The Rahway River is 24
miles long and drains a land area of 41 square miles of
Essex, Middlesex and Union counties.
There are 24 municipalities in the Rahway River
watershed including Maplewood, Millburn, South Orange
and West Orange in Essex County, Carteret and Edison in
Middlesex County and Cranford, Mountainside, Springfield
and Rahway in Union County.
The Rahway River consists of four distinct branches. The
West Branch, begins in Verona and flows south through
South Mountain Reservation and directly through downtown
Millburn. The East Branch originates between West Orange
and Montclair and travels South Orange and Maplewood.
These two branches converge near Route 78
in Springfield and flow through Clark, Cranford and
Union. In Rahway, the confluence of the Robinson’s and
the South Branches of the river occurs. The river
continues
through Linden and
Carteret forming the boundary between
Middlesex
and Union counties and drains into the Arthur Kill.
The Rahway River is the source of drinking water for the 26,500
people in the City of Rahway.
Portions of the Rahway River are part of the East Coast
Greenway, a 2,600 mile trail between Maine and Florida.
There is close to 5,000 acres of county parkland in the Rahway
River watershed. Much of the Rahway River corridor in Essex and
Union counties is public open space.
The lower Rahway River is tidal. The tidal portion of the river
extends up into the City of Rahway. The upper portion of river
corridor consists of floodplains, woodlands and freshwater
wetlands while the lower portion consists of salt marshes and
tidal flats.
The Rahway River watershed was the site of several Revolutionary
War battles and engagements. Most notable among them were the
Battle of Short Hills 1777 and in 1780 the Battle of Connecticut
Farms in Union and the Battle of Springfield. There are many
National Historic Sites associated with the American Revolution
in the Rahway River watershed.
The Rahway River is home to four anadromous fish species (fish
that spawn in freshwater and live in saltwater) and one species
of catadromous fish species (fish that spawn in salt water and
live in freshwater). There are plans to install a fish ladder at
the Rahway City Water Works to aid these fish during their
spawning migrations.
Portions of the Rahway River are stocked with trout by the New
Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.
The Rahway River’s woodlands and wetlands provide much needed
wildlife habitat in the region. Bio Blitzes (a 24 hour
biological inventory) conducted in 2005 and 2006 each documented
the presence of nearly 700 species of plants and animals.
