Loantaka Brook Trails Morris County NJ map trails

The Loantaka Brook Reservation is a

nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, funga, or features of geologic ...

and

public park An urban park or metropolitan park, also known as a city park, municipal park (North America), public park, public open space, or municipal gardens (United Kingdom, UK), is a park or botanical garden in cities, densely populated suburbia and oth ...

in the

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

state of

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

in Morris County. It consists of five miles of nature trails for jogging, hiking, and biking. Seaton Hackney Stables, owned and operated by the Morris County Park Commission, offers horseback riding at an adjacent property with trail riding along a long and narrow corridor near the

Loantaka Brook Loantaka Brook is a tributary of the Passaic River in New Jersey in the United States. The main headwaters of Loantaka Brook arise in Morris Township, New Jersey, Morris Township between Route 124 (Madison Avenue) and Woodland Avenue in the ar ...

. It has four distinct areas including the South Street recreation facilities, the Seaton Hackney Stables, the Loantaka Brook area at Kitchell Road, and the Loantaka Way Trail.

Background

History

Lenape ownership

Around the year 1000, the Morristown area was inhabited by

Munsee The Munsee () are a subtribe and one of the three divisions of the Lenape. Historically, they lived along the upper portion of the Delaware River, the Minisink, and the adjacent country in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. They were prom ...

Lenape The Lenape (, , ; ), also called the Lenni Lenape and Delaware people, are an Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, Indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands, who live in the United States and Canada. The Lenape's historica ...

people. Circa 1500, Morris County was part of the

Lenapehoking Lenapehoking () is widely translated as ' homelands of the Lenape', which in the 16th and 17th centuries, ranged along the Eastern seaboard from western Connecticut to Delaware, and encompassed the territory adjacent to the Delaware and lower ...

, i.e., modern-day

. Arrowheads found in Munsee encampments throughout the Washington Valley suggest that they hunted wolf, elk, and wild turkey for game and likely ate mussels from the

Whippany River The Whippany River is a tributary of the Rockaway River, approximately 20 mi (30 km) long, in northern New Jersey in the United States. It rises in Morris County, in Mendham Township west of Morristown, and flows generally ENE in a ...

. In 1757,

colonists A settler or a colonist is a person who establishes or joins a permanent presence that is separate to existing communities. The entity that a settler establishes is a settlement. A settler is called a pioneer if they are among the first settli ...

of the "New Jersey Association for Helping the Indians" forcibly relocated some 200 Lenape to Brotherton, New Jersey. In 1801, some members of the tribe voluntarily traveled to join the

Oneidas The Oneida people ( ; autonym: Onʌyoteˀa·ká·, Onyota'a:ka, ''the People of the Upright Stone, or standing stone'', ''Thwahrù·nęʼ'' in Tuscarora) are a Native American tribe and First Nations band. They are one of the five founding nati ...

' reservation in

Stockbridge, New York Stockbridge is a town in Madison County, New York, United States. The population was 1,972 at the 2020 census, down from 2,103 in 2010. The name is derived from a group of Native Americans. History The land surrounding where Stockbridge ...

after receiving an invitation from the

. However, colonists again expelled Lenape families in Stockbridge to

Green Bay, Wisconsin Green Bay is a city in Brown County, Wisconsin, United States, and its county seat. It is located at the head of Green Bay (Lake Michigan), Green Bay (known locally as "the bay of Green Bay"), a sub-basin of Lake Michigan at the mouth of the F ...

in 1822.

18th century

During the Revolutionary War, from January to May 1777, some of George Washington's troops camped in the Loantaka Valley, while he stayed at

Arnold's Tavern Jacob Arnold's Tavern, also known as the Old Arnold Tavern and the Duncan House, was a "famous" historic tavern established by Samuel Arnold circa 1740. Until 1886, it was located in Morristown Green in Morristown, New Jersey. In 1777 it served ...

on the

Morristown Green Morristown Green, most commonly referred to as the Green, is a historical park located in the center of Morristown, New Jersey, Morristown, New Jersey, United States. It has an area of two and a half acres and has in the past served as a militar ...

. The land had been private property until the twentieth century when large connecting plots were donated by various community members to form what is known today as The Loantaka Brook Reservation. The Reservation began as a

after the Seaton Hackney Stables were added to the park system through a donation from Mr. and Mrs. Paul Moore in the 1900s. The Loantaka Brook Reservation began official service in 1957. A subsequent addition was made by Helen Hartley Jenkins Wood. The wooded area was donated by

Marcellus Hartley Dodge Sr. Marcellus Hartley Dodge Sr. (February 28, 1881 – December 25, 1963) was the chairman of the board of Remington Arms Company and a member of the family associated with the Phelps Dodge Corporation. He was the president or director of several ...

and

Geraldine Rockefeller Dodge Ethel Geraldine Rockefeller Dodge (April 3, 1882 – August 13, 1973) was the youngest child of William Avery Rockefeller Jr. and Almira Geraldine (Goodsell) Rockefeller. Giralda Farms was the name given to the New Jersey country estate wh ...

