Title: Hike the Clyde Potts Reservoir
Link out: Click here
Description: Take a hike in one of New Jersey’s beautiful open spaces. Clyde Potts Reservoir is one of those special places conveniently located in Randolph and Mendham Townships in Morris County.
The Land Conservancy of New Jersey along with Mendham and Randolph Townships will lead a hike that will reveal how this property was preserved, who Clyde Potts was, and why the property is such a gem of open space.
Join us at the trail head for this hike, located approximately one-half mile south of Sussex Turnpike on Old Brookside Road in Randolph. Parking is available. Trail blazes are white as this trail is known as the “Patriots’ Path Connection” and is part of the Morris County Park Commission Patriots’ Path trail system.
Mr. Clyde Potts, for whom the Clyde Potts Reservoir is named, served as Mayor of Morristown for over twenty years (between 1922 and 1948) and was the project engineer for the reservoir project. In 2002 The Land Conservancy of New Jersey joined Mendham and Randolph townships, the Morris County Park Commission and the Southeast Morris County Municipal Utilities Authority (SMCMUA) to protect this land, totaling 964 acres.
The linchpin to the deal was the preservation of 60 acres of the largest privately owned, undeveloped properties in the Clyde Potts Watershed. The properties had been planned for intensive development, a proposal that would have threatened the quality of water in the Clyde Potts reservoir, which is owned and operated by the SMCMUA. The Land Conservancy, Randolph and Mendham agreed to purchase the properties in exchange for the SMCMUA selling a conservation easement on its 904 acres.
Clyde Potts, the largest Morris County reservoir serving Morris County residents, provides drinking water to Morristown, Morris Township, Hanover and Morris Plains. Because the great majority of drinking water supplied to Morris County residents emanates from groundwater, protecting surface water like Clyde Potts is critical for maintaining a balanced, long-term supply. Clyde Potts is among the most pristine water supply reservoirs in New Jersey, due to the fact that the SMCMUA owns 75% of the watershed.
The preservation of the Clyde Potts watershed also resulted in a five mile expansion of Patriots’ Path. Much of this section of Patriots’ Path will also be designated as the Liberty-Water Gap trail, a federally designated “Millenium” trail that will connect Liberty State Park to the Delaware Water Gap.
Sunday July 17, 2011 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm
COST: FREE
For more information go to www.HikeMendham.org or call 973-543-6004.
Date: 2011-07-17