One area of stunted trees is called the Pygmy Forest. While many consider it a barren wilderness, twenty-seven varieties of orchids grow there. In the early days, travel was difficult for the cedar swamps were great obstacles. Some roads are old Indian trails. Others are old stagecoach roads.
Some roads are paved, others are sandy.
Roads lead to places named Hog Wallow, Double Trouble, Sooy Place and Mary Ann Furnace. These names date back to colonial times when settlers first came to New Jersey. The birthplace of the Jersey Devil is called the Pine Barrens. Many of the area residents descended from early farmers trying to make a small living from the sandy soil. Some may have been Hessians who escaped to the Barrens during the Revolutionary War and stayed rather than return to Europe.