Black River County Park | |
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Location | Chester Township, New Jersey |
Coordinates | 40°45′50″N74°43′00″W / 40.76389°N 74.71667°W |
Operated by | Morris County Parks Commission |
The Black River County Park is a public park in Morris County, New Jersey operated by the Morris County Park Commission.
The park covers an area of 560 acres (2.3 km2) [1] along the eastern shore of the Black River and is located between Long Valley and Chester. Its land represents a glacial valley carved by the Black River and some of its tributaries. The park is home to the Nathan Cooper Gristmill, the Elizabeth D. Kay Environmental Center, the Bamboo Brook Outdoor Education Center, and the Willowwood Arboretum.
The land was mined for iron ore during the 19th centuries, and within the park is an old iron mine. In 1883 the Hacklebarney Branch of the High Bridge Railroad, later part of the Central Railroad of New Jersey (CNJ), was built to serve the local iron mines. [1] The railway was abandoned in 1900. The railway trestle has in part become part of a hiking trail along the river. When Alfred and Elizabeth Kay moved from Pittsburgh to the area in 1924 they consolidated land to establish the Hidden River Farm; later some of their land was donated to the park system.
The park is used for hiking, fishing, bird watching as well as for activities through its educational centers. A list of its botanical offering has been collected. [1]
Other parks in the Black River valley are the Black River Wildlife Management Area and the Hacklebarney State Park.
Pinnacle Mountain State Park is a 2,356-acre state park located in Pulaski County, Arkansas just outside of Little Rock. The main attraction is Pinnacle Mountain, an iconic landmark surrounded by the bottomlands of the Big Maumelle and Little Maumelle rivers.
Willowwood Arboretum, 131 acres (53 ha), is an arboretum and public park located at 300 Longview Road, Chester Township, New Jersey, Morris County, New Jersey. It is part of the Morris County Park System and is open to the public daily.
Greenwood Furnace State Park is a 423-acre (171 ha) Pennsylvania state park in Jackson Township, Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania in the United States. The park is near the historic iron making center of Greenwood Furnace. The park includes the ghost town of Greenwood that grew up around the ironworks, old roads and charcoal hearths. Greenwood Furnace State Park is adjacent to Rothrock State Forest and on the western edge of an area of Central Pennsylvania known as the Seven Mountains. The park is on Pennsylvania Route 305, 20 miles (32 km) south of State College.
Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area (CRNRA) preserves a series of sites between Atlanta and Lake Sidney Lanier along the Chattahoochee River in Georgia, U.S. The 48-mile (77 km) stretch of the river affords public recreation opportunities and access to historic sites. The national recreation area, a National Park Service unit, was established on August 15, 1978, by President Jimmy Carter.
Doodletown was an isolated hamlet in the Town of Stony Point, Rockland County, New York, United States. Purchased by the Palisades Interstate Park Commission during the 1960s, it is now part of Bear Mountain State Park and a popular destination for hikers, birdwatchers, botanists, and local historians. It is located north of Jones Point, west of Iona Island, and southeast of Orange County. The former settlement is now a ghost town.
General Nathan A. Cooper was an American landowner, businessman, and military officer from Chester Township, New Jersey.
Fort Valley is a mountain valley located primarily in Shenandoah County, Virginia. It is often called "valley within a valley" as it lies between the two arms of the northern part of the Blue Ridge mountain range in the Shenandoah Valley in the Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians geological zone.
Watchung Reservation is the largest nature reserve in Union County, New Jersey, United States. Covering 1,945 acres, it is bounded by the city of Summit, the borough of Mountainside, and the townships of Berkeley Heights, Scotch Plains, and Springfield.
Pine Grove Furnace State Park is a protected Pennsylvania area that includes Laurel and Fuller Lakes in Cooke Township of Cumberland County. The Park accommodates various outdoor recreation activities, protects the remains of the Pine Grove Iron Works (1764), and was the site of Laurel Forge (1830), Pine Grove Park (1880s), and a brick plant (1892). The Park is 8 miles (13 km) from exit 37 of Interstate 81 on Pennsylvania Route 233.
Hacklebarney State Park is a state park of the U.S. state of New Jersey, located between Long Valley and Chester in Morris County. The park is managed by the New Jersey Division of Parks and Forestry. Other parks in the Black River region include the Black River Wildlife Management Area and the Black River County Park.
Big Ridge State Park is a state park in Union County, Tennessee, in the southeastern United States. The park consists of 3,687 acres (14.92 km2) on the southern shore of the Norris Reservoir, an impoundment of the Clinch River created by the completion of Norris Dam in 1936. Much of the park's recreational focus is on Big Ridge Lake, a 45-acre (0.18 km2) sub-impoundment of Norris near the center of the park.
The Lenape Trail is a trail through Essex County, connecting many county parks and reservations, wooded spaces, and historical sites. It begins in Newark, New Jersey and ends in Millburn, New Jersey. It was established in 1982. It is the fifth longest trail in the state behind the Delaware and Raritan Canal Trail, the Appalachian Trail, the completed section of the Highlands Trail in the state and the Batona Trail. The Lenape trail traverses Newark and its suburbs, as well as the Watchung Mountains and Passaic Meadows. Because of the steepness of the Watchung Mountains and the flood-prone nature of the Passaic Meadows, the former basin of Glacial Lake Passaic, these areas have remained much less developed than the rest of the northeastern part of the state. This trail therefore offers hikers an opportunity to see cultural and historical sites of an urban trail, as well as large natural and undeveloped areas. The trail's proximity to New York City and the various ridges it traverses, including Forest Hill, Orange Mountain, and Second Watchung Mountain, offer many views of the skyline. The Lenape Trail forms a segment of the Liberty-Water Gap Trail and incorporates the West Essex Trail, the Lenape Trail's only rail-to-trail section. The Lenape Trail also connects with Morris County's Patriots Path trail system on its western terminus.
The Patriots' Path is a multi-use trail system in Morris County, New Jersey, open to cyclists, hikers, and horseback riders, consisting of a 55-mile (89 km) main trail and 35 miles (56 km) of spur trails. The main trail is marked with white blazes or a white circular blaze with a brown tree. The spur trails are marked with blue blazes or a white circle with a blue tree, while the side spur trails are marked with a red blaze or a white circle with a red tree.
The Nathan Cooper Gristmill is a historic gristmill on the Black River located at 66 NJ Route 24 in Chester Township, Morris County, New Jersey. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on November 21, 1976 for its significance in industry.
The New Jersey Women's Heritage Trail is a collaborative effort between the New Jersey's Historic Preservation Office, part of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, and 94 historic sites statewide to raise awareness about the roles played by women in shaping the history of state of New Jersey.
Bamboo Brook Outdoor Education Center is a botanical garden and public park in Chester Township, New Jersey. The house and garden, listed using its historic name, Merchiston Farm, was added to the National Register of Historic Places on November 13, 1989 for its significance as the home of the American landscape architect Martha Brookes Hutcheson and her landscaping of the property.
The Elizabeth D. Kay Environmental Center is located on a 223-acre (90 ha) site by the Black River in Chester Township, Morris County, New Jersey. The center was dedicated on October 28, 1993. The property, previously known as Hidden River Farm, was donated by Elizabeth D. Kay and her husband Alfred. The building is used as the field office of The Nature Conservancy in New Jersey. The Patriots' Path crosses the fields and forests of the property.
The Morris County Park Commission (MCPC) is a board of commissioners that manages parks, facilities, and historic sites in Morris County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.