Losen Slote Creek Park
Welcome to the 28 acre Losen Slote Creek Park! The Park is located in Little Ferry, NJ and contains 26 acres of woodland and meadows. 2 acres are dedicated to recreation.
Losen Slote Creek Park Boundaries
The park, named for the creek which flows through it, was created in 1990 by an agreement with the Borough of Little Ferry and the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission (NJMC). The NJMC has a 99 year lease agreement with Little Ferry for public access. Losen Slote Creek Park has the Little Ferry Department of Public Works to the north, the Bergen County Utilities Authority Nature Preserve to the east, Losen Slote on its western border and the Richard P Kane Natural Area to the south.
Losen Slote Creek Park
Habitat found in the preserve includes forested freshwater wetlands, meadows and a portion of the Losen Slote Creek, a major tributary of the lower Hackensack River watershed. The name “Losen Slote” is of Dutch origin and translates to “curvy creek”. As such, the name of the park translates to “Curvy Creek Creek Park”. 
Losen Slote
Losen Slote is not influenced by tidal waters because of a tide gate that is present near Losen Slote’s confluence with the Hackensack River. The tide gate was installed by the Bergen County Mosquito Authority around 1921. Losen Slote has been labeled by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection as “FW2-NT/SE2″. This classification indicates that these waters do not contain trout (NT=No Trout) and are a mixture of fresh and salt water.
May 6, 2012 NJMC & Bergen County Audubon Society Tour
Birders in Losen Slote Creek Park
The New Jersey Meadowlands Commission (NJMC) & the Bergen County Audubon Society led a 1.5 mile 2 hour tour of Losen Slote Creek Park on May 6, 2012 to look for migrating birds and other wildlife.
Losen Slote Creek Park Trail Map
Jim Wright of the NJMC informed the group of the different habitats found in the park before the tour began.
I was happy to attend because it provided a chance to explore & undertake a deeper understanding of the flora & fauna that can be found in Bergen County’s sole remaining lowland forest.
Losen Slote Creek Park Wet Meadow Habitat
After the group assembled in the parking lot, we stopped near the entrance to the forest by a wet meadow where Solitary Sandpipers and Greater Yellowlegs were poking around. Most attendees commented that they had never seen so many Solitary Sandpipers gathered in one spot before.
Losen Slote Creek Park Trail
After entering the forest, the group almost immediately spotted a Baltimore Oriole and at least 2 Scarlet Tanagers high in the trees (and too high for me to get a picture). I did get a picture of a Gray Catbird who was singing a territory song.
Gray Catbird
Soon after I took the picture of the catbird, a splash was heard in a nearby ditch as a Muskrat made a quick getaway which I caught on camera as a blur.
Blurry Muskrat
As we traveled further into the woods, a good amount of native flora was present:
Don Torino of the Bergen County Audubon Society with Mayapple in Bloom
Arrowwood
Black Cherry In Bloom
Sweet Pepperbush
Canada Mayflower In Bloom
Cinnamon Fern
Gray Birch became the dominant species as the group came into the meadows portion of the preserve.
Gray Birch
Reaching the creek turtles were spotted basking on a rock and a surprised Great Blue Heron flew away before I could get its picture.
Turtles on a rock in the Losen Slote
As we got into the meadows there were plenty of butterflies (especially the Red Admiral) flying around.
Losen Slote Creek Park Field Habitat
A Brown Thrasher was waiting for the group in the meadows and put on quite a show.
Brown Thrasher
Heading in, Raccoon tracks were found in the mud on parts of the trail.
The group did notice some Mile-A-Minute, an invasive plant which had sections eaten by insects which were released in the park to control Mile-A-Minute from taking over.
Mile-a-Minute Insect Holes
Reaching near the end of the trail, the group turned back to the forest and to the parking lot where the tour concluded.
Check out Plant Communities of New Jersey.
NJ’s geology, topography and soil, climate, plant-plant and plant-animal relationships, and the human impact on the environment are all discussed in great detail. Twelve plant habitats are described and the authors were good enough to put in examples of where to visit!
Click here for more information!
A full list of birds spotted on the tour can be found here.
Losen Slote
Many thanks to the NJMC & Bergen County Audubon Society for hosting an excellent walk! Check out the Meadowlands Blog or the Bergen County Audubon Society’s webpage for information regarding future events!
Click here for directions to Losen Slote Creek Park!
Feel free to e-mail NJUrbanForest at NJUrbanForest@gmail.com with any comments, memories or suggestion! Thank you and have fun exploring!
Books on the Meadowlands!
1. The Nature of the Meadowlands – The Nature of the Meadowlands illuminates the region’s natural and unnatural history, from its darkest days of a half-century ago to its amazing environmental revival.
Click here for more information!
2. The Meadowlands: Wilderness Adventures on the Edge of a City – Author Robert Sullivan proves himself to be this fragile yet amazingly resilient region’s perfect expolorer, historian, archaeologist, and comic bard.
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3. Meadowlands: A Wetlands Survival Story – Slowly but surely, with help from activist groups, government organizations, and ordinary people, the resilient creatures of the Meadowlands are making a comeback, and the wetlands are recovering.
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4. Fields of Sun and Grass: An Artist’s Journal of the New Jersey Meadowlands - The book has three central parts, respectively called “Yesterday,” “Today,” and “Tomorrow.” Each covers a different time period in the ecological life of the Meadowlands.
Click here for more information!
