Penbryn Road, Winslow Township, NJ
Phone: (856) 629-0090
www.state.nj.us/dep/fgw/wmas.htm
NJ Department of Environmental Protection
Exit the parking area for Marilyn Beard Trailhead Park and turn Right onto Burnt Mill Road. After 0.9 miles turn Right onto Old Whitehorse Pike, then quick Left to cross over the railroad bridge and merge onto Route 30/White Horse Pike. At the first traffic light turn Left onto Cooper Folly Road. After 0.2 miles turn Right onto Hayes Mill Road. Continue straight through the first traffic light onto Factory Road. Continue straight through the next traffic light onto New Freedom Road. After 0.6 miles turn Left onto Penbryn Road. Parking areas for Penbryn Lake are 0.4 and 0.7 miles on the Right. DIRECTIONS FROM NEAREST HIGHWAY: From the intersection of Route 73 and Route 30 in Berlin, continue South on Route 73. Turn Right at the first traffic light for Factory Road. After 0.9 miles, proceed straight through the light at Taunton Road onto New Freedom Road. After 0.6 miles turn Left on Penbryn Road. Parking areas for Penbryn Lake are 0.4 and 0.7 miles on the Right. Map
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| River Otter | Don Freiday |
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| | Penbryn Lake WMA is an island of preserved Pine Barrens habitat in a predominantly industrial and suburban landscape. The woods to the North and East of the lake buffer the headwaters of the Great Egg Harbor River. Trails surrounding the lake take visitors through scenic uplands of pitch pine, Virginia pine, beech, birch, and mixed oak, as well as patches of Atlantic white cedar swamp. This easily accessible lake is a nice destination for anglers and beginning birders and holds discoveries for the botanist and herpetologist as well.
Follow the trail along the Eastern Shore of the lake for 0.3 miles to reach a boggy area that is good for rare plants, reptiles and amphibians, and dragonflies and damselflies.
Resident woodland birds include Hairy and Downy Woodpecker, White-breasted Nuthatch, Cardinal, Blue Jay and American Crow. The edges of the lake host Great Blue Heron and Belted Kingfisher. Scan the lake for diving ducks such as Common Merganser, Ring Necked Duck and Hooded Merganser. River otters may be glimpsed swimming across the lake or rummaging in the reeds by the water’s edge. White-tailed deer are abundant. Barred Owl can occasionally be heard at dusk.
Spring Migrants include Pine, Palm and Prairie Warblers, Ovenbird, Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher, Wood Thrush, and both Kinglets as well as Bank, Barn, Tree, and Rough-winged Swallows. Wood Ducks may be found on the lake in the early morning. Scan carefully around the lake’s edge for blooming orchids, carnivorous plants and amphibians such as Northern grey treefrog, Fowler's toad, spring peeper, green grog, and pickerel frog.
The lake is a popular fishing destination. Laurels bloom in the understory. Dragonflies such as Eastern pondhawk, blue-fronted dancer and Autumn meadowhawk are abundant in the reeds. Look for red-bellied and painted turtles basking on logs. Breeding birds include Baltimore Oriole, Orchard Oriole, Field Sparrow, Eastern Kingbird, Common Nighthawk and Chuck-Wills-Widow. Osprey hover overhead and Green Heron stalk the banks. Keep an eye out for Eastern fence lizard and Northern watersnake.
The woods become vibrant with changing foliage colors. Flocks of American Robins and Yellow-rumped Warblers frequent the woods, and Swamp Sparrow can be found mixing with Song and White-throated Sparrows. Gray squirrels and chipmunks rustle for beech nuts and seeds. Scan the lake for Bufflehead, Ruddy Duck, Double-crested Cormorant and the occasional Gadwall or American Wigeon. Look overhead and check the radio tower for Red-tailed Hawk, Cooper’s Hawk and Bald Eagle, among other migrating raptors.
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