On Father's Day, the Friends of the Black Run were offering guided hikes of the Black Run Preserve. Though I had been through the Black Run many times, having a guide brought a whole new dimension to the park that I had never seen before. Plus I learned about how the park was created and what it contains.
Prior to the hike, a Black Run Ambassador (our tour guides for the day), gave a quick history of the Pine Barrens, which makes up 22% of NJ. There is a 'continental divide' in New Jersey, so that while most of the rivers in the Pine Barrens flow to the Atlantic Ocean, the Rancocas Watershed, of which Evesham is a part, flows westward into the Delaware Basin. The rivers are all aquifier fed, with millions of gallons of clean water just below the surface.
Every time I have come to Black Run, I have parked my car at the well marked East Trailhead, and followed the green 5K trail. Today, we began our hike on the other side of Kettle Run Road. One of the first things I learned is that there is a second less-crowded parking lot, so I won't always have to park in the crowded one.
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My usual parking spot is to the right (the beginning of Kings Grant Trails) but there is a second lot, the big circle at the lower left. The entrance is a dirt road a few hundred feet down Kettle Run Rd
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On the 'other' side of Kettle Run, we started at the Kettle Run West Trailhead.
One of the first things to see is the bird feeding station, which is monitored by volunteers, with data being shared as part of
Cornell University's Project FeederWatch. There are also 48 nest boxes, some built by DeMasi Middle School students as part of a service project, with other built as part of an Eagle Scout Project. The nest boxes are monitored as part of
Cornell's NestWatch Project. (This paragraph was corrected on June 18th).
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| Bird Feeders as part of Cornell University's Nest Watch Project |
Our tour guide, BRP Ambassador Kim Friedman gave us a brief explanation of how cranberries were harvested. Today, we see cranberry bogs like this:
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| Cranberry bog |
While many people thing cranberries grow in water, they actually grow on land. When they are ripe, the bogs are flood by releasing water from a sluice, and since the cranberries float, it makes them easy to harvest.
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| The remains of a sluice, used to hold back water. These were opened up when cranberries were ripe. |
We got to see a variety of plant life.
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| These blueberries are not ripe yet, but there we did come across some ripe ones too! |
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| Mountain Laurels beginning to bloom |
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| A carnivorous sundew. (This was found on the east side of Kettle Run Road) |
In 2004, a beaver dam collapsed, flooding much of the surrounding area. It also cut off much of the east side of the Black run, so that it is no longer able to be used.
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| The trail is cut in two by the collapse of the beaver dam |
Black Run is currently try to raise money to build a 'Peace Bridge' so that the entire park may be accessible again. If you'd like to donate, please
visit their GoFundMe page.
Trail volunteers go out frequently to clean trails, cut new ones. Trails are well marked and signs are abundant. There are walking and biking trails (and the park is currently adding some ADA accessible trails) along with some more rustic 'Nature Trails', which are for walking only. Trail volunteers have also recently created a place for hikers to stop for a rest. It is possible that yoga classes will be held here in the future.
Our guided hike today was about 2 hours, and we only visited a very small portion of the park. The park is a great way to spend a few hours, and the trails are well marked. Except for the nature trails, the trails would be easily walked by even small children. The Black Run is always looking for volunteers to help out. You can
visit their webpage and click on 'Get Involved.'
Here are some random photos I took during the hike.
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| Cedar trees in a cedar swamp |
