Charlie’s Photo of the Week is really focusing on the subject of Dimensions and Size, trying to emphasize just how impressive those characteristics can be!!  Whether Natural or Manmade, in this case, Manmade, the main dam at Merrill Creek Reservoir!  AND, as you can witness for yourself, through the photos – THIS IS IMPRESSIVE – NO MATTER HOW YOU VIEW IT!!  (1) from bottom all the way up to the top!! (2) from top all the way down to the bottom AND (3) (not depicted) from one end all the way across to the other end of the dam, filling in a natural ravine thus creating a large reservoir!

Merrill Creek Reservoir and Reservation is a wonderful place to visit, with many access points with nice parking.  I dare say most visitors, see the reservoir’s main dam, from a vantage point, that really doesn’t emphasize and depict the truly grand scale of the dam!  Think of this, most visitors are viewing the dam, regardless of their activity or location, from, an above the waterline perspective AND usually from a pretty good distance!!  They may be impressed that the rock dam stretches across a sizeable distance of their vista, BUT, they lack any true perspective of UP/DOWN distance, mainly because that view is out of their sight!!  While many visitors may walk across the top of the dam and get a chance to look down the face, that is only ONE, of the three dimensions listed above, which highlight the sense of Size and Dimensions!  Keep in mind, many of those visitors are distracted to a large degree, by their very activities, EXAMPLE, walking and talking, they are not focused on how long a walk it is from one end of the dam to the other!!  In fact many of those visitors, will walk to the center of the dam near the stairway and then turn around, for the journey back to where they are parked.  Their journey has them focused on looking at the many other beautiful and interesting sites/sights from this location and vantage point!! 

OBSERVATION:  It was not until I first observed this dam from the bottom looking up, that I truly, had to take a few moments, in realizing just how big this is!!  Maybe, it was also the fact, my first two visits to this main dam, both included walking from the top down and then back up the other side – believe me, that helps emphasize the height!!

DIRECTIONS to base of main dam:  Route 57 to Low’s Hollow Rd., take Low’s Hollow and then turn right onto Reservoir Rd., make quick left staying on Reservoir Rd. which dead ends at a small parking area.  About a 500 foot walk along road after walking beyond barrier at parking area.

MERRILL CREEK is a 650 acre reservoir surrounded by a 290 acre Environmental Preserve with an additional 2000 acres of woods and fields.  Its main purpose is to store water that can be released into the Delaware River, to make up for the evaporation water usage at certain electric generation units in the time of low flow in the river.  The building of this site has created a beautiful setting, a setting, where one can experience many opportunities for water and/or land recreation along with learning about the Environment!  The site is open seven days a week, dawn till dusk.  The visitor center is open and staffed weekdays 8:30 a.m. to 4:40 p.m.m, weekends 10 to 4.   I can’t emphasize enough what a great place to visit!!  By yourself or with a large group this has many photos, artifacts, natural scene settings and exhibits! 

Please visit my Flickr site for additional photos of Merrill Creek Reservoir and Preserve – https://www.flickr.com/photos/charliefineran/albums/72157650292767696

SUGGESTED SITES to visit near the base of the main dam!!  Why not visit TWO sites on same day!!  Keeping in mind this Photo of the Week is focusing on a large manmade project of the 20^th Century, after your dam visit, travel a short distance to two other sites that were part of a huge 19^th Century Project, The Morris Canal!! 

Warren County History Museums Open

Two Warren County history museums, both located at sites on the route of the old Morris Canal, are open and staffed by volunteers on the second Sunday of each month, 1-4pm. 

At the Jim and Mary Lee Museum at Plane 9 West in the Port Warren Heritage Area, Stewartsville, learn how the canal boats moved up and down the hills of northern New Jersey as they traversed the state from Port Delaware – AKA Phillipsburg – to Jersey City.  Spend an hour or two visiting this place that is arguably one of the premier locations on the entire canal corridor. This unique museum is located in a former Morris Canal plane tender’s house and is named for the noted canal historian and his wife, who lived there and restored the site. Visitors can walk the inclined plane, view the remains of the powerhouse and turbine chamber; see artifacts in the museum; and walk the towpath trail along the Lopatcong Creek.

Located just over three miles away, Morris Canal Bread Lock Park is open daily until dusk, with the Warren County History Museum open the second Sunday of the month year-round. Lock 7 West near New Village was known as “Bread Lock” because the store at the end of the lock sold goods to the boatmen, including homemade bread and pies. In the museum, one of Warren County’s hidden gems, the displays encompass a wide range of Warren County’s history, from the Native Indians who lived here before white men arrived, to the Colonial-era iron industry, to the building of the Morris Canal, to the time when a trolley ran through the valley, to the days when Thomas Edison was busy inventing and experimenting nearby.

Warren County History Museum at Bread Lock Park (located behind OK 4-Wheel Drive at Mile Marker 4), 2627 New Jersey 57, Stewartsville, NJ 08886; Open 1-4 p.m, second Sunday of month, year-round.

Enjoy Your Open Space, Charlie Fineran