Ridgewood’s Grove Park

Grove Park Village of Ridgewood, NJ

Grove Park

Grove Park is a 32 acre deciduous forest and wetland owned by the village of Ridgewood, NJ and maintained by the Ridgewood Wildscape Association.

Grove Park

The forest was purchased with Green Acres funding. Grove Park has dense residential development to the west, the confluence of the artificial paths of the Ho-Ho-Kus Brook and Saddle River to the south, Grove Street to the north and the Saddle River Pathway and Saddle River to the east.

Saddle River Pathway next to Grove Park

In 1996, the Ridgewood Sports Council proposed to destroy a portion of Grove park for a sports field.  Residents from the nearby developments and the Ridgewood Council opposed this proposal as the woodland is environmentally sensitive and the remnant forest was preserved.

Trails

Grove Park Trail Map

The park contains several trails. I found (as listed in the picture above) the best combination is to do a loop trail by combining the .34 of a mile White blazed trail with .28 of the .36 of a mile Yellow blazed trail for a total of .62 of a mile. From the entrance on Grove Street, walk to the white trail which traverses the western portion of the park through a wetland area. I usually spot white-tail deer in this area running away with their white tails upheld high.

Deer Hooves in the mud

Take the white trail until it terminates on a White Oak near the yellow trail to the east of the woods.

White Trail Terminus on White Oak

Follow the yellow trail north back to the entrance on Grove street. Be careful, during my last visit there were several large blowdowns blocking the trail. I just ducked and went under some and crawled over others.

Blowdown on the Yellow Trail

The interesting thing about blowdowns is eventually all that dirt that surrounds the root structure will eventually come down and form a sort of pillow near the tree. These pillows, if left undisturbed, can last hundreds of years and are a way to determine if a forest is old growth. A forest that lacks these pillows was most likely farmed within the past hundred years or so.

Another way of reading the forested landscape is looking at bizarre tree formations. This American Beech tree in the picture below (found on the White Trail) was tipped by the wind and eventually was able to righten itself.

Wind-tipped American Beech (White Trail)

Grove Park provides much needed habitat for the fauna that inhabit this densely developed area of north jersey.  Just like with the deer prints, I found evidence of raccoon prints (which look like little  hands) in the mud.

Raccoon Prints

Plus I’ve have seen these other characters during my travels in this urban woodland:

Mallards on Vernal Pond

American Robin

Eastern Chipmunk

Red-belly woodpecker

Red Tail Hawk

Salamander

Grove Park features quite a diversity of flora. Flora I’ve found include:

• American Beech
• Black Birch
• Red Maple
• Northern Red Oak (NJ’s State Tree!)
• Tulip Poplar
• White Ash
• White Wood Aster
• Skunk Cabbage
• Virginia Creeper
• Spicebush
• False Hellebore
• Dwarf Ginseng

False Hellebore

White Wood Aster

Trout Lily

The entrance to this park is available from Grove Street or off of the nearby Saddle River pathway. Parking is available on Berkshire Road which is located to the west of the park and is a quick walk away from the entrance. Click here for directions.

Feel free to e-mail NJUrbanForest at NJUrbanForest@gmail.com with any comments, memories or suggestion! Thank you and have fun exploring!