Pleasant Mills Preserve
Mullica Township, Atlantic County
NJNLT
  • Acres:
    336
  • Deer Hunting:
    Permitted
  • Map:
    Open PDF

Preserve Info

This preserve, assembled in five donated tracts, provides protection to Atlantic white cedar forests associated with both the Brockaways Branch and Nortons Branch of the Hammonton Creek. Years ago, portions of the property had been logged for the valuable Atlantic white cedar. Fortunately, these areas are growing back with vigor and someday will again exhibit the cool, dark and damp forest type. Exploring hikers can follow the cedar loggers old “corduroy roads” constructed of cut saplings, branches laid perpendicular, one sapling side–by-side next to the other. These improvised trails placed in the wet areas helped keep equipment from sinking into the deep muck of the bog. Botanists will find the cedar swamps interesting too. Look for the unique and carnivorous pitcher plant and sundew growing in the wetland. Uplands are also part of the preserve. Patches of sheep-laurel and mountain laurel make for brilliant spring blooms within a large pine/oak forest.

Public Access and Uses

As a result of recent Green Acres land acquisitions, the NJ Division of Fish and Wildlife has expanded its Hammonton Creek Wildlife Management Area and now surrounds the Trust’s Pleasant Mills Preserve. Visitors through the WMA now have better access to the preserve, which is best obtained from Pleasant Mills Road. Since the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife has a strong enforcement presence at the Stafford Forge Wildlife Management Area, the Trust allows deer hunting at this preserve without the need for registration.

pitcher plant