The Brendan T. Byrne State Forest (formerly the Lebanon State Forest) is a 34,725 acre (139 km²) area in the New Jersey Pine Barrens in Burlington and Ocean Counties, New Jersey.[1]
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The Brendan T. Byrne State Forest is the state's second largest state forest (after Wharton State Forest). There are 25 miles (40 km) of hiking trails and a camping area. The park is operated and maintained by the New Jersey Division of Parks and Forestry.
The forest lies within the Atlantic coastal pine barrens ecoregion. It includes the 735-acre (2.97 km2) Cedar Swamp Natural Area: with upland pine-oak forest, oak-pine forest, pitch pine lowland forest, and Atlantic white cedar swamp forest plant communities. The Natural Area protects habitat of the threatened Swamp pink and other endangered plant species.[2]
The Mount Misery Trail is a multi-use trail and allows mountain biking. The Cranberry Trail is wheelchair-accessible. The Batona Trail, designed for hiking, cross country skiing, and snowshoeing, is almost 50 miles (80 km) in length; it links the Brendan T. Byrne, Wharton, and Bass River State Forests. There is a loop trail of about two miles (3.2 km), starting at the forest office, and a one-mile (1.6 km) loop at Pakim Pond. By combining different trails with the Batona Trail, loops of 6 miles (9.6 km) and 14 miles (23 km) provide day hikes.[3]
The forest also contains Whitesbog Village, an historic company town, founded in the 1870s by Joseph J. White which was once one of the largest cranberry and blueberry farms in the state, active through the mid-20th century. The cultivated blueberry, a hybrid of the native Vaccinium caesariense, was developed and commercialized here by Elizabeth Coleman White and Frank Coville. The now silent Whitesbog Village exemplifies the changes in agriculture in this state. The site is presently leased to the nonprofit Whitesbog Preservation Trust for restoration.
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