Hutcheson Memorial Forest is a 500-acre preserve in Franklin Township, New Jersey, notable for safeguarding a rare untouched stand of old-growth woodland in a heavily settled region. At its core lies the 65-acre virgin tract once called Mettler's Woods, where no timber was cut and the soil was never tilled, preserving a remnant of pre-colonial forest. Acquired from the Lenape by Dutch settlers in 1701, the land stayed with their descendants until the mid-1950s. Saved from sale in 1955 by a preservation campaign, it was placed under the care of Rutgers University and The Nature Conservancy and became a National Natural Landmark in 1976.

Weston, New Jersey · USA