Eighth Street, Folsom, NJ
Phone: (856) 629-0090
www.state.nj.us/dep/fgw/wmas.htm
NJ Department of Environmental Protection
From Hammonton Lake Park, turn Left onto Park Avenue, then Left onto South Egg Harbor Road. After 1.2 miles, turn Right onto CR 640/Weymouth Rd. After 0.5 miles, turn Right onto Reading Avenue, and then Left onto Eighth Street. After crossing the Atlantic City Expressway, continue for 1.2 miles and park on the Right by a guard rail and trailhead into Great Egg Harbor River WMA. DIRECTIONS FROM NEAREST HIGHWAY: From the intersection of Route 30 and Route 206 in Hammonton, continue East on Route 30/White Horse Pike. After 2.2 miles, bear Right onto CR 640/Weymouth Rd. After 0.5 miles, turn Right onto Reading Avenue, and then Left onto Eighth Street. After crossing the Atlantic City Expressway, continue for 1.2 miles and park on the Right by a guard rail and trailhead into Great Egg Harbor River WMA. Map
It is a WMA, so it’s WILD. See information elsewhere in this brochure. Open daily from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. Additional trailheads are located along 8th Street 0.2 miles further South, and 0.3 miles North.
Newtonville Dune Field: A small portion of the Great Egg Harbor River Wildlife Management Area lies within a rare geological formation known as Newtonville Dune Field. The landscape here is a preserved dune field from the late-Pleistocene era, formed in windy, tundra-like conditions. To reach this area, turn Right onto 8th Street and head South toward Route 322/Black Horse Pike. After crossing Route 322 and then a small bridge, make the first Right onto 5th Road. Bear Left at the end of the road onto 9th Street, following the paved portion of road. Notice the gently rolling landscape in the woodlands to the right – this is a reflection of hairpin parabolic dunes formed in the Ice Age. Rustic foot trails into the WMA can be found at the end of 9th Street on the Left.
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| Pine Snake | Matt Webster |
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| | The Folsom Section of Great Egg Harbor WMA encompasses unique Pine Barrens savannah habitat bordered by dense Atlantic white cedar swamps along the freshwater tributaries of the Great Egg Harbor River. The many sand roads winding through the WMA offer opportunities to search for the unique plants, reptiles and amphibians that make the Pine Barrens Special.
Visit in June to see the forest at its best, with shrubs and wildflowers blooming and numerous dragonflies and damselflies buzzing along the edges of the swamp.
Watch for mixed flocks of Yellow-rumped Warbler and Golden-crowned Kinglet, Carolina Chickadee and Tufted Titmouse. Keep an eye out for Swamp Sparrow, Fox Sparrow and Savannah Sparrow along edges. Wild Turkey and White-tailed deer leave tracks along the sand trails. The many hollowed and dead trees are favored by woodpeckers by day and flying squirrels by night. Listen for Barred Owl along 8th street after dark.
Pine Warbler, Louisiana Waterthrush and Yellow-throated Warbler are among the first migrant songbirds to return. The cedar swamps ring with the sounds of Spring Peeper, chorus frog, carpenter frog, Pine Barrens treefrog and gray treefrog. Dragonflies such as blue corporal and swamp darner begin to emerge, and spring azure butterflies dance among the budding shrubs. Damselflies and mayflies are abundant as well. Red squirrels and chipmunks are active. Keep a close eye out for box turtles and the secretive wood turtle crossing the trails. Insect repellant recommended.
Pine Barrens Heather blooms among the mats of mosses and lichens in dry, upland areas, and ferns fill the lowlands. Look for turkey beard, colic root, lady’s slipper, and other pine-barrens specialties blooming near the edges of the cedar swamps. The many fallen logs are good places to search for reptiles such as five-lined skink, fence lizard, pine snake, and worm snake. Breeding birds include Prothonotary Warbler, Wood Pewee, Eastern Towhee, Prairie Warbler, and Chuck-Will’s-Widow. Bats emerge at dusk to feed. Insect repellant recommended.
Butterflies such as red admiral, common wood nymph, painted lady and clouded sulphur can still be spotted through October. Migrant songbirds moving through include Black-and-White Warbler, Eastern Phoebe, Eastern Bluebird, Yellow-billed Cuckoo and Hermit Thrush. White-tailed deer are active. Watch overhead for Turkey and Black Vultures, Broad-winged Hawk, and Osprey.
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