Nature and science · Atlantic County
Dorothy Preserve: a savanna kept open and cedar given room to return
Managing organization and trail map checked · Arrival coordinate approximate
A short walk from Maple Avenue crosses a landscape that needs two different kinds of help: fire and clearing keep the savanna open, while a deer fence gives young Atlantic white cedar a chance to grow.
Two habitats on one walk
New Jersey Conservation Foundation describes mostly oak-pine forest divided by Stephens Creek, with Atlantic white cedar along the stream and an unusually open Pine Barrens savanna to the south. Blazing star, still-leaf aster and little bluestem thrive in that sparse canopy. The organization says it uses controlled burning and selective tree cutting to keep trees from closing over the savanna. A walk here makes the role of active land stewardship visible: simply fencing a tract and leaving it alone would produce a different landscape.
Cedar behind a fence
The Foundation places Dorothy in the Elwood Corridor, a chain of forests linking northern and southern Pinelands habitat through developed western Atlantic County. Its corridor account describes a 28-acre, solar-powered deer exclosure visible along the trail, intended to help young Atlantic white cedar reestablish. That is the Foundation's description of the project, not a claim that every cedar has survived or that the fence's equipment is open for inspection. Stay on the public trail and outside restoration areas.
Read the old trail map carefully
The Foundation's April 2009 trail map marks parking near Maple and 12th avenues, a roughly half-mile one-way nature trail, ten self-guided stations, and cedar and savanna restoration areas. In its 2015 annual report, p. 11, the Foundation credited Stockton student Emily Palumbo with mapping existing trails and designing a proposed expansion. The report describes future construction; the still-linked 2009 map does not establish that an expanded network opened. Use the map for orientation and follow the trail and signs present on the day.
Plan a visit
The manager publishes 1100 12th Avenue, Dorothy, NJ 08317 as its visiting address and links the trail map from its preserve page. New Jersey Audubon's trail guide also places parking at Maple and 12th avenues and says the dirt continuation of 11th Avenue is closed to the public. The site's map coordinate comes from a Census street-range match for the manager's address; it is close to Maple Avenue but is not a surveyed parking space. Check the manager's map and posted parking signs when you arrive. For a cedar walk on state land, see Wharton's Atlantic white cedar trail.
Sources and research limits
- New Jersey Conservation Foundation, Dorothy Preserve — Current public visit page, habitats and management.
- New Jersey Conservation Foundation, Elwood Corridor — Corridor rationale and deer exclosure account.
- New Jersey Conservation Foundation, Dorothy trail map (April 2009) — Historic route, parking symbol and stations; map explicitly disclaims survey accuracy.
- New Jersey Conservation Foundation, 2015 annual report, p. 11 — Trail-mapping work and proposed expansion.
- New Jersey Audubon, Dorothy Preserve trail guide — Parking intersection and road-access caution.
- U.S. Census Geocoder, 1100 12th Avenue match — Interpolated street-range coordinate, not a surveyed entrance.
The manager's current page says 331 acres, its corridor page says 337, and its 2009 map says 360. These figures are not reconciled here. The linked trail map is dated 2009; no current measured trail mileage or confirmation of the proposed expansion was found.