Part 1- Wharton State Forest: Pitch Pine and Shortleaf Pine in the sun

Just a beautiful day (though a bit warm) in a small section of Wharton State Forest on the north bank of the Mullica River. It's a dry, desert-like area with lots of reindeer lichen and heather.
This is of course in the New Jersey Pine Barrens.
By the way, the last time I was in this specific area, there was trash all over the place, and I was prompted to do a video about how bad the trash was. I didn't really see any this time.

Category:

People & Blogs

Tags:

• Pine Barrens
• New Jersey
• Mullica River
• cedar water
• Pitch Pine
• Shortleaf Pine
• hiking
• nature
• outdoors

[PinePowerLI]

Absolutely beautiful. Look at all those awesome shapes. Shortleaf and Pitch pines sure do come in the same great shapes, and the only way to tell the difference is to take a close look at the cones and needle length. Reminds me so much of that area I go to when I go to Jakes Branch. I would so love to go to Wharton, but there's no buses there.

[MillerMeteor74]

@PinePowerLI

That's why for years and years I didn't know there was more than one kind of pine here. I saw the smaller cones and thought they were just an anomaly, or a variation in the species.

It's too bad there's no public transit in the middle of nowhere. The NJT buses stop in Egg Harbor CIty all the time, but they never go up to Batsto.

[PinePowerLI]

Yeah me too. I always thought the Shortleafs were just a variation of Pitch Pines. Yeah its really a shame that many areas of the Pinelands are not accessible to those without a car. Thats the great thing about Long Island, most of our pine barrens are accessible by bus or train. NJ Transit seems to be much more bare bones than transportation here.

[dolly244]

Great video! Looks like a good spot for camping? That water really washed out that sand on the banks. Peace