Pines Lake, New Jersey

Pines Lake is a lake community in Wayne, in Passaic County, New Jersey, United States. Pines Lake was started as a vacation community around a man-made lake approximately 1.5 miles long and a half mile wide in the 1920s. Many of the original homes were modified log cabins. Gradually the neighborhood became approximately 500 high end to moderate suburban homes. It has a grammar school, [http://www.wayneschools.com/pineslake/PinesLake%20Narrative-%2703-%2704.2.htm Pines Lake School] and its residents can send their high school aged children to Wayne Hills High School.

An interesting feature of the lake is the one lane road that passes over the dam, giving a view down into "the Glen", a steep sided ravine which is maintained as a park. There are rare tiger salamanders and native ferns. Marine fossils have occasionally been found in the Glen and on properties surrounding the lake. An undeveloped area near the southern end of the lake has long been believed to contain an Indian burial ground.

The Lenni-Lenape lived in the area of Pines Lake prior to European settlement. Stone mounds and other signs of them are visible in the forests and undeveloped areas around Pines Like.

Despite its name, there are very few natural pine trees around Pines Lake. The area is mostly forested in black oak, white oak, and red oak along with flowering dogwoods and American beech. There are groves of mature Eastern hemlocks that may have been mistaken for pine trees. The Glen is forested with mature oaks, hemlocks, and beech, including American sycamores along the stream banks.

Pines Lake has several community beaches on the lake and an active community life, centered around swimming, tennis, and sailboating. One such beach is the Sunny Ridge Beach, at the foot of Sunny Ridge Road, which serves residents in the immediate vicinity. The lake is stocked with largemouth bass, sunfish, and Northern pike--although seasonal partial drainings of the lake during winter for dam maintenance have damaged fishing. The lake supports flocks of mallards, coots, swans and other ducks, herons, and waterfowl. On the weekend nearest July 4 each year a community celebration is held, including the "Baby" Parade -- a costume parade for children walking, on decorated bicycles, and on home made floats -- culminating in a beachside picnic.

External links

* [http://www.homesnnj.com/wc/pineslake/home.htm Pines Lake Womens' Club]
* [http://terraserver-usa.com/image.aspx?s=14&lon=-74.286221&lat=41.000447&w=2 Aerial View of Pines Lake, Pines Lake is on the right side of the photograph right of the lake with the bridge crossing it (which is Pompton Lake)]
* [http://www.williammaloney.com/Canoeing/PinesLake/PinesLakeindex.html Pines Lake] Photos on and around Pines Lake, New Jersey