. The donation by Mr. and Mrs. Dodge helped to bring together the two largest tracts of land in the reservation. The trail system is part of 570 acres in one of New Jersey's most populated counties. In the past, the trail was mostly used by hikers and horseback riders, but since the creation of trails with multiple surfaces, including a car-wide macadam trail as well as dirt and gravel trails, the park has become more user friendly for cyclists, rollerbladers, and other outdoor enthusiasts. There are reports of efforts to try to expand the system in the future, possibly by connecting the Loantaka trails with those of the nearby

Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge The Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge is located in Morris County, New Jersey, United States. Established in 1960, it is among what has grown to be 806 refuges in the United States National Wildlife Refuge System. The first part of what was ...

. In 2009, there was a report of new acres being added to the system based on a donation by Helen Mead Platt.

Design and construction

The trails at the Loantaka Brook Reservation are divided into three separate micro-trails. The first portion, known as the Yellow Blaze Trail, starts at the South Street entrance near the horse stables, and continues south until Kitchell Road. The Yellow Blaze section is unique in that it consists of two separate trails that run side-by-side. A crushed

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

trail for horses is visible from the

macadam Macadam is a type of road construction pioneered by Scottish engineer John Loudon McAdam , in which crushed stone is placed in shallow, convex layers and compacted thoroughly. A binding layer of stone dust (crushed stone from the original mat ...

portion of the trail that was repaved in 2012. This pattern of intertwining trails extends through the middle section of trail known as the Blue Blaze Trails. The last portion, The Red Blaze, is the least developed and consists of only macadam surfaces. The park generally has no major hills to climb and has been deemed suitable for young children on bicycles, according to one report.

Park management

Loantaka Brook Reservation bikeway two snakes on rock cuddling

The park is one of many places in which supervised hunts have taken place as a means to curb deer overpopulation, with warning signs posted prominently. In winter, ice sometimes covers portions of the trails. In addition, the pond near Kitchell Road sometimes has been overrun with

Canada geese The Canada goose (''Branta canadensis''), sometimes called Canadian goose, is a large species of goose with a black head and neck, white cheeks, white under its chin, and a brown body. It is native to the arctic and temperate regions of North ...

, but efforts to discourage the geese have met with mixed success.

Amenities

The trail features two types of surfaces—an asphalt car-wide surface for bicyclists and packed gravel and limestone trails for horses and joggers. There are parking lots at three locations near entrances. The restrooms along the Loantaka Way Trails are cleaned daily during the summer and each rest area features a working water fountain except during the winter. In addition, there are picnic areas and grills near the South Street and Kitchell Road entrances. There is a children's play area near the South Street entrance.

Community support

The Loantaka Brook Reservation is maintained by the Morris County Parks Commission and is currently in the process of being reviewed. There have been renovations such as a macadam surfaced trail and newly added picnic areas. The park has been the venue for bicycle races, music, and fund-raising events. There are annual cleanup events held in the springtime to remove invasive plants and to plant native plants, with volunteers wearing long pants and boots expected to get wet. In 2010,

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team p ...

football player

Jim Leonhard James Andrew Leonhard (born October 27, 1982) is an American professional American football, football coach and former player who is the defensive pass game coordinator and assistant head coach for the Denver Broncos of the National Football Le ...

participated in an event on the reservation to raise funds to counter

childhood obesity Childhood obesity is a condition where excess adipose tissue, body fat negatively affects a child's health or well-being. As methods to determine body fat directly are difficult, the diagnosis of obesity is often based on Body mass index, BMI. ...

Gallery

File:Loantaka Brook Reservation bikeway tree with sunlight breaking through.jpg, Sunlight through a tree File:South Street Entrance.jpg, Entrance to the Blue Blaze Trail File:Loantaka Brook Reservation bikeway sign and entrance.jpg, Loantaka Way entrance File:Loantaka Brook Reservation bikeway pathway with joggers.jpg, Macadam bike path File:Loantaka Brook Reservation bikeway pathway through woods.jpg, Pathway through the woods File:Loantaka Brook Reservation bikeway bridge over creek.jpg, Bridge File:Loantaka Brook Reservation bikeway horse path and stream and reflections.jpg, Horse path File:Loantaka Brook Reservation bikeway stream through woods with foliage.jpg, Stream File:Kitchell Pond.jpg, Kitchell Pond at sunset

References

External links

Morris County parks website
{{coord, 40.774123, -74.461663, type:landmark_globe:earth_region:US-NJ, display=title Rail trails in New Jersey Bike paths in New Jersey Horse trails Parks in Morris County, New Jersey Protected areas of Morris County, New Jersey County parks in New Jersey