POHATCONG CREEK NATURAL AREA
Washington Township, Warren County, NJ
91 acres
located along the Pohatcong Creek

Directions:

On Mine Hill Road, just south of the Fairway Valley Golf Course and across from the start of Bowerstown Road.  It is about 1.4 miles up the road from the intersection of Academy Street and Mine Hill Road. 

The park is a narrow strip of land along the Pohatcong Creek and sandwiched between the Fairway Valley Gold Course on the north and on the south Fairview Estates, Warren Hills Regional High School and another development. 

Geology:

The Pohatcong Creek flows about 20 miles from its headwaters in Independence Township, through scenic  Warren County, to its mouth at the Delaware River in Pohatcong Township.

The Pohatcong-Lopatcong Creek Watershed Group incorporates townships from central and southern Warren County and drains an area of about 106 square miles. The access sites include Roaring Rock Park, Pohatcong Creek Natural Area and Lock & Chestnut Street Park; and Merrill Creek Reservoir. The watersheds include Pophandusing & Buckhorn Creek, Lopatcong Creek and Pohatcong Creek.

(Source: http://216.239.37.104/search?q=cache:C53oyhIhQC4J:www.upperdelaware.org/
Documents/tech_rep/recreation/Recreation.pdf+%22Hainesville+Wildlife+Management+Area%22&hl=en&ie=UTF-8)

History:

The name for Pohatcong  comes from Pack, "split", atn, "hills" and sacunk, "stream outlet."

Habitats:

woods, wetlands north of the creek (trout-stocked stream for fishing) with lots of skunk cabbage

Trails: 

a short hiking trail.

There is a “log cabin” and park sign. The cabin and stream are dedicated to Robert Rush in memory of his fondness for the environment of Washington township.

PLANT LIST:
Dr. Patrick L. Cooney
* = plants found in bloom, 4/19/2003

Trees:
Acer negundo (ash leaf maple)
Acer rubrum (red maple) *
Carpinus caroliniana (musclewood)
Juglans nigra (black walnut)
Juniperus virginiana (red cedar)
Liriodendron tulipifera (tulip tree)
Platanus occidentalis (American sycamore)
Prunus serotina (black cherry)
Quercus alba (white oak)
Quercus spp. (oaks)

Shrubs:
Forsythia sp. (golden bells) *
Lindera benzoin (spicebush) *
Mitchella repens (partridgeberry)
Myrica pensylvanica (bayberry) planted
Rhus typhina (staghorn sumac)
Rosa multiflora (multiflora rose)
Viburnum prunifolium (blackhaw viburnum)

Vines:
Lonicera japonica (Japanese honeysuckle)
Smilax sp. (greenbrier)

Herbs:
Allium vineale (field garlic)
Anthriscus sylvestris (wild chervil)
Barbarea vulgaris (common wintercress)
Cardamine hirsuta (hairy bittercress) *
Cardamine sp. (toothwort)
Chrysosplenium americanum (golden saxifrage)
Erythronium americanum (trout lily) *
Glechoma hederacea (gill over the ground) *
Impatiens sp. (jewelweed)
Narcissus sp. (daffodil) *
Podophyllum peltatum (may apple)
Symplocarpus foetidus (skunk cabbage)
Taraxacum officinale (dandelion)
Veratrum viride (swamp hellebore)
Veronica agrestis (field speedwell) *

Sedges:
Carex pensylvanica (Pennsylvania sedge)

Grasses:
Elymus sp. (rye grass)