This guide was produced by the Deptford Township Environmental Commission with a grant from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Office of Intergovernmental Affairs.

Big Timber Creek is 11 miles long and drains an area of 63 square miles. It has 9 major tributaries and 6 lakes. Much of its lower portion forms the border of Gloucester and Camden Counties.

The Armewamexes branch of the Lenni-Lennape Indians lived in many settlements along the creek. The first European settlement was Fort Nassau, built by the Dutch in 1623, at the mouth of the creek. The colonization of the creek began on the 1670’s with the arrival of the Quakers and Irish. Many settled along the creek, which was used for transportation, because there were no early roads other than Indian trails.

Big Timber Creek was named for the large amounts of timber that grew along its banks. Much of this was harvested and floated to the Philadelphia Ship Yard. The Brewer Ship Yard was located near Chews Landing and the Black Horse Pike and built boats on the creek from the early 1800’s to the 1880s.

The colonial farmers along the creek transported their crops to Philadelphia in flat bottom boats using the tides. They brought back ashes and horse manure for their fields. The Old Pine Farm House was built in the late 1700’s and much of the surrounding area was originally farm land.                                                                                                                 

From the bluff at Old Pine Farm there is a great view of the large open wetlands that provide important environmental functions such as trapping and breaking down sediment and pollution and holding and slowly releasing water during a flood.

Big Timber Creek was once very polluted. By the 1980’s nearly 20% of the creeks volume was poorly treated sewage. In 1987 the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection ranked Big Timber Creek as one of the most polluted bodies of water in New Jersey. The county sewage treatment plants, which were built to comply with the United States Clean Air and Water Act, came on line in the late 1980’s and the creek’s water quality greatly improved. Many kinds of fish and waterfowl returned. The light colored vegetation in the photo on the left is wild rice. It is common in the tidal areas.

Along the trail there are many kinds of trees including oaks, sassafras, pines, American cherry, black locust, and beech. Oaks are members of the beech family of trees with 65 species found in North America and about 900 species world wide.

Oaks are divided into two groups. Whites oaks have blunt leaves and their acorns mature in one year. Black oaks have pointed leaves and their acorns mature in two years. The white, black, scarlet, chestnut, post, black jack, and southern red oak can be found at Old Pine Farm. They are an important commercial hardwood and were used in early shipbuilding. Animals including birds, squirrels, chip monks, mice, and turkeys feed on their acorns.

The blue spruce and white pine along the trail are introduced species. The area on the left side of the trail are old farm fields that have grown in with American cherry, black locust, sassafras, and red cedar. These will gradually be replaced by oaks and beech as the forest matures.

Station #4 Virginia Pines

At the end of the trail there are many Virginia Pines on both sides of the trail. The Virginia Pine is a southern species that reaches its northern limit in New Jersey and is the most common pine tree in this part of the Big Timber Creek Watershed. It also called the scrub or Jersey pine

It has short needles in clusters of two and scaly brownish-red bark. It grows up to 80 feet tall with a diameter of 2 feet. The largest recorded one was 114 feet tall with a diameter of 32 inches. It is used for pulpwood and railroad ties but seldom used for lumber.

It grows in poor, sandy soils and produces cones almost yearly which stay on the tree from three to five years. It is a pioneer plant that grows in old fields after grasses become established. Its seeds are eaten by birds and squirrels nest in its high branches. Other conifers common in the watershed include the short leaf yellow pine, red cedar, and Atlantic white cedar.

This open field or savanna is home to many kinds of plants and grasses such as little blue stem grass, yarrow, winged sumac, daisy fleabane, Deptford pink, blue curls, blue toad flax, sweet everlasting, wild garlic, Queen Anne’s lace, and sweet goldenrod. This area provides habitat for many kinds of insects and resident and migratory birds.

The Savanna must be mowed on a regular basis to prevent shrubs and trees such as black locust, oaks, Virginia pine, and red cedar from taking over and turning it back into a forest. In the sandy areas look for the prickly pear cactus has yellow flowers, blooms in June, and is the only cactus found in the east. Its fruit is eaten by the gray squirrel and the box turtle.

This small wetlands is the foundation hole of an old boat house and it fills with water at high tide. It is rich with many kinds of wetlands plants. The skunk cabbage is one of the first plants to bloom in the early spring. Its large green leaves take advantage of the sun before other plants and trees bloom. Its leaves produce an unpleasant odor to deter animals from feeding on it.

The cinnamon fern is common in the wetlands of the watershed and is named for its reddish frond that ripens in July. When it emerges it resembles a fiddle head and it grows up to 3 feet tall.Other plants found here include the sensitive chain fern, arrowwood, spotted touch-me-not, kidney leave buttercup, common blue violet (New Jerseys state flower), cat briar, marsh marigold, red maple, dodder, false Soloman’s seal, and mosses.

Other animals common in or near wetlands include the red winged black bird, swamp sparrow, muskrat, red bellied turtle, painted turtle, snapping turtle, fowler’s toad, bull frog, green frog, cray fish, and northern water snake.

Big Timber Creek is home to many fish species including yellow and white perch, largemouth and striped bass, channel catfish, carp, chain pickerel, American eel, minnows, and sunfish.

Migratory species such as American shad and river herring have returned and spawn in the upper tributaries each spring. Freshwater clams are common on the creek bottom and blue claw crabs visit when there are drought conditions in the Delaware River.

Big Timber Creek flows to the Delaware River and is effected by the tides which can range up to 5 feet. There are 2 high tides per day with approximately 6 hours between high and low. The tides make the current in the creek very strong and dangerous to swim in.

There are many kinds of wildlife that rely on the Big Timber Creek. The red tail hawk hunts for rodents and roosts in the large oak trees at along the creek.

                        Cardinal                              Cotton Tail Rabbit                                     Box Turtle