Kittatinny Valley State Park

Park Overview:

An oasis along the spine of the Kittatinny mountains with glacial lakes and madows filled with seasonal wild flowers.
Trail Uses:Hiking, Mountain biking, X-C skiing
Dogs:
Trail Miles:75 miles
Park Acreage:5656 acres
City/County/
State:		Andover/Sussex/NJ
Buy Trail Map:Kittatinny Trails Map
Web Map:NJ DEP trail map for Kittatinny Valley SP
Buy Book:Kittatinny Trails - Hiking Guide Book
Park Description:

Within the Kittatinny Valley State Park there are four lakes, extensive wetlands, and limestone ridges.  The Aeroflex-Andover Airport, operated by the NJ Forest Fire Service, is also within its boundaries but not open to the public.

Scattered throughout are numerous wetlands that are of considerable biological interest.  They are open marshes, typically with a few scattered shrubs [including poison sumac, a relative of poison ivy].  The limestone rock found in the area has created an alkaline soil in which only specially adapted species of plants can grow.  Fortunately many plants have thrived and these marshes are considered to be places of unusually high natural diversity.
Trails Overview:

The 20-mile Sussex Branch rail trail passes through the park, in addition to an extensive network of seven blazed trails within the park.  The 27-milePaulinskill Valley rail trail is also administered by the Kittatinny Valley State Park.
Directions:

To get to the park office from Route 80, take Exit 25 to Route 206 north approximately eight miles through Andover Borough. Turn right onto Goodale Road and follow it approximately one mile to the park entrance on the right.  See park's web page under Contact Information below for parking areas. 
Contact Information:NJ DEP, Division of Parks and Forestry
973-786-6445
Region:Kittatinnies
Fees:None

Comments

One of the "Hidden Gems...."

On September 24th, 2012 Phil McLewin says:

The NJ DEP has issued a press release identifying this park as one of the Hidden Gems of New Jersey's Park System. 

The release suggests that in the park "you are quickly immersed in a world of tall grasses, meadows filled with wild flowers, a haven for the likes of wild turkeys, beavers, muskrats, foxes and black bear. If you listen carefully, you can hear the sounds of silence that are sometimes so hard to find in an increasingly frenetic and wired world. Nature here buffers out most of the noise of highways and civilization, replacing it with whispers of light breeze, natural harmonies of songbirds, croaking of frogs, and the hums and clicks of bugs that call this place home. Butterflies gently roam the gardens and meadows. Egrets stand stoically in shallow waters. Bees buzz matter-of-factly through flowers, oblivious to the intrusion of humans."

For the full text click here.