Yesterday after work, I stopped by Pigeon Swamp State Park, since it was a very short drive from work. I had some difficulty finding information on the park on the internet, however, which had me concerned. Wikipedia told me that it was an undeveloped state park, in the sense that there were no trails, offices, or parking lots. The closest thing to a parking lot was a small dirt area off the side of the road.
I was incredibly apprehensive when I started walking around. With gray clouds creating the scene, I felt like an intruder as I explored the area. It was surprisingly peaceful, with only birds chirping and the rustling of leaves breaking the silence. There were two swampy ponds (for lack of a better word) on both sides of me, with the one of the left being significantly bigger. I walked around the bigger one, and started to worry as I thought I saw something move in the corner of my eye. I kept telling myself it was only bird, maybe a wild turkey at best, but the more I lingered in the area, the more concerned I became that I was alone in the pseudo-wilderness. I spent a good twenty minutes there before I turned back to go to my car. Besides a few flowers here and there, there wasn't much to see anyway. There was only a limited amount of land available for walking. It must have been cleared by people living nearby (since there two houses in the proximity of the area.)
I then decided to keep driving to see if I could find a more appropriate entrance. I found another pull-off area, but it was gated before an entrance to a lake. The gate was fronted with a "No trespassing" sign. I was quite tempted to slip through a narrow vertical space in the gate (since I'm small enough), but I decided not to push my luck, and took a zoomed-in picture instead. The sign made me quite sad, considering that there were no legal entrances to walk along the lake. My first thought was if this was a dumpsite and the water was toxic. Though the verdict is still out on that one, I found out that the area is used by a sand company. In addition to the number of cranes and other heavy equipment, I finally gave up hope that this was a legitimate state park. My conclusion is that it's a state park in the sense that the state owns it, but that it's pointless to make it anything worthwhile since the lake is closed off. I guess that's what happens when a park shares a border with the NJ Turnpike.
What a sad day. The only thing that left me on a slightly more uplifted note was hearing the giddy chatter of tiny birds in trees near the lake. At least birds have a haven here. Though there may not be any pigeons left, their name is left in a place for other birds to flourish.
The pictures begin at number 129 of this album:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/fbx/?set=a.10150201830295260.347029.753450259&l=b5e2af666b
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