Wharton State Forest lies in the heart of the Pinelands and is the largest single tract of state-owned land in New Jersey, containing well over 120,000 acres. In the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, industrial centers in what is now the forest thrived on local natural resources, and towns such as Bulltown, Harrisville, Friendship, and Martha produced iron, glass, lumber, and paper. Although many of these places are gone, buildings and structures remain at Batsto and Atsion that reflect the agricultural and commercial ventures of the nineteenth century. The Batsto Natural Area and the Oswego Natural Area contain several forest habitats representative of the Pinelands and support many threatened and endangered plants, including some species found nowhere else in the world. The Natural Areas Act of 1961 gave an exceptional degree of protection to ecologically significant areas within lands owned by the State of New Jersey. In 1873, the industrialist Joseph Wharton began buying large tracts of land in the Pinelands, including Batsto and Atsion, and experimented there in agriculture and forest management on his gentleman’s farm. By the time of his death in 1909, he had acquired 96,000 acres, and his efforts helped keep this vast area undeveloped, forming the core of Wharton State Forest. The forest also offers historic villages, trails, waterways, wilderness, camping in designated areas by permit, seasonal swimming at the Atsion Recreation Area, and a year-round visitor center at Batsto Village.

Photo: Don Morfe

Photo: Don Morfe

Photo: Don Morfe

Photo: Don Morfe

Photo: Don Morfe

Sweetwater, New Jersey · USA