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Washington Valley Park
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Source: https://www.somersetcountyparks.org/genInfo/maps/WashingtonValleyPk.pdf

This 686 acre undeveloped wooded area includes mountain biking and hiking trails It is located on the first ridge of the Watchung Mountains between Vosseller Ave. and Newmans Lane, on both sides of Chimney Rock Road and is the second largest park in the Somerset Co. Park System.

The western portion next to Vosseller Ave. also has many rock walls some of which may be remnants of the Middle Brook Encampment during the revolution.
A new book about the revolution in in New Jersey identifies a rock which George Washington used to observe the British in New Brunswick as McBrides Rock.

It includes the Hawk Watch, a platform a short walk from a parking area towards the end of Miller Ln. A team has been counting hawks here since 1990 and typically spot from 10 - 20,000 hawks, falcons and eagles in a season. The migration season runs from Sept. through Nov. with the greatest number of birds in the middle of Sept.

It is home to the Chimney Rock Mountain Bike Trail Park with 10 miles of bike trails accessable from Newmans Ln. Gilbride Rd. and Miller Ln.
It is one of the more popular mountain bike parks in New Jersey.

MiddleBrook Trail runs thru the park.   The Bound Brook/Elizabethtown Reservior will become the focal point of future development.

There are many groves of wineberries (A type of raspberry) that ripen in late July. It is considered an invasive but the berries are great. See wineberries.

The park is a haven for ticks.
I got babesiosis while working on McBrides Rock there.
There are a lot of invasive Japanese Barberry there, which the ticks love.
See Barberry, Bambi and bugs: The link between Japanese barberry and Lyme disease | Scientific American.
There is lots of invasive Japanese stiltgrass overhanging the edge of the trails which brush against your legs as you hike.


Washington Valley Park page at the Somerset Co. Park System site.

Contact: Somerset County Park Commission Rangers at (908) 369-1458 ext. 422 or the Naturalists at (908) 766-2489.

Bridgewater Land Use

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last updated 28 Nov 2006