Wells Mills County Park

     Tuesday, January 3, 2023: Later, after seeing the Popcorn Park Zoo, and being in the mood for nature and seeing more of the New Jersey Pinelands, I went to Ocean County’s largest park: Wells Mills County Park, 905 Wells Mills Road, Waretown (609-971-3085). At over 900 acres, this park contained over 20 miles of hiking trails. Other activities offered here included boating and fishing, as well as a picnic area and playground near the nature center. This nature center educated me better about the local wildlife nearby via texts, pictures, and taxidermy animal exhibits. Videos in this center presented a history of Wells Mills and its past lumber industry that used to thrive here by way of two saw mills. The local Atlantic White Cedar wood has been prized by many people for constructing buildings, boats, fences, and so forth because it was lightweight and rot resistant. From the 1700s to the late 1970s, different people owned the land. Then, the NJ Conservation Foundation bought 200 acres of this land. Since then, the county bought more land that increased the park size. In another room, I watched another video about the industries in the NJ Pinelands from the 18th century into the early years of the 20th century: ironworks, glassworks, saw mills, clay mining, cranberry farming, blueberry farming, etc. Therefore, between being informed about the nature around here and the history of this area, I learned a lot!