Spring Valley Preserve

Hardwick
26 acres

HIKING AT SPRING VALLEY

Public access is provided via a hiking trail called "Ferlas Pond Nature Trail" which begins at the rear of the Hardwick Town Hall parking lot, beneath the pine trees.  Hike across the public works yard carefully to the wood line.

unique features

The preserve’s characteristic features include a large sinkhole pond that functions as an active vernal pool for amphibians, and its associated wetlands and marsh. The pond drains underground, recharging the aquifer. This groundwater flows to the west and emerges on the surface as springs feeding another pond near Slabtown Creek, thus the name Spring Valley. There is no perennial surface drainage entering or leaving the pond, as is characteristic of what is known as “karst” drainage, which occurs in limestone terrains over much of Hardwick. The pond hosts nesting grebes, water snakes, salamanders, warblers, and a variety of flowering plants that thrive in the calcareous fen (wetland) and sinkhole pond setting. Bullfrogs are prolific in the marsh.

history

Spring Valley Preserve was acquired by purchase in 2004 using grants from the Warren County Open Space Trust Fund, the Garden State Preservation Trust, and Hardwick Township.