DR Greenway and FOHPOS Staff at new Woosamonsa signature sign — Tina Notas, director of land stewardship and Linda Mead, president and CEO of the D&R Greenway Land Trust; Michael Ruger, deputy mayor of Hopewell Township and Kristin McLaughlin, mayor of Hopewell Township; Lisa Wolff, executive director of the Friends of Hopewell Valley Open Space, and Tom Ogren chair of the Friends of Hopewell Valley Open Space Land Preservation Committee.

The146-acre Woosamonsa Ridge Preserve now boasts almost three miles of trails, a new kiosk, and a gravel parking area.

Preserved in 2018, the land features a mature hardwood forest, steep ridges, and the upper reaches of Jacobs Creek running through a valley flanked by the ridges. The three loop trails on Pennington Mountain at the preserve are accessible from Woosamonsa Road in Hopewell Townhip.

The property is co-owned and managed by the D&R Greenway Land Trust and the Friends of Hopewell Valley Open Space in partnership with Hopewell Township. Volunteers for the NJ Trails Association, and organization formed by the D&R Land Trust and the Friends of Hopewell Valley Open Space, have built new paths and improved older trails. Hopewell Township provided the new parking area on Woosamonsa Road (click this link for a map).

“Hopewell Township values our beautiful and varied landscapes and we are always thrilled when new opportunities to explore these resources are opened,” Hopewell Township Mayor Kristin McLaughlin said. “With the new kiosk and parking lot, township residents and others have an additional outlet for recreation. The Woosamonsa Ridge Preserve is a stunning addition to the open space resources in Hopewell Township.”

Woosamonsa’s longest trail loop takes about an hour and a half to complete, and the shortest trail can be walked in less than an hour. The trails wind through the Jacobs Creek Valley. The high point on the ridge delivers spectacular views.

“If Forest ‘Bathing’ in leafy woods, singing along with rocky brooks, seeking beautiful wildflowers and birdwatching appeal to you, then the new trails on Woosamonsa Ridge Preserve are the place to go,” D&R Greenway President and CEO Linda Mead said. “Its pristine waterways nourish the Delaware River, the only undammed river east of the Mississippi. Saving green land, land that supports significant life, keeps tributaries and our boundary river, healthy.”

Lisa Wolff, executive director of the Friends of Hopewell Valley Open Space, said the opening of the new preserve adds momentum to the organization’s vision of a contiguous “emerald necklace” of preserved land around the Hopewell Valley. “We recently acquired a neighboring property and are working closely with others to make Woosamonsa Ridge and its surrounding area the crown jewel of Hopewell Valley,” Wolf said.

New Woosamonsa kiosk with Tina Notas Director of Stewardhip DR Greenway — Tina Notas, director of land stewardship at the D&R Greenway Land Trust, at the new kiosk at the Woosamonsa Ridge Preserve.

Krystal Knapp

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Krystal Knapp is the founding editor of Planet Princeton. Follow her on Twitter @krystalknapp. She can be reached via email at editor AT planetprinceton.com. Send all letters to the editor and press releases to that email address.