The Jersey Devil: The New Jersey Pine Barrens

The New Jersey Pine Barrens stretch across more than seven counties of New Jersey. The name refers to the area's sandy, acidic, nutrient-poor soil. The Pinelands are mostly rural and undisturbed despite being so close to the cities of Philadelphia and New York City. The territory helps recharge the 17 trillion-gallon Kirkwood-Cohansey aquifer, which is some of the purest water in the US.
In 1978, Congress passed legislation to designate 1.1 million acres of the Pine Barrens as the Pinelands National Reserve (the nation's first National Reserve) to preserve its ecology. A decade later, it was designated by the UN as an International Biosphere Reserve.
The Pine Barrens is home to the legend of the Jersey Devil. The devil perportedly to have been born in 1735 to a woman named Mrs. Leeds. It was said that he was her 13th child, and, because of the unlucky number, he was cursed. Another story says that the mother gave birth to a hideous monster that attacked her and the nurses before flying up and out of the chimney and disappearing into the Barrens. The Devil is said to roam the Pine Barrens, with many people sharing accounts of the Devil
during dark nights in the Pinelands.