In New Jersey and Philadelphia folklore in the United States, the Jersey Devil is a legendary creature said to inhabit the forests of the Pine Barrens in South Jersey. The creature is often described as a flying biped with hooves, but there are many variations. The common description is that of a bipedal kangaroo-like or wyvern-like creature with a horse- or goat-like head, leathery bat-like wings, horns, small arms with clawed hands, legs with cloven hooves, and a forked or pointed tail. It has been reported to move quickly and is often described as emitting a high-pitched "blood-curdling scream".
The New Jersey Pine Barrens, also known as the Pinelands or simply the Pines, is the largest remaining example of the Atlantic coastal pine barrens ecosystem, stretching across more than seven counties of New Jersey. Two other large, contiguous examples of this ecosystem remain in the northeastern United States: the Long Island Central Pine Barrens and the Massachusetts Coastal Pine Barrens. The name pine barrens refers to the area's sandy, acidic, nutrient-poor soil. Although European settlers could not cultivate their familiar crops there, the unique ecology of the Pine Barrens supports a diverse spectrum of plant life, including orchids and carnivorous plants. The area is also notable for its populations of rare pygmy pitch pines and other plant species that depend on the frequent fires of the Pine Barrens to reproduce. The sand that composes much of the area's soil is referred to by the locals as sugar sand.
The Northeastern coastal forests are a temperate broadleaf and mixed forests ecoregion of the northeast and middle Atlantic region of the United States. The ecoregion covers an area of 34,630 sq miles (89,691 km2) encompassing the Piedmont and coastal plain of seven states, extending from coastal southwestern Maine, southeastern New Hampshire, eastern Massachusetts, and Rhode Island, southward through Connecticut, New York State, New Jersey, southeast Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland.
Wharton State Forest is the largest state forest in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is the largest single tract of land in the state park system of New Jersey, encompassing approximately 122,880 acres (497.3 km2) of the Pinelands northeast of Hammonton. Its protected acreage is divided between Burlington, Camden, and Atlantic counties. The entire forest is located within the Atlantic coastal pine barrens ecoregion as well as the New Jersey Pinelands National Reserve. The forest is located in the forested watershed of the Mullica River, which drains the central Pinelands region into the Great Bay. The forest is under the jurisdiction of the New Jersey Division of Parks and Forestry.
The Atlantic coastal pine barrens is a now rare temperate coniferous forest ecoregion of the Northeast United States distinguished by unique species and topographical features, generally nutrient-poor, often acidic soils and a pine tree distribution once controlled by frequent fires.
Pine barrens, pine plains, sand plains, or pineland areas occur throughout the U.S. from Florida to Maine as well as the Midwest, West, and Canada and parts of Eurasia. Perhaps the most well known pine-barrens area to North Americans is the New Jersey Pine Barrens. Pine barrens are generally pine forests in otherwise "barren" and agriculturally challenging areas. Such pine forests often occur on dry, acidic, infertile soils, and also include grasses, forbs, and low shrubs. The most extensive pine barrens occur in large areas of sandy glacial deposits, lakebeds, and outwash terraces along rivers.
The Long Island Central Pine Barrens is a large area of publicly protected pine barrens in Suffolk County, New York, on Long Island, covering more than 100,000 acres (405 km2).
Pinelands National Reserve is a national reserve that encompasses the New Jersey Pine Barrens. The Pinelands is a unique location of historic villages and berry farms amid the vast oak-pine forests, extensive wetlands, and diverse species of plants and animals of the Atlantic coastal pine barrens ecoregion. It is protected by state and federal legislation through management by local, state, and federal governments and the private sector. The reserve contains Wharton State Forest, Brendan T. Byrne State Forest, Bass River State Forest, Penn State Forest, and Double Trouble State Park, which provide public recreation facilities. Established by Congress in 1978, it is one of the nation's first national reserves, established along with Ebey's Landing National Historical Reserve.
