Stretching over 250-acres, the Palmyra Cove Nature Park is home to outdoor wildlife, nature trails, scenic views, and fresh air. The Park is located on the Delaware River, just under the Tacony-Palmyra Bridge, connecting New Jersey and Philadelphia. The habitats in the park include wetlands, woodlands, meadows, and a shoreline along the Delaware River. It’s a great place to see a variety of creatures, including birds, fish, caterpillars, butterflies, deer, and more!
Over three hundred ago, the lands were thriving with wildlife, but as more people began to move into suburbs along the New Jersey side of the Delaware, many habitats were destroyed. In the 1940s, the United States Army Corps of Engineers dredged the Delaware to keep the location for shipping. The dredging took the Delaware down to about 40 feet deep in the navigation channel, allowing for larger ships to transit the area. Portions of the park play a key part in allowing the relocation of the dredged sediment. Signs of the dredging are still in place at the Palmyra Cover Nature Park, but the Park keeps the animals’ habitats alive and thriving.
The location allows for many visitors to walk, bike, fish, birdwatch, and more. Visitors can walk through the trees and see the birds flying above them, or they can walk down to the Delaware River to cast their fishing lines. It has something for everyone. The Park also allows many students to learn about wildlife by emerging themselves into natures. In addition, the Park also has an Environmental STEM Center. Within the STEM Center, visitors can learn about everything from climate change to geography to space exploration. A Virtual Innovation Lab allows visitors dive into the sea or fly into space to learn more about the world.
One of the unique man-made sights to see here is the Tacony-Palmyra bridge. This bridge was completed in 1929 by Ralph Modjeski, who also worked on the iconic Manhattan and Benjamin Franklin bridges. The Tacony-Palmyra Bridge connects the neighborhood of Tacony in Philadelphia with the town of Palmyra in New Jersey. The bridge is combination of trusses, a large arch, and draw bridge. If you are in the park and hear the sound of a siren from the bridge, it’s your sign to go to the pier by the STEM center and watch the draw bridge portion open. Watching the draw bridge operating, and the large ships crossing underneath is a unique sight and experience.
The charming sight is one of many parks along the Delaware River, but the Palmyra Cover Nature Park gives visitors a quiet, uncommercialized, and bountiful nature spot along the Delaware River.
Resources
“Environmental STEM Center.” Palmyra Cover Nature Park: Institute for Earth Observations. Accessed April 7, 2024. https://www.palmyracove.org/esc
“Palmyra Cover Nature Park.” Visit South Jersey. Accessed April 7, 2024. https://visitsouthjersey.com/directory/palmyra-cove-nature-park/
Rosenfeld, Lucy D. and Marina Harrison. A Guide to Green New Jersey: Nature Walks in the Garden State. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Pres, 2003. https://www.google.com/books/edition/A_Guide_to_Green_New_Jersey/4ygb7nzKzvwC?hl=en&gbpv=0
“Tacony-Palmyra Bridge” Burlington County Bridge Commission. Accessed April 7, 2024. https://www.bcbridges.org/tacony-palmyra-bridge/
Weilbacher, Mike. Wild Philly: Explore the Amazing Nature in and Around Philadelphia. United States: Timber Press, 2023. https://www.google.com/books/edition/Wild_Philly/ZqVtEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0
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