  SCHIFF NATURE PRESERVE Although Schiff Nature Preserve is owned by the Schiff Natural Lands Trust, this gem of open space was created through negotiation between Mendham Township and developers and is open to the public. The 350 acre property offers almost seven miles of trails through forests, meadows and wetlands. A side trail crossing the North Branch of the Raritan River connects this property with Patriots’ Path and the Ralston Natural Area. Schiff’s resident naturalists provide an important role in environmental education through nature-oriented presentations and field hikes. |
  This 48 acre tract
was acquired in the late 1960’s. Much of the area is devoted to playing fields and a children’s playground. A wooded portion extends almost half a mile along the North Branch of the Raritan River, where there is a short trail that connects the Schiff Nature Preserve with a section of Patriots’ Path that passes through the recreation area. |
 RALSTON CIDER MILL This historic mill in the Ralston s e c t i o n o f M e n d h a m Township may be better known as “Sammy’s Cider Mill”. The property is adjacent to Burnett Brook Natural Area and Patriots’ Path and will provide an interesting destination for hikers using those trails. The mill itself wasoriginally known as the Nesbitt Mill, built in 1 8 4 8 as a gristmill with four millstones, powered by a waterwheel in its basement. In 1908 it became the Tiger Cider Mill, when apple cider was a staple of American life, but closed in the early 1930’s with all the equipment intact. Purchasing the mill site in 2003 was the key to the preservation of this historic landmark, which is being undertaken by the trustees of the Ralston Cider Mill Board of Trustees, a non profit corporation. |
 This property, comprised of two s e p a r a t e p a r c e l s t o taling 68 acres, was purchased by the Township in 2000 from the Tomkins family. Two tributaries of Burnett Brook flow through the northern lowland parcel, where a small pond provides a resting spot on the one mile loop trail, and the wetland environment blooms with wildflowers from spring to fall. The southern upland parcel is hardwood forest with a second one mile loop trail. |
  This 48 acre p r o p e r t y served as two d i f f e r e n t summer camps beginning in the 1930’s and was purchased by Mendham Township in 1970. The chimney by the parking lot was part of a large meeting house; there are also smaller chimneys and foundations scattered throughout the property that are remains of the cottages. A swimming pool for the camps was fed by Burnett Brook through a system of pipes that are still visible along the trail and at Burnett Brook, trout production stream that is a tributary to the North Branch of the Raritan River. There is a 1.25 mile loop trail a r o u n d t h e perimeter of the property and open fields for games and picnicking, and a master plan is in progress for the entire park traverses the properties, and some of the loveliest trails in the Township wander alongside India Brook with its sparkling trout waters, past the wetlands of Wood Duck Pond and Frog Pond, and close to interesting ruins of colonial era iron mining and forging. There are also sites of 18th century dams, millraces and sawmills. Interpretive signs at the historic sites add interest to the trails. A highlight of the India Brook trail is picturesque Buttermilk Falls, a rock ledge spilling water into a pool that has been a swimming hole for generations.  India Brook Natural Area was acquired in 1976. In 1 9 9 7 M e n d h a m Township was able to purchase the Buttermilk Falls property after the builder of an approved subdivision went bankrupt. These two contiguous natural areas comprise a 265 acre forested property traversed by India Brook. A trail system blazed in various colors |
 CLYDE POTTS RESERVOIR WATERSHED In 2002 Mendham Township, |
INDIA BROOK PARK
Randolph Township and the Morris County Park Commission purchased the development rights to the Clyde Potts Reservoir watershed property, ensuring that this beautiful property of 800 acres can never be sold for development. Five hundred acres of the property lie in Mendham Township and will allow Patriots’ Path to be extended from Dismal Harmony through the reservoir property into Randolph, and eventually into Black River Park in Chester. Trails accessing other areas of the watershed property are also planned. Funding for this awardwinning preservation project came from the open space trust funds of Mendham and Randolph townships and Morris County, as well as the New Jersey Green Acres program.