Guide Me Home to Chatham, NJ

Harding Township is a rural community made up of New Vernon and a section of Green Village (the rest of Green Village is part of Chatham Township).

Harding Township and its surrounding communities share a special resource: The Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge. It’s one of my favorite places to take a walk.

Part of “the swamp”, as it is affectionately called, is in Harding Township. It’s essential to Harding’s character and helps preserve the rural setting. Another important function of the swamp is to help clean and maintain the watershed. It is a wonderful community entity, with several educational centers and numerous trails. The “wildlife” part of the title is well deserved as it is home to a variety of thriving wildlife.

One Saturday morning we took my brother, his wife and our nephews, (who were visiting from Connecticut) on a hike in the swamp.

It was a beautiful sunny day, perfect for such a venture. As we approached the Wildlife Observation Center on Long Hill Road, we noticed the parking lot was full. There were people everywhere; volunteers from the Friends of Great Swamp greeted us with lots of information about their programs and asked for donations to help support this worthy cause. Highlights of our walk included seeing, by my nephew Michael’s count, about 25 painted turtles. There was a group of adult volunteers who allowed us to look through a special telescope to see an egg that was in a nest closely guarded by a female Mallard. We were told it will be about 28 days and that she must keep the egg warm and moist for incubation. It was an exciting trip!

Posted by:Lois Olmstead