbergii (Japanese barberry)
Elaeagnus umbellata (autumn olive)
Ligustrum sp. (privet)
Lindera benzoin (spicebush)
Lonicera morrowii (Morrow's honeysuckle)
Rhamnus cathartica (common buckthorn)
Rhus aromatica (fragrant sumac)
Rosa multiflora (multiflora rose)
Rubus occidentalis (black raspberry)
Rubus phoenicolasius (wineberry)
Rubus sp. (black berry)
Viburnum prunifolium (blackhaw viburnum)
Vines:
Celastrus orbiculatus (Asiatic bittersweet)
Lonicera japonica (Japanese honeysuckle)
Toxicodendron radicans (poison ivy)
Vitis sp. (grape)
Herbs:
Acalypha sp. (three-seeded mercury)
Achillea millefolium (common yarrow)
Alliaria petiolata (garlic mustard)
Apocynum cannabinum (Indian hemp)
Arctium sp. (burdock)
Aster spp. (aster) *
Barbarea vulgaris (common wintercress)
Bidens sp. (beggar ticks)
Centaurea sp. (knapweed) *
Chenopodium album (pigweed)
Chrysanthemum leucanthemum (ox-eye daisy)
Cirsium arvense (Canada thistle)
Cirsium vulgaris (bull thistle)
Coronilla varia (crown vetch) *
Daucus carota (Queen Anne's lace)
Dipsacus sylvestris (teasel)
Duchesnea indica (Indian strawberry)
Eupatorium rugosum (white snakeroot)
Lysimachia nummularia (moneywort)
Lythrum salicaria (purple loosestrife)
Oenothera biennis (common evening primrose) *
Plantago lanceolata (English plantain)
Polygonum cuspidatum (Japanese knotweed)
Polygonum spp. (smartweed) *
Potentilla simplex (common cinquefoil)
Pycnanthemum sp. (mountain mint)
Rudbeckia hirta var. pulcherrima (black-eyed Susan) *
Rumex crispus (curled dock)
Solanum dulcamara (bittersweet night shade)
Solidago rugosa (rough-stemmed goldenrod)
Solidago spp. (goldenrod)
Stellaria pubera (star chickweed)
Taraxacum officinale (common dandelion) *
Trifolium pratense (red clover)
Typha latifolia (broad-leaved cattail)
Urtica dioica var. dioica (stinging nettle)
Verbascum blattaria (moth mullein)
Verbascum thapsus (common mullein)
Verbena hastata (blue vervain)
Verbena urticifolia (white vervain)
Rushes:
Juncus effusus (soft rush)
Juncus tenuis (path rush)
Sedges:
Carex typhina (sedge) ?
Scirpus cyperinus (woolly grass bulrush)
Grasses:
Andropogon virginicus (Virginia brome grass)
Dactylis glomerata (orchard grass)
Digitaria sp. (crab grass)
Echinochloa sp. (barnyard grass)
Eleusine indica (Indian nut grass)
Elymus sp. (wild rye grass)
Microstegium vimineum (Japanese stilt grass)
Panicum clandestinum (deer-tongue panic grass)
Phragmites australis (giant reed grass)
Setaria faberi (nodding foxtail grass)
Setaria glauca (yellow foxtail grass)
Setaria sp. (viridis?) (green foxtail grass)
Tridens flavus (purple top grass)
Ferns and fern allies:
Athyrium filix-femina (lady fern)
Polystichum acrostichoides (Christmas fern)