Montgomery Township offers several natural areas that differ in their trails, landscapes, and purposes for visiting. The Opie's Mill Trail features a precisely measured section, changing surfaces, and a route along a floodplain. At the Montgomery Township Arboretum, a growing collection of woody plants complements trails for walking, jogging, and cycling. Skillman Park adds a fenced, off-leash dog run to this selection. To plan your visit, you can first choose your focus: a trail section, a plant collection, a varied park landscape, or a designated dog run.
Opie's Mill Trail: Trail Section and Floodplain Edge
The section of the Opie's Mill Trail from the trailhead at Mill Pond to the end of the trail is 0.6 miles long. Half of the trail is paved, and the other half is a boardwalk. The trail runs alongside the Pike Run floodplain, which is bordered by an Osage-orange hedge. The distance, surface, and floodplain edge give you specific points of reference when choosing a particular trail section rather than a park area.
The Opie's Mill Trail is also part of the trail network that continues from Montgomery Park through the Mill Pond Soccer Complex to River Road. This gives you two scales to consider: a measured 0.6-mile section and a connection through Montgomery Park and the Mill Pond Soccer Complex to River Road. When planning, you can consider the specific section and the wider trail network separately.
Montgomery Township Arboretum: Woody Plants and Trails
The Montgomery Township Arboretum is a 50-acre natural area with a growing collection of more than 150 tree and shrub species. Some species are quite rare, and all are native to the east of the Mississippi. From the lower parking lot of Montgomery Veterans Memorial Park, signs and a bridge lead you to the arboretum. There are accessible trails for walking, jogging, and cycling. If you want to combine plant diversity with exercise, the trails complement the woody plant collection with three different activities.
The difference from the Opie's Mill Trail lies in the focus: the arboretum combines a growing collection with trails for several activities, while the trail is defined by its limited section length, the change between pavement and boardwalk, and the floodplain. This lets you focus either on a plant collection or on a particular trail section.
Skillman Park and Montgomery Park
Skillman Park is a 247-acre park in the Skillman community. At Parking Lot A, there is a 2-acre fenced, off-leash dog run with separate areas for small and large dogs. For a visit with a dog, this is a specific facility whose location at Parking Lot A and division by dog size can help you decide.
Montgomery Park covers 100 acres and is located on Harlingen Road; its landscape is varied. In terms of area, Skillman Park is more than twice as large. The described focuses also differ: Skillman Park centers on its dog run, while Montgomery Park centers on its landscape. The arboretum adds another option, with 50 acres and its collection of trees and shrubs.
Planned Trail Connections
A planned multi-use trail network in Montgomery is intended to connect parks, farmland, historic sites and districts, and residential neighborhoods along scenic stream corridors and preserved upland areas. Its planned status applies to this larger network; it differs from the specific information about the Opie's Mill Trail and its trail network.
Discover more destinations: Somerville, Raritan, Warren, Bernardsville, Hillsborough, Bridgewater, North Plainfield, Basking Ridge
For the broader travel overview: Somerset.
