WESCOTT NATURE PRESERVE
Raven Rock-Rosemont Road, Delaware Township, Hunterdon County, NJ
809 acres

Directions:

From the Flemington Area. travel west on Route 12 to the circle and take Route 523 south. At the junction with Route 604 in the center of Sergeantsville. Turn right onto Route 604 and proceed to Rosemont. At Rosemont turn left onto Route 519. Route 519 makes an “S” bend while leaving Rosemont. Near the end of the “S” Bend, turn right onto Raven Rock-Rosemont Road. Proceed on Raven Rock-Rosemont Road approximately one mile until you come to the preserve located on the right.

History:

The Lenni Lenape Indians had settlements in the area.  They gathered Argillite stones from the Lockatong Creek streambed to use in fashioning tools and weapons.

1796  --  a school located on this site.

1861  --  the John Reading School or District Schoolhouse #97 here built in this year; (now a private residence).

 1936  --  Lloyd Wescott, originally from Wisconsin, and his wife Barbara bought a farm along the Mulhocaway Creek in Union Township, calling it "Mulhocaway Farm."

1937  --  the farm became the headquarters for the Artificial Breeding Association, a pioneering organization that developed the first artificial insemination program for dairy cows in the country.

1950s  --  the State of New Jersey acquires the Mulhocaway Farm as part of the Spruce Run Reservoir.  

1959  --  The Wescotts moved to a 147 acre farm near Stockton where Mr. Wescott continued breeding Guernsey and Holstein cows. The previous owner of the Stockton area farm was the famous 1930s band leader who launched the singing career of crooner Bing Crosby, Paul Whiteman (also known as "The King of Jazz").  He lived owned the farm for 21 years before selling it to the Wescotts.  (Source: Douglas Kiovsky http://www.dandrcanal.com/stockton.html)

1966  --  Mr. and Mrs. Lloyd Wescott donate the land to Hunterdon County, thereby creating the first county park. (Lloyd B. Wescott was a co-founder of the Hunterdon Medical Center.)

1973  -- the Hunterdon County Parks Department established.  

Facilities:

Fishing, hiking/nature trails, mountain biking, hunting, nature studies.

Trails:

You cross a large open field to a wooded area. Here is Lockatong Creek. It is a very rocky creek and hard to walk along. This is a hemlock gorge but the gorge is more open.

There is a 1/2 mile loop trail (orange diamond blazes) that winds through meadows and hardwoods. There is a vista over the Lockatong Creek.

PLANT LIST:
Dr. Patrick L. Cooney

Trees:
Acer rubrum (red maple)
Acer saccharum (sugar maple)
Betula nigra (river birch)
Carpinus caroliniana (musclewood)
Cornus florida (flowering dogwood) 5/22/97
Fagus grandifolia (American beech)
Platanus occidentalis (American sycamore)
Tsuga canadensis (eastern hemlock)
Ulmus rubra (slippery elm)

Shrubs:
Berberis thunbergii (Japanese barberry)
Elaeagnus umbellata (autumn olive) 5/22/97
Hamamelis virginiana (witch hazel)
Ilex verticillata (winterberry)
Lindera benzoin (spicebush)
Rosa multiflora (multiflora rose)

Vines:
Parthenocissus quinquefolia (Virginia creeper)
Toxicodendron radicans (poison ivy)

Herbs:
Alliaria petiolata (garlic mustard) 5/22/97
Allium vineale (field garlic)
Apocynum sp. (dogbane)
Barbarea vulgaris (common wintercress) 5/22/97
Claytonia virginica (spring beauty) 5/22/97
Cardamine concatenata (cut-leaved toothwort)
Erythronium canadensis (trout lily)
Fragaria virginiana (wild strawberry) 5/22/97
Impatiens capensis (orange jewelweed)
Laportea canadensis (wood nettle)
Podophyllum peltatum (may apple)
Polygonatum pubescens (hairy Solomon's seal) 5/22/97
Polygonum virginianum (jumpseed)
Prenanthes altissima tall white lettuce)
Ranunculus abortivus (kidney-leaved crowfoot) 5/22/97
Ranunculus ficaria (lesser celandine)
Ranunculus recurvatus (hooked buttercup) 5/22/97
Sedum sp. (sedum)
Senecio aureus (golden ragwort) 5/22/97
Solidago canadensis (Canada goldenrod)
Thalictrum dioicum (early meadowrue)

Rushes and Sedges:
Carex stipata (sedge)
Eleocharis sp. (spikerush)
Juncus effusus (soft rush)

Grasses:
Dactylis glomerata (orchard grass)

Ferns and Fern Allies:
Onoclea sensibilis (sensitive fern)
Polystichum acrostichoides (Christmas fern)