Pews Creek is a tidal waterway located in the north portion of Middletown Township , Monmouth County , NJ . Pews Creek empties to Sandy Hook Bay in the Port Monmouth section of Middletown . From origin to Sandy Hook Bay , Pews Creek is approximately 1.7 miles in length. Pews Creek was created 20,000 years ago when sea level rose after the last Ice Age, allowing the bay to advance farther inland and flood this low-lying area.

  According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS) ( Sandy Hook Quadrangle Map) , Pews Creek originates at Crystal Pond located at the south side of Main Street in the New Monmouth section of Middletown. The Middletown Tax Map (Sheet No. 19) depicts the origin of Pews Creek to be just north of Crystal Pond. However, based on review of aerial photographs and site reconnaissance, it is more likely that Pews Creek rises from a spring or freshwater wetland area situated in the wooded area west of the Thorne School property some 1,000 feet south of Crystal Pond.

From Crystal Pond and Main Street , Pews Creek is characterized as a 5 to 10-foot wide freshwater brook routed through and along the rear wooded portions of single-family residential properties located along Ravatt Road to a point opposite Hutchinson Drive .   From this point to Sandy Hook Bay , Pews Creek is situated within a Hurricane and Shore Protection Easement. This easement contains tidal flood plains and a flood dike which was constructed parallel to Pews Creek by the United States Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE) during the early 1970s. The dike was built in an effort to control flooding and hurricane and storm damage to the low lying, densely developed residential areas adjacent to the Pews Creek floodplain.

Pews Creek is routed under State Highway Route 36 through a concrete culvert constructed in 1966 and through a bulk-headed crossing at the Monmouth County Park System’s Henry Hudson Trail (old rail trail just north of Route 36). North of the trail, Pews Creek winds through a 700-foot wide floodplain to the bulk-headed crossing at Bray Avenue.

North of Bray Avenue, Pews Creek (now over 20 feet wide) is routed through a 137-acre floodplain (over 3,000 feet wide) bordered on the east by Wilson Avenue in Port Monmouth and on the west by William Street in East Keansburg ( North Middletown ). This floodplain is crisscrossed by dozens of drainage ditches/mosquito ditches excavated over the years. Numerous species of birds, fish, and other animals frequent this tidal floodplain.

At the north end of the floodplain, Pews Creek flows through the county-owned Monmouth Cove Marina and bulk-headed channel and rock jetties that convey the creek to Sandy Hook Bay .   Bayshore Waterfront Park (property of the Monmouth County Park System) stretches on either side of the inlet and rock jetties.

Pews Creek Education & Outreach

In 2006, the BRWC partnered with the Friends of Pews Creek Volunteer Group to label approximately 200 storm drains that empty into Sandy Hook & Raritan Bays. The label reads, “No Dumping - Drains to Bay.” Residents in the area where storm drains were labeled received informational door hangers to inform and remind them that what goes down the storm drain goes directly into Pews Creek and eventually Sandy Hook Bay .   Citizens were informed that stormwater (runoff from rain or snowmelt) that flows through storm drains is not treated. This activity urged citizens to not dump oil, litter, or other wastes into storm drains and to limit their use of fertilizers and pesticides.   A change in residents’ behavior is the solution to the pollution of our creeks and bays.

The BRWC and Friends of Pews Creek Volunteer Group have partnered since 2003 to conduct beach cleanups in Port Monmouth with Clean Ocean Action .   Hundreds of pounds of debris, mostly plastic items, have been collected by volunteers on the beach in Port Monmouth.   After a cleanup one morning, volunteers nicknamed a portion of this beach, “ Bottle Cap Beach .”

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