
I visited infamous NJ Devil’s Tree — here’s what happened
The lore has been around a very long time. If you buy into the stories it’s enough to make you think twice about even visiting this place.
In what used to be an open field off Mountain Road in Bernards Township stands a strange-looking tree. Even now that the field is largely grown over, the so-called Devil‘s Tree still looms like a sore thumb, standing out from the brush that seems to want to hide it from view but can’t.
One story, which may sadly be accurate though we’ll never know, says Bernards Township used to be a KKK stronghold and that before the town was built up this tree was used for lynchings. Some believe the spirits of the dead inhabit this tree and leave it unnaturally warm to the touch.
Another story has it that a man killed his entire family then walked to this tree and promptly hung himself. After the murder-suicide, the urban legend surrounding the tree says anyone who visits the tree and tries to do it harm but cutting it down ends up having either an untimely end or horribly bad luck.
I wanted to see this place for myself.
On Sunday afternoon I made the drive north and found it alongside Mountain Road right near Emerald Valley Lane. I was surprised to find a convenient pull-off spot just across from this unlikely tourist site.
There it was. The largest tree in the center and one that seemed immediately recognizable even though I’d never been here before. I was also surprised to see this sign since I had heard the Devil’s Tree sat on private property.
Perhaps at one point, it did. Like everyone else, I only know the things I heard, like how if you visited the tree late at night and disrespected it a mysterious black pickup truck would come racing out of nowhere to chase you off, or that when it snowed the white stuff never gathered around the tree because of a creepy strange warmth.
I’m not going to lie. Walking alone up what was left of the path did feel eerie.
The spot doesn’t feel connected to anything else around it. As if the house across the street might as well have been miles away. Then you come to the tree itself.
It certainly must be the years of stories, the ages of dark folklore, that make the fine hair on your arms stand up. Surely it’s just a tree.
Immediately you could see evidence of all the visits. The graffiti of teens.
What really stood out was the chop marks from many attempts over the years to cut this thing down. Wounds all over it, some hatchet scars deeper than others.
The story goes that no one has been able to cut this tree down.
You get only so far and it becomes impenetrable. I was staring right at the signs of this.
So was it warm? I had to find out.
I’ll tell you what. It wasn't that this so-called Devil’s Tree felt warm against my hand. That’s not how I would describe it. Yet I can honestly say I felt something touching this tree that I never did with others.
I can’t explain it. It will sound ridiculous, and I’m sure these dark stories rattle around in our heads for too many decades until you can convince yourself of anything. But touching this tree felt like touching a sentient person whom I roused unpleasantly from slumber. I distinctly felt I had disturbed it. And yes I realize how ridiculous that sounds.
I looked around for a stone that’s said to be here, too, one that always radiates heat. Maybe it’s overgrown now. Or maybe I just didn’t know where to look. I never did locate it.
Is there anything to this dark urban legend? Surely not. But someone definitely picked an unusual tree to build such tales around. Well played.
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Gallery Credit: Nicole Caldwell & Matt Albasi
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