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Trail Guides
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Elsinboro Neck
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4
 
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Fort Elfsborg-Salem Road, Elsinboro, NJ
Phone: (888) 627-7437
www.pseg.com/environment/estuary
Public Service Enterprise Group (PSEG)
Turn Right out of the WMA parking lot onto Route 45. Follow Route 45 past the
hospital back into Salem City. Turn Right onto Route 49. After 1 block, turn Left onto Chestnut St. The post office will be on your Right across from Chestnut St. Chestnut St. turns into CR 625/Fort Elfsborg-Salem Rd. Drive past the
PSEG office on your Left, straight through the blinking yellow light and past the Elsinboro Elementary School. Continue on this road through a sharp Right and sharp Left and end at the parking area. Map
A walk along the narrow beach offers good views of the open water of the river. Going further south brings the upper parts of the Delaware Bay into focus. Be careful not to be caught when the tide is coming in as some parts of the beach are impassable at high tide.
| | Just north of where the Delaware River opens up into the Delaware Bay, the view from this little known beach is delightful. There is a small boardwalk providing enough
elevation to afford a look down into the salt marsh. There you will find egrets, herons and shorebirds depending on the time of year. Stroll along the beach looking for shells, pebbles and animal tracks. Scan the open water for ducks, gulls and cormorants. The site of the Swedish Fort Elfsborg, built in 1643, is marked with a modest monument nearby.
the spring shorebird migration at this site. Look in particular for impressive flocks of Glossy Ibis feeding in the marsh and nearby fields.
Both Common and Red-throated Loons arrive from the north and can be seen on the bay or in open water in the marshes. Scan the bay for other sea ducks. The site can be quite windy and cold but it is possible to view the river from inside a parked car.
Migrating shorebirds visit the marsh in large numbers. The marsh mammals become more active. Muskrat, beaver and fox are best seen early in the day. Wading birds can be seen traveling to feeding sites in the marsh, and Yellow Warbler and Red-winged Blackbird are plentiful.
Marshes are some of the most productive habitats on earth and during the summer this marsh is active with a large variety of herons
and egrets that feed in the area and can be seen foraging or in flight throughout the day. Listen for Clapper Rail and Willet.
Migrating birds that follow the river will pass this area. For example, raptors such as Cooper’s Hawk, Sharp-shinned Hawk, Peregrine Falcon and Bald Eagle sometimes travel along the edge of the Delaware Bay and River looking for a narrow spot to cross the river rather than the mouth of the bay.
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