WildNewJersey.tv correspondent Sara Imperiale rests on a boulder along 
the trail in the Sourland Mountain Preserve.
Photo credit: Scott Rodrigue for WildNewJersey.tv

Noted for its recreational opportunities ranging from bouldering to bird watching, the Sourland Mountain Preserve offers a vast, undisturbed natural setting amidst New Jersey's more infamous suburban sprawl.  WildNewJersey.tv correspondent Sara Imperiale recently spent an afternoon hiking in the 1,396-acre Sourland Mountain Preserve located in Somerset County.

• Click here to see more photos from the hike.
  
  

From the access point on East Mountain Road in Hillsborough, Sara and her fellow hiker spotted white-tailed deer, pickerel frogs, and many birds including wrens and chickadees along the 5-mile Ridge Trail.  This diverse trail, with terrain including rock, mixed oak forest, and the Roaring Brook, peaks in a unique area full of large, exposed boulders, perfect for resting for lunch and getting a birds-eye-view of the preserve.


                                            
    `                                       Scott Rodrigue giving the thumbs up atop a boulder.
                                            Photo credit: Sara Imperiale, WildNewJersey.tv




                                   
                               The lake next to the trail access point on East Mountain Road in Hillsborough.
                                                  Photo credit: Sara Imperiale, WildNewJersey.tv

                                   
                                       Sara Imperiale points to one of many frogs and fish in the lake.
                                                Photo credit: Scott Rodrigue for WildNewJersey.tv

                                    
                                                          A pickerel frog found in the lake.
                                                Photo credit: Sara Imperiale, WildNewJersey.tv

                                    
                               Scott Rodrigue enjoying the over-sized boulders at the peak of the Ridge Trail.
                                                 Photo credit: Sara Imperiale, WildNewJersey.tv


For directions, maps, and more information about the Sourland Mountain Preserve click here.