Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Reserve, NJ

ABOUT THE PARK:
Watershed Reserve - Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association

DIRECTIONS:
GPS Coordinates 40.352050, -74.771582

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TRAIL MAP:
Trails on the Watershed Preserve - Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association
Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Reserve, NJ at EveryTrail

HIKE DISTANCE:  7.7 miles

THE HIKE:

Trails can be accessed behind the buildings at the butterfly chair or from behind the Nature Center on the left.

On the red/green trail heading towards the green Stony Brook Trail.

Red-bellied Woodpecker

Heading towards Stony Brook.

Temperature was in the upper teens so everything was frozen.

The Hobbit Tree

The trail along frozen Stony Brook.

Stony Brook

Patterns in the ice.

The junction where the green Stony Brook Trail and red Meadow-Pond Trail split.

There were many types of birds in the meadow but all too fast to capture with the camera and frozen fingers.

Except this hawk but I had to shoot into the sun so none of the many pictures turned out very well.

Coming up on Wargo Pond.

Hildick-Smith Dock at Wargo Pond

Continuing on to the blue Watershed Trail.

Crossing Moores Mill-Mount Rose Road.

A short distance after crossing the road, a trail goes left.

It appears to be an unmarked trail on the map but is actually blazed in white.

There are a couple of T-intersections that are not on the map so it's a little confusing.  I turned left at both.

Skunk Cabbage Hollow but still too early for skunk cabbage.

An interesting find on the boardwalk.  The poor deceased turtle is long gone and just the bleached out shell remains.

At the beginning of the Elk Trail, a sign saying it was closed for deer management.

I went in a few steps to read this sign which indicated that I just happened to be there on one of the hunting days so we had to turn back.

There isn't supposed to be any hunting in the rest of the preserve, according to the web site, but there were several tree stands in the section north of Moores Mill-Mount Rose Road.

Vernal Pool overlook.

Frozen vernal pool.

Oh no, another deceased turtle.  This one looked fairly newly deceased.  Wonder what he was doing out this time of year.

Retracing back on blue.

Honey Brook

Wargo Pond

Looking back at the red barn and dock from the other side of Wargo Pond.

Back at the red barn.

Our haiku

Finishing the hike back at the butterfly chair.

A turkey vulture on the roof of one of the buildings.

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