Welcome back to National Parks and other public lands with T! 

I visited Supawna Meadows National Wildlife Refuge as a side trip to the Finn’s Point stop on the Lighthouse Challenge of NJ, which celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2019.

I arrived at the second stop on my list, the Finn’s Point Rear Range Lighthouse, designed to work in tandem with a front range light, similar to the Tinicum Light where I’d begun the morning.

Finn’s Point is the place where the Delaware River meets the Delaware Bay. It is named for the Finnish settlers who colonized the area in the 1600s. Today, it is part of the Supawna Meadows National Wildlife Refuge.

After climbing to the top of the lighthouse, I decide to explore the Wildlife Refuge. The ranger directed me the Grassland trail just down the road from the lighthouse. This trail is supposed to have a boardwalk observation platform, but the planks were lying in the dirt when I got there.

The refuge was formed to protect the winter home of the American Black Duck and other shore birds. It is on the Atlantic Flyway, an important stop for migratory birds.

The Supawna Meadows National Wildlife Refuge is part of the Cape May National Wildlife Refuge. A component of the Delaware River estuary in Salem County, New Jersey, it is just north of the Salem River and south of Pennsville.

I was able to walk a bit on the woodland portion of the trail and saw some deer along the way.  I also came across a burial site from the 1800s…a family who had perished from smallpox.

2019 Lighthouse Challenge Posts:

• Tinicum Rear Range Lighthouse
• Finn’s Point Lighthouse
• Supawna Meadows NWR
• East Point Lighthouse
• Maurice River
• Cape May Lighthouse
• Cape May Point State Park
• Tatham Lifesaving Station
• Stone Harbor Bird Sanctuary
• Lifesaving Station 30

Location: 197 Lighthouse Rd, Pennsville, NJ 08070

Designation: National Wildlife Refuge

Date established/designated: 1974

Date of my visit: October 19, 2019