The Vanishing Kettle Pond: Why We Can’t Ice Skate on Twinney Anymore
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ,for generations of Ridgewood residents, winter meant one thing: grabbing your skates and heading to Twinney Pond. This 3.7-acre “kettle pond”—a rare geological gift from the last Ice Age—was once a hub for winter recreation and serene nature walks.
But today, the skates are gathering dust. Twinney Pond is undergoing a rapid, visible transformation, and a growing number of residents are concerned that the Village is letting a piece of local history slip away.
A Natural Wonder in the Heart of Ridgewood
Twinney Pond is more than just a body of water; it is an ecological treasure. The park features:
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A wood-chip circular walking trail perfect for birdwatching.
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A vibrant butterfly garden.
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Rare flora including Red Birch, Locust trees, and berry bushes.
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A self-contained 3-foot deep pond with roots dating back to the prehistoric era.
The Infrastructure Crisis: Broken Drains and Deferred Maintenance
While nature is changing Twinney Pond, residents argue that human neglect is accelerating the process. Ridgewood Wildscape has repeatedly warned the Village about a compromised storm drain system.
While the drain at Red Birch remains functional, the critical drain near Linwood is reportedly shattered. Instead of feeding the pond, stormwater is carving out a gully, leaving the pond starved of the water it needs to survive. Critics point to “silly patches” and deferred maintenance as a sign that non-sports facilities are being ignored.
“Unfortunately, poorly maintained parks and recreational facilities seem to be becoming the norm. Deferred maintenance and lack of timely snow removal limit safe access and diminish the value of these public investments.”
Ecological Succession: Is the Pond Becoming a Forest?
Scientifically, Twinney Pond is experiencing ecological succession. As sediment builds up, the bottom raises, slowly turning the open water into a marsh. Eventually, without intervention, the marsh will become a field, and finally, woods.
This leaves Ridgewood with a difficult choice:
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Let Nature Take Its Course: Watch the pond vanish and transition into a woodland.
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Human Intervention: Invest in dredging to clear the sediment and repair the drainage to restore the pond to its former glory.
Politics vs. Parks
The debate has taken a sharp political turn. Some residents feel that the Village only prioritizes high-revenue sports fields or the downtown dining district.
“Unless it’s sports season, please don’t bother them,” one local critic remarked, suggesting that the “natural” beauty of Twinney Pond has fallen to the bottom of the priority list.
Twinney Pond Park: Fast Facts
| Feature | Detail |
| Size | 3.7 Acres |
| Pond Type | 3-foot deep Kettle Pond (Ice Age origin) |
| Current State | Transitioning from pond to marshland |
| Main Threats | Invasive plants, drought, and broken storm drains |
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Where is Twinney Pond?
Put 450 Red Birch Court in your GPS.
Red Birch is the first road after the cemetery if you head west on Glen.
Fort Lee doesn’t have natural ponds. Why would Ridgewood?
Eventually, without intervention, the marsh will become a field, and finally, woods.
So what is happening is natural.
Why try and fight nature?
Sounds to me like trying to eliminate a flood plain.
Ben Ran posted a good comment on this on the Facebook thread.
So if we give it enough time, or even with some help, the pond will fill in and we can have another ball field near the school, don’t feel we need another sports field. Would be a crime to lose the pond and park setting. Unfortunately it feels like then it would then have a greater priority in village planning.
So many good memories of skating and watching wildlife near the pond. So sad my children won’t have that experience.
They do, and they will. This isn’t imminent. Jeez.
Put Healthbarn there and the village will start bending over backwards for that park. The favors done at Habernickel for their tenant has cost you tax payers hundreds of thousands of dollars while apparently other parks are falling apart. I wonder why they do so much for one tenant. I mean Habernickel has never looked worse. In the last 10 years it has gone from a beautiful park and fields to an absolute eye sore with green garbage cans in the fenced in graveyard along with ridiculous plantings randomly around, mulch everywhere except where it should be, tarps and garbage laying around from campers and the Porto potty that has never been picked up after baseball season so all the bus drivers can pee. An absolute disgrace. You are better off NOT having this parks department head in your neighbor hood. She destroyed Habernickel Be careful wha you wish for
My kids used to go down there and shovel the ice with the neighborhood kids and skate. Sometimes people need to pitch in.
Condos
Pitch in or bitch out, everyone falls into one of the two.
Nature got it to where it is; let nature take it to where it is going. Oh man, the problems we have. When we mess with stuff, we end up with something ridiculous, like the Ridgewood Duck pond. It was way more enjoyable before the county’s ‘improvements’.