Muckshaw Ponds Preserve
Andover & Fredon
201 acres
Photo-credit: The Nature Conservancy
hiking at Muckshaw Ponds
Access to the public trail on the preserve is available from Fredon-Springdale Road, directly across from the parking area for Whittingham Wildlife Refuge. A marked trail leads up steep hills and over narrow, limestone outcrops and provides excellent views of the sinkhole ponds.
unique features
Muckshaw Ponds Preserve is a 201-acre preserve containing three large, interconnected limestone sinkhole ponds that are home to several rare and endangered species. The bedrock that underlies the ponds and the surrounding ridges has dissolved slowly over millions of years, making the groundwater mineral-rich and the soil highly alkaline. This unique process forms cavities in the limestone, resulting in sunken streams, caves and sinkholes. The unusual geology of the area hosts a number of plant species that are rare in New Jersey, and the preserve protects one of the best remaining spots for these plant communities. Muckshaw Ponds Preserve adjoins RVC’s Muckshaw Farm, the current site of the Foodshed Alliance’s Sustainable Agriculture Enterprise (SAgE) program.
history
The Nature Conservancy (TNC) began assembling the properties that make up Muckshaw Ponds Preserve and Muckshaw Farm at the height of the development boom in 1988, in order to protect important species, habitats and farmland from the threat of development. After building these preserved lands to 534 acres, TNC transferred the property to RVC in March 2020.