Lesser celadine

This waxy yellow flower can be seen in many spots in the valley near the water, runoff or muddy areas. The above photo was taken right off the parking area. Wikipedia entry for Lesser celadine.

Yellow Trout-Lily

Trout lilies are my favorite spring wildflower to photograph. On this walk I didn’t see any of the yellow flowers blooming yet, but the familiar leaves were popping up out of the moss all around the park. Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center page on Trout Liliy.

Cypress Spurge

Not quite at peak yet, the cypress spurge in the exposed rocky basalt areas near the top of Washington Rock has begun making an appearance. Wikipedia entry for Cypress Spurge.

Periwinkle

The crocus have died back, but there’s still some purple to be found in the viney Periwinkle flower. Periwinkle info at USDA Plants.

Identification

I’m the last person that would consider myself an export on identification of wildflowers [or trees, or birds or anything else]. I was able to i.d. these spring flowers by three resources — The great reference book Wildflowers ( Northeastern/North-central North America) by Peterson Field Guides, asking for help of experts on the internets in forums like Flickr’s ID Please group which has 5800 people all helping each other identify things, and repeated sightings. If you’re not sure what you’re looking at wile on a trail, take a photo and then look it up when you get back. File that away for later reference.

NOTE: The above map and route was made with RunKeeper Pro, a GPS based activity monitor for the iPhone.

One of the nice things about the trails in South Mountain is that its easy to orient yourself based on the slope of the ridge and the nearby roads making it difficult to be lost for long and easy to wander from trail to trail. This is just what I did once I crossed South Orange Avenue into the northern half of the park. Jumping from the green trail markers to orange back to green as the terrain or pretty wintery scenes caught my fancy. Finally coming back to the yellow [Lenape] and white trail markers for the walk back to the Locust Grove lot in Millburn along the water.

For the first day of the new year the traffic on the trails was light and peaceful. The usual mix of families and dog walkers stuck to the areas around Hemlock Falls, the Dog park, and the larger parking areas, but the trails felt like they were all mine. A wonderful way to kick off a fresh year.

How did you spend this first weekend of the 2010?

With the fall foliage at near peak in Essex County and rainstorms moving through Friday and Saturday I spent Sunday afternoon with a couple of photographer friends and wandering around the waterfalls in South Mountain Reservation. Autumn colors seemed to be near peak, so if you’ve got the urge to go out and see the bright reds, yellows and oranges the northeast has to offer the next week or so is the time to do it! It was just a short walk so there isn’t much to recap, but wandering around the falls did yield some nice images. Enjoy!

Photos Above: 1. Hemlock Falls 2. The crowd at the base of Hemlock Falls enjoying the sunny afternoon 3. An isolated line of water at Black Rock Falls 4. Pine Trees and peak foliage from above the basalt formations 5.  Bronze leaves against the basalt walls. Photo Credits [all]: Chris Casciano

Hike Details

This is a short walk, hardly considered a hike, but one that is quite popular with parents with children who just want to expose their kids to nature and the waterfalls as well as anyone who just has a short time to spend outside. Starting at the parking lot on the eastbound side of South Orange Avenue [or the Tulip Springs Parking Lot on Cherry Lane then a walk over the pedestrian bridge] make the first left along the road at the sign and intersection with the Rahway trail [white markers]. The road follows a small stream fed by the falls on your right, keep walking and you’ll soon see first Black Rock Falls on your left and then Hemlock Falls and the basalt cliffs at the end of the road. Total distance: about 1 mile depending on where you explore. Terrain: flat road leading to scrambling on basalt cliffs above falls.

Scenic Overlooks in South Mountain Reservation

As I was  prepping this little trip report I saw that a guide to the overlooks in the park was published by local news site Patch. Walk in the Park: Scenic Reservation Overlooks is a good overview of the best views  from along this part of Watchung ridge of the city skyline, the Hudson River and other local sights.