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New Jersey
Blair Creek Preserve
Location:
Hardwick Township, Sussex County and Stillwater Township, Warren County
Acres protected:
486 acres
Why You Should Visit
Adjacent to northwestern New Jersey’s Delaware Water Gap national recreation area, Blair Creek Preserve sits nestled at the base of the Kittatinny Ridge, only miles from the Delaware River. A series of unmarked trails lead from a gravel parking lot through deciduous forest to beaver ponds, rocky streams, and expansive wetland meadows. The preserve’s forests are home to breeding Cerulean Warblers and many of the nesting warblers that make the Kittatinny Ridge a well-known birding location. Signs of black bears and coyotes dot the trails throughout the preserve.
Why the Conservancy Selected This Site
This part of northwestern New Jersey is still home to extensive forests, clean cold-water streams, and species that need room to roam like bobcats and fishers. Blair Creek Preserve helps form an uninterrupted greenway with the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area and other protected forested lands. The preserve protects the headwaters of Blair Creek which, in turn, helps provide the clean waters needed for trout fishing and drinking water downstream.
What the Conservancy Has Done/Is Doing
The original 480 acre purchase was completed by a partnership of the Ridge and Valley Conservancy, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, and the Conservancy. The Conservancy continues to actively purchase nearby lands to add to the preserve. Plans are underway to build a bird blind and a short marked trail that will loop from the parking lot through the suite of habitats Blair Creek Preserve protects. To help protect the forest, the Conservancy works with a local hunting club to reduce deer numbers to sustainable levels. Conservancy staff is conducting studies using small deer exclosures to better understand forest and deer interactions.
Visitation Guidelines
- No swimming, camping, fires, or alcoholic beverages.
- Littering and dumping are prohibited.
- No collecting or trapping.
Motorized vehicles are prohibited.
Things To Do
Hiking trails wind through the fields and forests.
Plants
Several state-rare plants are found here as well as unique wetland communities.
Animals
The deep interior forest of Blair Creek Preserve offers resting and feeding grounds for a host of increasingly threatened neotropical migratory songbirds. Black bear and bobcat also find habitat here.
Plan Your Visit
The preserve is open from dawn until dusk.
Directions
For directions please contact the Chapter's Chester office at (908) 879-7262.
Discussion
Have you been to this preserve? Are you thinking of visiting? See what others are saying about their experiences and add your comments below.
Add Your Comments
Time for you to join the discussion. Tell us about your experience at this preserve. What plants and animals did you see? When did you go? You can help others plan their visit when you share your thoughts. And thank you for visiting one of our nature preserves!
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