Swartswood State Park

State park in Sussex County, New Jersey

Swartswood State Park is a protected area located in the Swartswood section of Stillwater and Hampton townships in Sussex County, New Jersey, in the United States. Established in 1915 by the state's Forest Park Reservation Commission, it was the first state park established by the state of New Jersey for the purposes of recreation at the state's third largest freshwater lake. Today, Swartswood State Park is operated and maintained by the New Jersey Division of Parks and Forestry. The park's main feature is Swartswood Lake, a glacial lake located in northwestern New Jersey's Kittatinny Valley—part of New Jersey's Ridge and Valley physiographic province. Both Swartswood Lake and the smaller Little Swartswood Lake are remnants of the retreat glaciers from the Wisconsin glaciation which began roughly 20,000 years ago. Both lakes have been the focus of water quality improvement efforts by the state, including invasive aquatic weed control and watershed protection in association with a local non profit organization. The park is open all year, with many recreational activities available, including hiking, birdwatching, cross country skiing, swimming, boating, and camping. Fishing and hunting are also permitted within the park.

In 1905, Governor Edward C. Stokes established the Forest Park Reservation Commission to begin acquiring and setting aside lands within the state of New Jersey as parks and forest reserves. The first acquisitions were forest lands with an aim toward protecting their commercial value. According to the commission's first annual report, "the forests are 'the great savings banks of nature' from which we have been taking the interest and reducing the capital". However, in 1908, the state forester, Alfred Gaskill (1861–1950), proposed the creation of parks for recreation, writing that "the aesthetic part of forestry must be dominant here because a large proportion of the people live in towns and cities and consider the forests as their playgrounds". From his acquisition of the lake in 1888 until his death in 1905, Newark based rubber and harness manufacturer Andrew Albright, Sr. (1830–1905), sought to prevent free public access to the lake for fishing and strenuously fought state efforts to exercise its legislative and eminent domain powers to compel such access. In August 1914, his children and heirs Andrew Albright, Jr. (1874–1930), and Elizabeth Spurr (1869–1934) sold which included the waters of Swartswood Lake, to the commission for $30,000. The transaction was finalized with deeds filed on June 30, 1915. This included the lake and approximately of land to provide nine boat launching and landing sites as well as picnic and recreation grounds. The commissioners reported that they "intended to make Swartswood a public playground. Boat liveries and picnic shelters to be maintained under proper control will make it available to a large number of people" and to stock the lake with fish. Because of its focus on recreational activities, Swartswood is considered New Jersey's first state park. The park was expanded from two tracts obtained from the farm of Newton resident George Emmans, in 1916 and in 1941 from his widow, Hannah Struble Emmans. A June 1962 park pamphlet described the park as "704 acres including the entire water body of Swartswood Lake. The land area consists of 185 acres with about one mile of lake frontage". Since 1961, open space preservation and acquisition funds from the state's Green Acres Program have aided the expansion of state's protected areas, including Swartswood State Park. Recent purchases have connected the park with the Trout Brook Wildlife Management Area and provided protected habitat for wildlife including the bobcat and black bear. In 1992, the Swartswood Lakes and Watershed Association was established by local residents to "protect the water quality of Swartswood and Little Swartswood Lakes and preserve the lakes for recreational use". The association has partnered with the State Park Service, Rutgers University, and the United States Geological Survey in watershed management and conservation efforts. However, association members have criticized the New Jersey Division of Environmental Protection for failing to address the identification or harvesting of invasive species from the lake.

Swartswood State Park is a protected area located in Stillwater and Hampton townships, New Jersey. Located at 502 feet (153 m) above mean sea level, the park is located along County Route 619 (East Shore Drive in Stillwater, Swartswood East Side Drive in Hampton) southeast of the hamlet of Swartswood. The focus of park is Swartswood Lake, glacial lake that is the third largest freshwater lake in New Jersey. The lake stretches 3 miles (north to south) and 1 mile wide (east to west); it has an average depth of 22 feet (7 m) with a maximum depth of 42 feet (13 m). The park's area also comprises several mountain streams, including Neldon's Brook, and other lakes, including Little Swartswood Lake—an glacial lake—as well as Duck Pond, Spring Lake, Willow Crest Lake, and Frog Pond. Swartswood State Park is located in the Kittatinny Valley which is a segment of the Great Appalachian Valley that stretches from Quebec to Alabama. The valley and surrounding area is part of New Jersey's Ridge and Valley physiographic province. The surficial geology of the valley, namely its soils and parent materials, were created from materials left behind by the retreat of the Wisconsin glaciation after the last glacial maximum. The topography of the valley, and the lake itself, were formed by the damming or obstruction of a river valley with extra morainic stratified drift and till deposits. As a glacial lake, Swartswood Lake eventually will atrophy into a bog, a natural progression that is estimated to occur in 100,000 years. The lake and valley is underlain by a two mile thick (3.2 km) layer called the Martinsburg Formation, a turbidite sequence of weaker sedimentary materials, mostly slate, greywacke sandstone, shale, and limestone derived from Ordovician period deep ocean floor deposits from 540 to 400 million years ago. To the east of the lake and the park is a ridge of bedrock composed of Kittatinny Formation (a supergroup) materials that rests on the Martinsburg Formation, which includes Bushkill Member, Allentown Dolomite, Beekmantown Group, and Jacksonburg Limestone. Under extreme compressive stresses and pressure, marine sedimentary rocks were uplifted, during a series of mountain building periods called "orogenies" over the span of 250 million years and ending with the Appalachian or Alleghanian orogeny occurring over 325 million to 260 million years ago. Birdwatching author William J. Boyle reports that Swartswood is home to a surprising number of waterfowl species, including pied billed grebe, wood duck, ring necked duck, ruddy duck, American widgeon, gadwall, American coot and occasionally bald eagle. The lake currently has populations of invasive species, including water chestnut (Trapa natans). The park's boat launch areas permit both trailer and cartop launching, and boating with electric motors (no gasoline powered motors) is permitted. According to the park website, "flush toilets and showers facilities are within walking distance" of these campsites. Picnic areas are located at several scenic sites around the lake equipped with picnic tables and grills. Only charcoal fires are permitted. The park also has playground facilities and for volleyball and basketball. Keen's heirs sold the mill property to Dr William H. Vail (1845–1943) of Blairstown in 1901. Vail who used the mill property's dam to control waterflow in the Paulins Kill which powered the Blairstown Electric Light Company's power plant further downstream. After replacing the dam, Vail sold the mill property three years later to the trustees of Blair Academy who owned it until 1969. The state Department of Environmental Protection acquired the mill property in 1976 and incorporated it into Swartswood State Park. Hunters and anglers are required to have the appropriate state hunting or fishing licenses and abide by regulations established the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife. Hunting is permitted within the park boundaries in areas east of County Route 619. This comprises or 45% of the park's area. According to the park's website, "game commonly found in the park includes ring necked pheasant, ruffed grouse, wild turkey, gray squirrel, eastern cottontail and white tailed deer". The New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife calls Swartswood Lake "one of the best walleye lakes in the State of New Jersey." The lake "are stocked with brown, rainbow and brook trout in the spring", and are also populated by channel catfish, largemouth and smallmouth bass, chain pickerel, perch and panfish. Ice fishing is permitted in the winter for pickerel, perch and brown trout.