Lenape Park facts for kids

Lenape Park is a large wildlife reserve and park located in Union County, New Jersey. It covers about 450 acres, which is like 340 football fields! This park is part of the Rahway River Parkway and stretches across four towns: Westfield, Springfield, Kenilworth, and Cranford.

The park is connected to Nomahegan Park by a special crosswalk. Inside Lenape Park, you'll find parts of both the Rahway River and Nomahegan Brook. It's one of the biggest natural areas left in the Rahway River watershed. The name "Lenape" comes from the Lenape Native Americans who lived here long ago. Even the names "Rahway" and "Nomahegan" come from their language.

A section of the East Coast Greenway trail goes through the park. There's also an old burial ground, called the French-Richards Burying Ground, from 1724 right next to the park. You can find a small woodland trail behind the Lenape Park pond.

Park History and Development

In 1921, people living in the area were worried about too many factories being built. They decided to create the Union County Park Commission. This group was formed after a public vote to buy and protect natural areas that were still left.

Discovering Ancient Mastodon Bones

In 1936, something amazing was found in what is now Lenape Park! Workers were digging an artificial lake and discovered parts of an ancient American mastodon. They found two tusks, one of which was over 4 feet long, and several bone pieces.

These bones are thought to be from a young male mastodon that lived about 12,000 years ago. Scientists believe the bones might have washed down from farther north. These are the only known Ice Age mastodon bones found in Union County, New Jersey.

Controlling Floods in Lenape Park

Most of the raised land in Lenape Park was created in the late 1970s. The park was redesigned by the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). This was done to help nearby towns like Cranford and Westfield with repeated flooding from the Rahway River.

The USACE built a large cement dam on Kenilworth Boulevard to control the floods. They also built black-topped earthen paths, called berms, which now serve as walking trails. These paths stretch all the way to Echo Lake Park in the west and Black Brook Park in the east. Even today, the USACE continues to study ways to control flooding in the area.

Park Plants and Animals

In 2005, a special event called a bioblitz took place in Lenape Park. During a bioblitz, scientists and volunteers work together to find and identify as many species as possible in a certain area. In Lenape Park, they found over 660 different kinds of plants and animals!