At the first public meeting on the Dinosaur Trail in March, a resident stood up and told the engineers their map was wrong: the land labeled Ceres Park was county-owned. According to The Woodbury Warbler's account of the meeting, the real Ceres Park is about 50 to 60 acres on the east side of Chestnut Branch. Mantua Township owns it, acquired through the Gloucester County Nature Club and the Stewart Estate with deed restrictions. The engineers said there might be a labeling error and that they would correct it.
That meeting was one of several moments where residents knew more about the corridor than the planning documents did. Six months later, on September 29, Gloucester County presented a hybrid "preliminary preferred alternative" at Edelman Fossil Park & Museum. The county's slides describe it as refining details based on community feedback. For anyone living in Mantua, that hybrid is the first version of the trail you can trace street by street.
The Route, Street by Street
The Dinosaur Trail is a proposed 3-to-5-mile multi-use path. Gloucester County and the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission are developing it to run from Glassboro Borough, through Pitman Borough, to Edelman Fossil Park & Museum in Mantua Township. Here is the preferred alignment from north to south, based on the county's September 29 presentation:
- Northern end at Mantua Boulevard. The path uses the existing Conrail crossing at Center Street and loops back to Mantua Boulevard. The proposed design for Center Street at Mantua Boulevard puts an 8-foot shared-use path beside the travel lanes.
- West Atlantic Avenue toward Center Street. The county's cross-section for this stretch shows the existing Conrail tracks running alongside the road.
- Across Main Street and east on Tylers Mill Road to Chestnut Branch. On Tylers Mill Road, the design shows an 8-foot path separated from traffic by a 5-foot buffer, inside a 50-foot right of way.
- South along Chestnut Branch into Pitman. The path continues past Pitman Golf Course, Emerald Lake, Cedar Lake, Marl Lakes and Ceres Park. It runs along Lambs Road to Chestnut Branch and follows the branch west of Looney Park.
- Southern end in Glassboro. It ends at the existing shared-use path on Carpenter Street.
The county figures 88 percent of the route would be off-road. It would give direct access to six parks or recreation centers and four existing or proposed trails. It would also link to 196 miles of low-stress bike network and 7 miles of pedestrian network. The county intends the trail to serve as the spine of a Gloucester County network connecting to the 800-mile Circuit Trails system.
What Changed After March
At the first public meeting on March 26, the county presented three concepts. One followed Route 55, one followed the parks and Chestnut Branch, and one went through Alcyon Park. The parks route and the Alcyon Park route each came with a variation, labeled 2A and 3A. The Warbler described the room as a packed house, and much of what came up there shows in the September plan.
| Raised at the March meeting | Where the September hybrid landed |
|---|---|
| Engineers said they had not known Alcyon Park closes after dark and restricts bicycles | The hybrid avoids Alcyon Park restrictions |
| Residents said Chestnut Branch floods regularly and the buffer behind Howard Avenue in Pitman shrinks to a few feet in places | Sited away from flood-prone areas on Howard Avenue, with greater buffers for residential properties |
| The Route 55 option drew safety objections | The Route 55 concept was eliminated |
| Concerns about ecological impact in Ceres Park | 50-to-150-foot buffers from wetlands and riparian zones, porous asphalt recommended, existing trail paths used where possible |
According to the Warbler, several residents raised the flooding on their own, separately from one another. A local official added that an active beaver population dams the branch and sometimes pushes water into Howard Avenue backyards. The engineers said they had not known. Residents also raised the safety of the Tylers Mill Road and Main Street intersection. That is the same stretch where the September design now places a buffered path along Tylers Mill Road.
The county's September summary of public feedback also lists privacy, environmental effects in Ceres Park, trail maintenance funding and e-bike rules. The hybrid uses existing tree lines as privacy buffers. It would need easements from seven private parcels.
Why a Fossil Trail Runs Through Ceres Park
The corridor's history reaches back to the 19th century. Pitman Golf Course was once called Marlborough and was part of a tract being developed as marl pits. Where Lambs Road crosses today, there was a West Jersey Railroad stop called Marlborough Station. Pitman Grove Station sat about a mile and a half farther south. The meeting account also traced the lakes around Ceres Park and the land west of Chestnut Branch to the same marl operations.
The Woodbury Warbler's account of the meeting also highlighted the museum, Rowan University and Ceres Park.
The meeting account also noted that the Gloucester County Nature Club surveyed Ceres Park during the pandemic and documented more than 1,000 species. Bob Holwitt, chair of the Pitman Environmental Commission, said the commission had reviewed similar trail plans back in 2013. The head coach of the Gladiators youth mountain biking team, a 25-year trail maintenance volunteer at Ceres Park, spoke in favor of a route that would connect riders to the park's 12 miles of existing trail. The September hybrid runs past Ceres Park and Marl Lakes, so the route follows the same corridor these speakers described.
What Is Decided and What Is Not
The route is a concept, not a construction project. According to the county presentation, the concept development study is being finished in fall and winter 2026. Municipal resolutions and approval of the final concept report are expected in late fall 2026, and then the project moves to preliminary engineering. The presentation gives no date for finishing engineering or starting construction.
No construction money has been announced either. In February 2024, DVRPC added $700,000 to its FY24 work program for a consultant-led study of two Dinosaur Trail segments. That money covers study work only. At the March meeting, engineers gave no cost estimate. They said construction funding would come later, usually through a mix of county, state and federal grants. They also confirmed that ongoing maintenance would be the responsibility of the municipalities the trail passes through.
Mantua Township's October 1 post links to the slide presentation, the captioned meeting recording and the map. It says the county would keep the materials online for 30 days. The post also says there will be more public outreach once the project reaches engineering. It points residents to "The Dinosaur Trail, NJ" Facebook page for updates.
The Northern End This Fall
The place where the trail would end already has a full fall schedule. Edelman Fossil Park & Museum is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., with last entry at 3:30 p.m. General admission is $29 for adults and $24 for children ages 3 to 12. A Quarry Dig add-on costs $25. The quarry offers up to 60 minutes of digging and is open Friday through Sunday in October. The museum's Quarry Dig page describes the season as running from approximately March to November, but November dig dates were not posted when this was written.
The museum's events calendar for the rest of the season:
- Earth Sciences Week, October 11 to 17
- EFM Book Club, October 14
- Not-So Spooky Family Night, October 16, 5 to 8 p.m., with pumpkin decorating, a special quarry dig, a bug walk, crafts, local vendors and live music. Admission is $5 for members and $30 for nonmembers.
- Bad Science Cinema: The Mummy, October 23
- Full Moon Yoga, October 25
- Fossils & Frights, October 30
- Dinovember programming throughout November, including the Inflatable Dino Dash 1K on November 7
Hours, prices and events can change, so check the museum's site before you go.
Elsewhere in the township, Chestnut Branch Park has new courts. The township announced that its new pickleball courts and upgraded basketball courts were officially open as of July 29, 2026.
If you own along the proposed corridor and want to understand how public projects like this could figure into your home's value and how it's marketed, Nancy Kowalik Group can walk you through it street by street. Request a Free Home Valuation & Guaranteed Sale Plan.
