1. Phillips Park
The trail goes through a beech and red oak forest and along a
small brook, which is one of the starting tributaries of the Ramanessin Brook.
Proceed to the southwest corner of Phillips
Park to an opening in the fence and down a
somewhat steep hill to a small brook. Follow the brook south to the Art Center
Nature trail.
2. Arts Center Nature Trail
Follow the nature trail toward the southwest to a red brick house.
Go through a gate on its driveway to South Holland Road. Turn right and use the
sidewalks to go under the Garden State Parkway.
3. ECO Club Nature Trail
This section is a marshland self-guided nature trail built and
maintained by the Holmdel High School ECO Club. Take time to learn about a marshland
environment. Exit onto Crawfords Corner Road, turn right and proceed on sidewalks to
Longstreet
Road. Cross Crawfords Corner Road and go along
Longstreet Road for about 100 yards.
4. Holmdel Park
The entrance used is an unmarked trail off
Longstreet Road. It
leads to a boardwalk through a beautiful marsh area, part of another Ramanessin tributary.
Continue on the Holmdel
Park trails following the signs to “High Point”, the
tennis court area. Use the cross-country running trails to reach the shelter
building.
5. Ramanessin Brook Conservation Area (formerly the
Chase Property)
From the shelter building continue to the Arboretum. Go east and
cross Roberts Road. The trail goes for a short distance before forking into three
trails. Take the middle trail up the hill which connects to a farm road. Enjoy
the beautiful views. Follow the road in a southerly direction through two fields. At the
end of second field take a right and then a trail to your left. At its end, after crossing
a bridge, the trail will intersect with an east-west road. Turn left and go to the
next bridge. Going straight will lead to Bayonet Farm. A trail to the right,
up a hill, continues the walk to the next section. Continuing, follow the farm road
south eventually crossing a bridge over the Ramanessin Brook. Take a small trail to your
right, which leads along the brook on the edge of a field.
6. Ramanessin Brook Greenway Nature Trail
This section is a beautiful interpretive trail along the Brook,
which by this point is a meandering stream. The usual entrance is on
the south end of the trail by the large sign across Middletown Road from
Village
School. Coming from the Ramanessin Nature Preserve,
cross the new foot bridge (dedicated in 2004), follow the trail south, and exit
the trail at the Village school entrance.
7. Cross Farm
Continue south crossing Route 520 and taking
Old Mill Road to
Cross Farm. Follow the trails and farm roads
south to Willow Brook Road and east to the end of the trail at
Thompson Park.
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The Ramanessin Brook flows in a north-to-south
direction through two-thirds of Holmdel
Township (about 7 miles). The Ramanessin
Greenway Trail along this brook is an ongoing project of the Holmdel Environmental
Commission. With the help of Boy Scouts, Girl
Scouts, Holmdel High School Environmental Club members, and other Holmdel residents, a
pedestrian trail has been established and bridges built along the brook’s broad flood
plain. The trail is characterized by views of
the meandering woodland stream, broad flood plains bounded by steep slopes, deep ravines,
riparian woodlands, lush vegetation and an unusually rich variety of plant and animal
life. The intent of the trail is to allow everyone to enjoy this wonderful
diversity of nature.
The trail is a work in progress. Several bridges must be constructed and
permission granted to cross certain lands. Equally interesting alternative routes
are indicated to allow a pedestrian to walk the entire length from
Phillips Park to Cross
Farm or in shorter segments as desired. The
alternate section uses trails of the Ramanessin Brook Conservation Area (formerly known as the Chase Property) and
Holmdel Park.
The Holmdel Environmental Commission holds four or more guided
walks each year. The following are examples. See the
Events page for more details.
Fall Foliage Walk
From Holmdel Park to Bayonet Farm
Fall End to End Walk
All day walk from Phillips
Park to Cross Farm
New Years Day Walk
From Holmdel Park to Bayonet Farm
Spring Daffodil Walk
From Bayonet Farm to Holmdel
Park
Spring Earth Day Walk
From Holmdel Park
to Bayonet Farm in time for the Earth
Day festivities
Call 732-946-8997 for details. |
