Otto's Farm Park

Wertzville Road, Montgomery Road, Hillsborough Township, Somerset County, NJ

Green Acres property

near the intersection of Montgomery Road and Route 602 (southeast corner)

Directions:

US 80 west; get off at exit 43 for US 287 south;  get off at Exit 17 for Routes 202/206 south;  stay on Route 202 as Route 206 heads farther south;  turn left onto Old York Road; turn right onto Route 567 (South Branch Road);  turn right onto Route 514 (Amwell Road);  take the first left onto Wertsville Road;  Wertsville Road jogs a bit at the intersection with Long Hill Road; just before reaching the intersection with Montgomery Road, turn left into the parking area. 

Habitats:

woods and meadows

Trails:

provides several trails offering easy walking. (Source: http://www.sourland.org/virtual/virtual.html)

There are 36 acres of open space on Davids Lane that the Open Space Land Committee would like to connect to Otto's Farm Park.

(Source: http://www.pacpubserver.com/new/news/10-23-99/gunclubs.html; Jack Baney, Packet Online, October 23, 1999, "Open Space Accidentally Leased to Gun Clubs."

5/182005.  On a great day weatherwise, Ceferino Santana, dog Sonar and I started on the circular walk through the successional field area.  Multiflora rose is the dominant species, covering large areas, along with less quantities of autumn olive and Japanese barberry.  From the short introductory trail we turn left to go clock-wise on the circular walk.  The trail itself is very wide and neatly mowed between walls of multiflora rose.  There are many side-cuts connecting the two sides of the oblong walk so that one can make the walk as short as they want.  There are also quite a few benches where one can rest.   

On the left hand side of the walk is a little piece of woods and then a stream.  Before completing our circular walk we decided to take one of the trails heading into the woods and across the stream.  We went east following the trail  The trail curved left and started heading north, crossing another stream.  It then turned left again heading across the main stream in the park and back onto a wide, grassy trail.  We got back to the loop trail and finished up the walk back to the car.  There are actually quite a few path choices in the area and if one could take all the various possibilities the walk might be of a more substantial distance. 

We did not see any trail connecting to David's Lane.  Farther south on Montgomery Road (about 2 miles) we found another sign for Hillsborough Township Open Space.  Dr. Patrick L. Cooney.

PLANT LIST:
Dr. Patrick L. Cooney
* = date plant found in bloom, 5/18/2005  brief visit

Trees:
Acer platanoides (Norway maple)
Acer rubrum (red maple)
Acer saccharum (sugar maple)
Ailanthus altissima (tree-of-heaven)
Betula lenta (black birch)
Carya ovata (shagbark hickory)
Carya tomentosa (mockernut hickory)
Cornus florida (flowering dogwood)
Fraxinus americana (white ash)
Juniperus virginiana (red cedar)
Morus alba (white mulberry)
Platanus occidentalis (American sycamore)
Prunus serotina (black cherry)
Pyrus sp. (apple)  *
Quercus palustris (pin oak)
Quercus rubra (red oak)
Salix sp. (willow)
Sassafras albidum (sassafras)
Tilia americana (American basswood)
Tsuga canadensis (eastern hemlock) 
Ulmus americana (American elm)

Shrubs and sub-shrubs:
Berberis thunbergii (Japanese barberry) *
Elaeagnus umbellata (autumn olive) *
Lonicera morrowii (Morrow's honeysuckle) *
Rosa multiflora (multiflora rose)  -- dominant species covering huge areas
Rubus occidentalis (black raspberry)
Rubus phoenicolasius (wineberry)
Rubus sp. (blackberrry)
Viburnum prunifolium (blackhaw viburnum) *

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

Herbs:
Achillea millefolium (common yarrow)
Alliaria petiolata (garlic mustard) *
Allium vineale (field garlic)
Apocynum sp. (dogbane)
Arctium sp. (burdock)
Aster spp. (aster)
Barbarea vulgaris (common wintercress) *
Capsella bursa-pastoris (shepherd's purse)  *
Cerastium vulgatum (mouse-ear chickweed)  *
Cirsium arvense (Canada thistle)
Cirsium vulgare (bull thistle)
Claytonia virginica (spring beauty) *
Duchesnea indica (Indian strawberry)  *
Fragaria virginiana (wild strawberry)  *
Galanthus nivale (snow drops)  *
Galium aparine (cleavers)   *
Geranium maculatum (wild geranium) *
Glechoma hederacea (gill-over-the-ground)  *
Impatiens sp. (jewelweed)
Lamium purpureum (purple dead nettle)  *
Leonurus cardiaca (motherwort)
Linaria vulgaris (butter and eggs) 
Phytolacca americana (pokeweed)
Plantago lanceolata (English plantain)
Polygonum cuspidatum (Japanese knotweed)
Polygonum virginianum (jumpseed)
Ranunculus bulbosus (bulbous buttercup)  *
Rumex crispus (curled dock)
Rumex obtusifolius (broad dock)
Solanum dulcamara (bittersweet nightshade)
Solidago spp. (goldenrod) 
Stellaria media (common chickweed)  *
Taraxacum officinale (dandelion) *
Trifolium pratense (red clover)
Trifolium repens (white clover)
Verbascum thapsus (common mullein)
Veronica arvensis (corn speedwell)  *
Veronica persica (Persian speedwell)  *
Veronica serpyllifolia (thyme-leaved speedwell)  *
Viola sororia (common blue violet) *

Sedges:
Carex spp. (sedges)

Grasses:
Anthoxanthum odoratum (sweet vernal grass)
Dactylis glomerata (orchard grass)
Microstegium vimineum (Japanese stilt grass)
Poa sp. (bluegrass)
Schizachyrium scoparium (little blue stem grass)