Staff Hike in Hopatcong

The Land Conservancy staff enjoyed their annual hike last week in Hopatcong!

Every year The Land Conservancy staff enjoy a hike at one of our preserves or on a trail we assisted with during the year. This year, we hiked the Lake Hopatcong Trail that highlights the natural beauty of the Lake Hopatcong region. The loop-trail is a cooperative effort between the Lake Hopatcong Foundation and state and local governments and groups, including The Land Conservancy.

We began on the Lake Hopatcong Trail and continued to hike the Highlands Trail,  3,192 acres of protected forested land in the New Jersey Highlands. The 4.6 mile-trail is permanently preserved through the Hudson Farm Easement that The Land Conservancy secured last year.

After the beautiful hike the staff enjoyed hands-on experiments aboard “Study Hull”, The Lake Hopatcong Foundation’s Floating Classroom, a 40-foot pontoon boat!  The Land Conservancy conducted  experiments including water clarity testing with secchi disks and collecting and studying phytoplankton from lake water samples.