Manasquan Wildlife Management Area

Ramshorn Drive, Wall, Monmouth County, NJ

754 acres

Directions:

Garden State Parkway south to exit 98; follow signs to Route 34 (Pt. Pleasant); drive south passing under the Garden State Parkway and turn right on the first available right turn, Allenwood-Lakewood Road; make a left at the stop sign to stay on Allenwood-Lakewood Road; drive about 0.5 miles and turn left onto Ramshorn Drive; drive 0.2 of a mile to the entrance on the right; pull in the paved road and drive to the end of the road to the parking ahead. 

(For maps see: www.state.nj.us/dep/fgw/wmaland.htm)

Habitats:

open fields, deciduous forests, and wetlands along the Manasquan River. 

Facilities:

No restroom facilities available.

Trails:

April 10, 2004. From the parking area, the main trail heads a short distance down to the Manasquan River. We turned left to walk along the river but did not get that far because the informal trail faded out amidst the Phragmites marsh.

Returned to the main trail and then went north on another informal trail. A short walk brings the hiker to the northern border of the wildlife management area: a road with a bridge over the Manasquan River.

We returned to the parking area. Searched for other informal trails. Did find a short trail that head downhill to a stream and then on to the main trail.

Searched for other informal trails without much luck. Of course, this is what one would expect of a wildlife management area. In no mood to bushwhack, we left the area after a short visit.

PLANT LIST:

Dr. Patrick L. Cooney

* = date plant found in bloom, 4/10/04

Trees:

Acer rubrum (red maple) *

Ailanthus altissima (tree of heaven)

Betula nigra (river birch)

Ilex opaca (American holly)

Juniperus virginiana (red cedar)

Pinus rigida (pitch pine)

Prunus serotina (black cherry)

Quercus alba (white oak)

Salix sp. (willow)

Sassafras albidum (sassafras)

Ulmus sp. (elm)

Shrubs:

Alnus sp. (alder)

Clethra alnifolia (sweet pepperbush)

Cornus amomum (swamp dogwood)

Forsythia sp. (golden bells) *

Lindera benzoin (spicebush) * soon

Myrica sp. (bayberry)

Rhus typhina (staghorn sumac)

Rosa multiflora (multiflora rose)

Rosa sp. (fat rose hips)

Rubus sp. (blackberry)

Sambucus canadensis (common elderberry)

Vaccinium corymbosum (highbush blueberry)

Viburnum prunifolium? (blackhaw viburnum)?

Vinca minor (periwinkle) *

Vines:

Hedera helix (English ivy)

Lonicera japonica (Japanese honeysuckle)

Smilax sp. (greenbrier)

Toxicodendron radicans (poison ivy)

Vitis sp. (grape)

Herbs:

Alliaria petiolata (garlic mustard)

Allium vineale (field garlic)

Cardamine hirsuta (hairy bittercress)? *

Daucus carota (Queen Anne’s lace)

Galium sp. (bedstraw)

Hemerocallis fulva (tawny day lily)

Oenothera biennis (common evening primrose)

Polygonum cuspidatum (Japanese knotweed)

Potentilla sp. (cinquefoil)

Rumex obtusifolius (broad-leaved lock)

Solidago sp. (goldenrod)

Symplocarpus foetidus (skunk cabbage)

Typha sp. (cattail)

Grasses:

Panicum virgatum (switch grass)

Phragmites australis (giant reed grass)

Schizachyrium scoparium (little blue stem grass)

Spartina spp. (spartina)

Ferns:

Lycopodium obscurum (ground pine)

Onoclea sensibilis (sensitive fern)

Other:

Sphagnum sp. (sphagnum moss)