Environmental Education Center at Lord Stirling Park
Somerset County Park Commission

The Somerset County Park Commission's Lord Stirling Park is in the western part of the great Swamp, adjacent to the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge.  The 921 acre park contains two section.  The Environmental Education Center (908.766.2489  TTY 908.766.2575) trails are open for pedestrian hiking.  Lord Stirling Stable offers 10 miles of trails open only for horseback riding.

Who Operates the Environmental Education Center?

The Park Commission's Environmental Science department maintains and operates the 18.000 square foot building and natural lands at the Environmental Education center.  The Somerset County Park Commission's Naturalists maintain offices at the Environmental Education center and conduct many hundreds of programs each year for schools, families, individuals, organizations or anyone else interested in environmental issues, nature, outdoor recreation and similar things.  These programs are offered at the Environmental Education center, at other Somerset County Parks and around New Jersey.  The Environmental Science department also handles thousands of telephone and personal inquiries concerning animal and plant identification. local environmental concerns, information about other parks and natural areas, and access to governmental services.  Winter/Spring, Summer and Fall Park Commission Program Guides are available at all Somerset County parks, libraries or by calling 908.722.1200.

What Facilities and Services Are Available at the Environmental Education Center?

Thee are 8 1/2 miles of walking trails with more than two miles of boardwalk.  Two wildlife observation blinds and two observation towers are located along the trails.  The Special Use Trail which is behind the banks of Branta Pond, is, in the spring and summer, home to gardens of herbs and other nonnative plant varieties that provide a sharp contrast to the natural plant communities in the rest of the park.  The building contains classrooms and meeting rooms that are used by community and governmental organizations for environmental meetings and programs.  The bookshop contains books and gift items, relating to the environmental programs and topics offered at the Center.  The library has a collection of environmental and natural history books, periodicals and videos, and also maintains current listings of environmental positions and internships available around the country.  An auditorium is home to lectures, public meetings, concerts and special events.  An exhibit area has an ongoing schedule of temporary exhibits and art shows.  A permanent exhibition, Secrets of the Great Swamp, contains a series of 15 displays telling the story of the Great Swamp from prehistoric times to the present.

The Land

A variety of animal habitats and plant communities are present in a relatively small area and are accessible thought the trail system.  Marshes, swamps, rivers, intermittent streams, springs, floodplains, natural and human engineered ponds, fields and forests are all present in the park.  The buttonbush, swamp rose, cattails, rushes and sedges of the freshwater marshes contrast with the floodplain along the Passaic River, which is dominated by white, swamp and pin oak.  The southern portion of the park (near Lord Stirling Road) is comprised of abandoned farm fields in various stages of succession.  These are prime areas to find vivid displays of wildflowers.  The center portion of the park is characterized by pin oak, blueberry bushes and sedge hummocks.  Pockets of direr woods contain white oak, beech, black birch and shagbark hickory.

History

The Great Swamp is really a wetland remanet, left over from Glacial Lake Passaic which covered the area perhaps 15,000 years ago. The area was much used by paleo-Indian groups and later Lenapes that were in the area.  In colonial times, what is now Lord Sirling Park was part of the estate of William Alexander, the lord of Stirling, who served as a major general in the Continental Army.  The site of his elegant Georgian Manor is located in a nonpublic area of the park that is accessible one day each October as the site of the "17670s Festival," a celebration of colonial-era New Jersey.

Agricultural activities and logging altered the character of the land during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.  A proposed internal airport was among the potential threats to the land that led to the public acquisition of the great Swamp.  Environmental education programs in Lord Stirling Park have been ongoing since 1971.  The building, which was the first solar-heated and cooled public building in the country, was opened in 1977.

Trails are open every day from dawn until dusk, except during high winds, active snowfalls and other conditions when public safety is a concern.  The building is open daily from 9 AM until 5 PM except on holidays, with extended evening hours during the summer months.

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