New Jersey’s brief but spectacular peak bloom season for cherry blossom trees has arrived in its most prominent location.
Branch Brook Park in Essex County boasts the nation’s largest collection of cherry blossom trees and a new $10 million Cherry Blossom Welcome Center building that is drawing plenty of visitors during the park’s 48th annual Cherry Blossom Festival.
The festival began last weekend with multiple events, including the Cherry Blossom Challenge Bike Race on Saturday and the Cherry Blossom 10K Run on Sunday.
The event will conclude this weekend with Essex County Family Day and the One-Mile Fun Run/Walk for children 15 and younger on Saturday. The festival will conclude with Bloomfest on Sunday.
Some runners at the 10K (6.2-mile) race were keeping warm before the start Sunday morning by gathering inside the park’s new 12,000-square-foot welcome center, which has a conference room with a capacity of up to 250.
Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo described the Cherry Blossom Welcome Center, which opened last fall, as “the headquarters of our festival,” according to the county’s spring newsletter.
Branch Brook Park has approximately 5,300 cherry blossom trees in 18 different varieties, the largest and most diverse collection in any U.S. park according to the Branch Brook Park Alliance. Early spring offers an opportunity to see them in peak bloom, which is defined by the National Park Service as when 70% of the blossoms are open.
Typically at Branch Brook Park, peak bloom happens during the first two weeks in April, though the warmer than usual winter resulted in cherry blossom trees by the Tidal Basin in Washington, D.C., reaching peak bloom on March 17.
Branch Brook Park’s new welcome center cost $10.45 million to build and opened Nov. 21, according to the local Patch site. The lobby features a history of the park’s cherry blossom trees.
“When you enter this building , the artificial Cherry Blossom in the lobby will always be in bloom,” DiVincenzo said in the county newsletter.
Branch Brook Park was established in 1895 and is largest county park in Essex County. It covers 359 acres and is mostly in Newark, with a small portion in Belleville.
The cherry blossom trees are located throughout the park but are most densely populated in the area near the welcome center, according to the Branch Brook Park Alliance. The collection dates to the 1920s.
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Rob Jennings may be reached at rjennings@njadvancemedia.com.
