Rahway River
Union, Union County, New Jersey

Directions:

US 78 to Exit 50A; turn right onto Vauxhall Road south; after crossing the bridge take the immediate right onto Liberty Avenue south; at the intersection with Route 82 (Morris Avenue) turn right; turn left onto Spruce Street; turn right onto Pinewood Road; turn right onto Locust Drive; park at the end of the road.  

Trails:

12/23/04.  Wanted to see if there was a path along the east bank of the Rahway River. I parked at the dead end of Locust Drive.  I walked to the left, down to the Rahway River and found an old railroad bridge over the river.  Part of the former railway line heads east to Liberty Avenue (parallel with Hickory Road) and comes out between the Breeze Building and the Bed, Bath and Beyond Headquarters. 

I did find an informal trail heading roughly along the river bank.  What a mass of Polygonum cuspidatum (Japanese knotweed) I found along the river. In one side area of the river it was absolutely the dominant plant.  Followed the path for awhile till it petered out.  Then I returned to the railway bridge and decided to continue north to see if one could walk this way.  Yes, one can, for the private property of the row of houses does not extend down to the river itself.  I will have to come back again when I have more time.  Dr. Patrick L. Cooney. 

PLANT LIST:
Dr. Patrick L. Cooney

Trees:
Acer rubrum (red maple)
Fagus grandifolia (American beech)
Liquidambar styraciflua (sweetgum)
Morus alba (white mulberry)
Platanus occidentalis (American sycamore)
Quercus alba (white oak)
Quercus rubra (red oak)
Quercus velutina (black oak)

Shrubs:
Berberis thunbergii (Japanese barberry)
Hibiscus syriacus (rose of Sharon)
Rosa multiflora (multiflora rose)
Rubus sp. (blackberry)

Vines:
Celastrus orbiculatus (Asiatic bittersweet)
Hedera helix (English ivy)
Lonicera japonica (Japanese honeysuckle)
Smilax rotundifolia (round-leaved greenbrier)  --  lots of it
Toxicodendron radicans (poison ivy)
Vitis sp. (grape)

Herbs:
Alliaria petiolata (garlic mustard)
Allium vineale (field garlic)
Artemesia vulgaris (common mugwort)
Polygonum cuspidatum (Japanese knotweed))

Rushes:
Juncus tenuis (path rush)