Van Buskirk Island County Park 200 Elm Street, Oradell, NJ 07649

"Beautiful fall scenery keeps me walking around the park for a most an hour, my wife and I enjoyed this small discovery walk."

"There's a verse that was purged from the original recording of Woody Guthrie's "This Land is Your Land"; it goes: "As I was walking, I saw a sign there/And that sign said, "No trespassing"/But on the other side it didn't say nothin'/That side was made for you and me." If, like Woody Guthrie, you decide that Van Buskirk Island Park was made for you and me, there's a heck of a lot to see here. In the 1915 addition to the pumping engine house sits a 5-story-tall Allis-Chalmers vertical triple expansion pumping engine. Down in the locker room, workers' belongings are still hanging out it lockers, long since forgotten. In the communal shower room, tattered shower curtains still hang on. When the lower stories are flooded, one can see little goldfish swimming about the pipes and derelict pumping machinery. Next door, in the filtration building and administrative tower, old paperwork gives clues to the operation of the historic New Milford Plant of the Hackensack Water Works. If you're interested in the industrial heritage of America, this park was made for you and me. On your drive home from here, make sure to stop by the Weehawken Water Tower which supplied water during droughts! An architectural marvel, it is a great complement to Hackensack's main filtration and pumping operation, located here."

"Interesting area, lots of history. Beautiful birds like kingfishers and herons. Fun fishing spot close to home."

"I'm certainly bummed that the building was inaccessible as many abandon buildings left untouched offer insight and historical appreciation for what was left. The building itself appears in fair condition and has plans to become a county park with an unknown date of development. I can't wait until it opens up. At the moment, there are four historical information boards and several no trespassing signs."