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Trail Guides
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Pleasantview Terrace, Ridgefield, NJ
Phone: (201) 460-1700
www.njmeadowlands.gov
New Jersey Meadowlands Commission
Directions: Exit by turning Left onto Crescent Street and then Left onto Mehrhof Road. Turn Right onto Washington Avenue at stop sign. Washington Avenue bears Left. Pass straight through yellow blinking light and stay Right. Enter circle at Route 46 staying Right while following Turnpike sign. Pass over bridge.
Turn Right after 4/10 mile following sign for Teaneck – Ridgefield, before the traffic light (sign is hard to see). Bear Left at 1st stop sign onto Main Street. Bear Left at 2nd stop sign
onto Bergen Pike. Bergen Pike bears Left. Pass through 1 traffic light at Teaneck Road. Continue on Bergen Pike following signs for Ridgefield. Bergen Pike becomes Hendricks Causeway after Victoria Terrace. Turn Left onto Church Street after approximately 1.5 miles. Follow signs for Meadowlands Field. Turn Right onto Edgewater Avenue. Turn Right onto Railroad Avenue. After 1/2 mile turn Right onto Pleasantview Terrace.
After 2/10 mile Skeetkill Marsh is on Left side of road. Map
Open daily dawn to dusk. Parking on street.
New Jersey Bus Line No. 127 Ridgefield/Union City/New York stops at Fulton Place and Hendricks Causeway. Walk down Fulton Place and turn Right onto Edgewater and follow directions above. Walking distance within 1 mile.
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| Winter Wren | Lloyd Spitalink |
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| |  The Skeetkill Marsh lies within the industrial section of Ridgefield and comprises approximately 16 acres of undeveloped property. Before the acquisition of the site by the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission, it was largely a dense monoculture of phragmites, with very little open water or tidal flow. Habitat diversity was limited and passive recreation did not exist. Today the site is a result of an enhancement project that included the creation of tidal channels, open water, low marsh habitat and upland islands. A viewing area along Pleasantview Terrace was included along with the landscaping and upland habitat. This marsh is tidal-dependent, so plan you visit around low or high tide, whichever you prefer.
Skeetkill Marsh is a Tree Swallow Nest Box site. The New Jersey Meadowlands Commission installs some 500 nest boxes throughout the Meadowlands District each spring, about 20 of which can be found in this marsh. Tree Swallows return in early spring and establish their territories.
Look for sandpipers like Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, and nesting Mallard, Baltimore Oriole, Yellow Warbler, Eastern Phoebe, along with wading birds like Great and Snowy Egrets.
The annual migration brings waterfowl to this marsh, especially large numbers of Mallard and American Black Duck, which stop to feed on the water pepper. Also be on the lookout for warblers and shorebirds moving through as they move south.
This small site is an example of successful wildlife habitat restoration in the Meadowlands region. The scrub/shrub islands now support diverse vegetation including cattails, cordgrass, water pepper, yellow iris, pluchea, hibiscus, three-square sedge and rushes, like soft stem bulrush. These plants all provide food and shelter for a variety of birds and pollinating insects.
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