Lord Stirling Park — Attraction in Bernards Township

2 1/2 stars

There are a lot of people out there who can and do enjoy this park. If you're a birdwatcher, this is a great place to ogle some waterfowl, probably one of the best in the area. Young pups can easily traverse the boardwalks and there's a lot of kid-friendly educational material for them to access along the way, so that's a selling point as well. However, if you're looking for a place to hike, this is one of my least favorite places to do it, and this review is from that specific perspective.

I came here on Sunday with my chum and her Wee One for a low-stress 2.9-mile hike. We started in the early afternoon, and it took about 2 1/2 hours. That probably seems inordinately high for the mileage, but it will make sense shortly. Unfortunately, it was cloudy throughout. I've been here once before and to areas of the nearby Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge a handful of times - it's definitely more enjoyable visually when it's sunny out, especially with so much water nearby to conveniently reflect the sunshine. Alas.

Our adventure took us on the Yellow Trail from the eastern side of the Environmental Education Center, veering right multiple times and going by Lily Pad Pond and the East Observation Tower. We then headed toward the boardwalk area via the Wood Duck Loop, traversed the Boondocks Boardwalk and headed back on the Red Trail past the Great Swamp Oak to complete a quasi-circular loop.

The absolute worst part of hiking here is that it does not matter when the last rainfall occurred - I have been here when it's been dry for a week and, as was the case this time, when it rained the day before. It's soggy and not a lot of fun to hike in and involves a lot of off-trail improvising through sticker bushes that massively slows you down. And if it rained recently? Forget it. Huge swaths of the path are glorified streams. They've spent a lot of time (and I suspect money) on their boardwalk section, but if they're trying to lure hikers in, that yellow trail really needs some TLC. Maybe you can just import some soil in there so it's a little higher, but it's rough going. Same token, the boardwalk is definitely deteriorating in parts. We saw sections that had recently been repaired, but there are still a lot of decaying/mossy boards out there. I don't recall a point where we were seriously concerned that the boardwalk was going to give out underneath us, but it's heading in that direction.

Second worst part of hiking here? No pooches allowed. Very sad, and I'm not sure if that rule is in place because of the terrain or out of an abundance of caution for the creatures who live here. But regardless, I did not have the pleasure of seeing any canines enjoying the fresh air. Additionally, there were no bathroom options when we came. They probably have facilities in the Educational Center but that was closed on Sunday. I definitely remember seeing a port-a-potty off to the side on my prior visit, but it wasn't there this time.

One positive though that deserves mention - the trail markings are excellent. I think some of the trails could be better assigned/distributed (there were multiple occasions when the yellow trail would fork, but it would be yellow both ways). We had a specific hiking itinerary but I'm sure that can be confusing for others. I'd just make one of the prongs of the trail fork a different colored trail. But regardless, every intersection was carefully noted and most had very visually appealing signs.

I'm not crazy about a lot of the hiking options in this area (mostly because the terrain isn't challenging and there aren't a lot of fun viewpoints), but I'd recommend Jockey Hollow over this. That said, if your idea of a great Sunday is staring at herons, by all means make the...

The Environmental Education Center is one of NJ's BEST kept secrets! I was looking for a really nice location to host my daughter's baby shower, and when I found the EEC, I knew that after countless hours of looking, my search was over! Everything was terrific, from Jane in the office, being patient with me, answering my COUNTLESS questions, to Ben who was so lovely in sending me photos, as I was unable to get there ahead of time, and really wanted to see what the room looked like for decorating purposes, to Rich, who... bless his heart, had several pregnant women who were running hot and he did everything possible to keep the room cool. Everyone was helpful and lovely.

The restrooms have been redone and are quite nice, not what you would expect! Much nicer. Having access to a full kitchen was key for us, because we did our own catering. The food was prepared off site, but having a sink and fridge and prep area for final primping was so helpful, and the stove, to boil water for tea for our guests, and the coffee urn... These folks set up all of our tables to my specifications and they did it perfectly!

My daughter's shower was a HUGE success and MANY of our guests, including me, plan on returning to see the museum and trails and the MANY wonderful things the EEC has to offer. I HIGHLY recommend checking out their website and seeing the things they offer that would interest you and your family! Thank you so much to the...

My husband and I thoroughly enjoyed trails, environment and atmosphere here, however, we did find it difficult to find our way around as trails were not clearly marked so it was a little confusing. Another family said the same thing as we were at one point at the same spot looking to find our way to the parking lot, which, we finally did find but it was a little challenging. We all had our GPS with us too. This place is worth returning to and I'd highly recommend it. The educational center was small but very nice, a clean restroom as well as nice art work display from a school in the area. If you looking for a nice place to spend the day I'd suggest...