Pine Avenue, English Creek, NJ
Phone: (609) 625-8219
www.aclink.org/PARKS/mainpages/parks.asp#riverbend
Atlantic County Parks
Exit Lake Lenape Park, and turn Left onto Old Harding Highway and then Left onto Mill Street. Make the first Right onto Main Street. Continue straight through two traffic lights and bear Right to follow CR 559 South/ Somers Point Road. After 6.3 miles, turn Left onto Betsy Scull Road. Continue for 0.8 miles and park along the sand road, just beyond the entrance to the shooting range. DIRECTIONS FROM NEAREST HIGHWAY: From the intersection of Route 40 and Route 50 in Mays Landing, continue East on Route 40/Harding Highway. Turn Right at the first traffic light and keep Right to merge onto CR 559 South/Somers Point Road. After 6.3 miles, turn Left onto Betsy Scull Road. Continue for 0.8 miles and park along the sand road, just beyond the entrance to the shooting range. Map
Open daily from dawn to dusk. Entrance road and other trails periodically flooded. Do not drive through deep puddles. Park and proceed on foot. Hunting in season, wear bright colors for safety.
The Atlantic County Firearms Training Facility is located within Riverbend Park. For more information visit http://www.aclink.org/publicsafety/FTF/
Additional county park land adjacent to Riverbend Park can be accessed from Betsy Scull Road traveling West from CR 559/ Somers Point Road, and also Jayne Drive, a dirt road 0.4 miles further North. These are both road-ends that lead into the salt marsh and offer nice views and fishing access along Great Egg Harbor River. These areas are also good places to listen for nocturnal birds on spring and summer evenings.
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| Spring Azure | Tony Geiger |
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| | Riverbend Park encompasses 775 acres of pristine woodlands in the headwaters of Perch Cove Run, Powell Creek and Matthew’s Run – tributaries to the Great Egg Harbor River. Sand trails through the dense, mature woods are popular for mountain biking and horseback riding, and also offer excellent opportunities for nature study in a little-explored corner of Atlantic County.
Be sure to visit the woods in Autumn, when bird migration along the Great Egg Harbor River corridor is at its peak and foliage colors are brilliant among the oaks, maples and fruiting shrubs.
Winter is an excellent time to visit for quiet solitude in the park. The most active wildlife are woodland birds such as Downy and Hairy Woodpecker and White-breasted Nuthatch. Listen for gray squirrels and flocks of Blue Jays and Crows making a ruckus – they will sometimes point to a Red-tailed Hawk or Great Horned Owl hidden in the trees.
Migrant songbirds include Pine Warbler, Black-and-White Warbler, Scarlet Tanager, Hooded Warbler, Louisiana Waterthrush, and Yellow-billed Cuckoo. Woodland butterflies such as mourning cloak, Eastern comma, Appalachian brown, Juvenal’s duskywing, and spring azure are emerging. Amphibians are becoming active as well. Listen for spring peeper and chorus frog, and watch for Fowler’s toad and cricket frog retreating into vernal pools in the sand roads. Insect repellant recommended.
Watch for reptiles such as black racer, garter snake, fence lizard and box turtle crossing the trails. Present but less common are pine snake, milk snake, and hognose snake. Nesting birds include Ovenbird, Wood Thrush, Great-crested Flycatcher, Eastern Towhee, Northern Flicker, and Red-bellied Woodpecker, among others. Blueberry, huckleberry, sheep laurel, and sweet pepperbush are blooming. Look for Ruby-throated Hummingbird and various moths and butterflies attracted to the nectar. Pine Barrens treefrog and gray treefrog call on humid evenings. Insect repellant recommended.
Changing foliage offers a beautiful backdrop for fall birding. Songbirds to expect are Blackpoll Warbler, American Redstart, Red-eyed Vireo, Gray Catbird, Northern Flicker and Eastern Bluebird. Various colorful mushrooms sprout from the trail edges. Chipmunks and squirrels gather acorns and other seeds. Broad-winged, Coopers and Sharp-shinned Hawks move through the woods.
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