Bass River State Forest is a 23,563 acres (95.36 km2) state park in Ocean County, New Jersey, United States. The park, named for the Bass River which crosses through it, shelters a portion of the environmentally sensitive Pine Barrens but also provides a variety of recreational resources to visitors. The park is operated and maintained by the New Jersey Division of Parks and Forestry.
The Pine Barrens tree frog is a species of New World tree frog. It is becoming rare due to habitat loss.
Parvin State Park is a state park located in the southwestern part of New Jersey. Situated around Parvin Lake on the edge of the Pine Barrens, the park includes pine forests, hardwood forests, and swamps. The park is located near Pittsgrove Township in Salem County, and is operated and maintained by the New Jersey Division of Parks and Forestry.
The Pine Barrens is a 1968 book by American writer John McPhee about the history, people and biology of the New Jersey Pine Barrens that originally appeared in The New Yorker in 1967.
Cattus Island County Park, also known as Cattus Island is a 530 acres (2 km2) passive recreational park located in Toms River, New Jersey. Cattus Island is a park of the Ocean County Department of Parks and Recreation. Cattus Island is home to the Cooper Environmental Center, an educational center which displays collections of local wildlife including birds, reptiles, and aquatic animals. The center also provides educational programs and presentations to the public and organized groups.
The New Jersey Pine Barrens has been the site of many legends, tales and mythical creatures, many of which have been documented by Weird NJ in its magazines and books.
The eastern woodlands of the United States covered large portions of the southeast side of the continent until the early 20th century. These were in a fire ecology of open grassland and forests with low ground cover of herbs and grasses.
Cedars of Lebanon State Park is a state park in Wilson County, Tennessee, in the southeastern United States. It consists of 900 acres (364 ha) situated amidst the 9,420-acre (3,810 ha) Cedars of Lebanon State Forest. The park and forest are approximately 10 miles (16 km) south of Lebanon, Tennessee.
The Batona Trail is a 53.5-mile (86.1 km) hiking trail through New Jersey's Pine Barrens. The trail is one of the longest in the state, behind the Delaware and Raritan Canal Trail, the section of the Appalachian Trail within the state, the Liberty-Water Gap Trail, and the completed section of the Highlands Trail in the state. The Batona Trail begins in Brendan T. Byrne State Forest at the ghost town of Ong's Hat and traverses Franklin Parker Preserve, Wharton State Forest and Bass River State Forest. The trail was built in 1961 by the Batona Hiking Club, which began informally in 1928 when Philadelphians began meeting regularly to hike. It takes about three days to hike the whole trail.
Batsto Village is a historic unincorporated community located on CR 542 within Washington Township in Burlington County, New Jersey, United States. It is located in Wharton State Forest in the south central Pine Barrens, and a part of the Pinelands National Reserve. It is listed on the New Jersey and National Register of Historic Places, and is administered by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection's Division of Parks & Forestry. The name is derived from the Swedish bastu, bathing place ; the first bathers were probably the Lenni Lenape Native Americans.
Penn State Forest is a 3,366-acre (5.259 sq mi) state park in Burlington County, New Jersey, United States. The forest is protected as a section of the environmentally sensitive Pine Barrens. Various recreational resources are available to visitors including Oswego Lake and the Oswego River for boating and fishing. The lake has a picnic area with a boat launch and primitive restrooms. Miles of unpaved roads composed of gravel, dirt, and sand traverse all areas of the forest. The roads are open for hiking, mountain biking, horseback riding, and cross-country skiing, as well as four-wheel driving. Hunting for deer, wild turkey, water fowl, and small game is permitted in season. A section of the Pine Barren Plains, a globally rare dwarf forest ecosystem that reaches a mature canopy height of about 4 ft (1.2 m), is located in the northeastern portion of the park. Penn State Forest is operated and maintained by the New Jersey Division of Parks and Forestry.
