Zega - Lockatong Preserve (including Mimi's Trail)

Wildflowers abound in the Zega-Lockatong Preserve

There are many scenes like this along the trail in the Lockatong Preserve that meanders along the Lockatong Creek -- photo by Peter Craig

Over the course of two years, from 2003 to 2005, the Hunterdon Land Trust Alliance successfully acquired two separate properties, totaling 70 acres, along the Lockatong Creek in Delaware Township. These properties make up the Zega-Lockatong Preserve, a public natural area owned and managed by the Hunterdon Land Trust Alliance.

The preserve is primarily wooded with a small, open field along Raven-Rock Road. It is located just west of the historic iron truss bridge crossing the Lockatong Creek, on the north side of the road. The properties were acquired using a 50% matching grant from the New Jersey Green Acres Nonprofit Grants Program, and matching grants from the open space funds of Delaware Township and Hunterdon County. The acquisition complements nearby parkland at Bull?s Island State Park and the 200-acre Wescott Preserve owned by Hunterdon County. The land trust seeks to create a model management project on the preserve that will showcase sustainable land management techniques and provide passive public recreational opportunities such as hiking, picnicking, nature study and photography, and birding. The land trust has created phase I of a trail plan for the property with the addition of Mimi's trail, a 1 mile hiking trail that links with the adjoining Wescott Preserve.

The creation of the Lockatong Preserve is the culmination of many years of focus in this area by the land trust. The organization's preservation work in this watershed supports the recommendations of a watershed-based management plan developed by land trust in partnership with the environmental commissions from Raritan, Kingwood, Franklin, and Delaware townships, the Hunterdon County Planning Board, and other nonprofit organizations.