The New Jersey Division of Parks and Forestry manages a public park system which consists of over 50 protected areas designated as state parks, state forests, recreation areas, and other properties within the state of New Jersey in the United States. The agency also owns and manages 38 historical sites and buildings throughout the state (some located within the boundaries of state parkland) and also owns five public marinas and four public golf courses. These properties are administered by the Division's State Park Service, founded in 1923. New Jersey's state park system includes properties as small as the 32acres Barnegat Lighthouse State Park and as large as the 115000acres Wharton State Forest. The state park system comprises 430928acres—roughly 7.7% of New Jersey's land area—and serves over 17.8 million annual visitors.
At the beginning of the twentieth century, New Jersey did not have much of a lumber or forestry industry. The value of its trees was insignificant and undermined by destruction by uncontrolled forest fires, and after decades of clear-cutting forests to fuel iron forges, furnaces, and other industrial operations.[1] [2] In 1896, the state geologist recommended the acquisition of land for parks in order to protect water supplies and to provide natural recreation to the state's increasing urban populations.[3] After several years of reports and advocacy of geologists and naturalists (including, notably, U.S. forester Gifford Pinchot), New Jersey governor Edward C. Stokes established the Forest Park Reservation Commission in 1905 to protect forest land and create a system of park reserves within the state.[4] [5] At the commission's meeting on September 12, 1905, the commissioners adopted the Salem Oak (of Salem, New Jersey) as a symbol of New Jersey's parks.[6] The commissioners acquired two tracts in southern New Jersey, near Mays Landing and along the Bass River, as the first state forest reserves.[7] The Mays Landing tract was sold in 1916 after opposition from local officials and landowners made acquisition and expansion on adjacent lands impossible. The Bass River tract became the core of Bass River State Forest.[8] In 1907, the commissioners would also acquire 5000acres on Kittatinny Mountain near Culver's Gap, supplemented by a gift from Governor Stokes, which would become the core of Stokes State Forest.[9] The reservations, which by 1912 comprised 13720acres became sites for studying forests, reforestation projects, and scientific forestry.[10] With the acquisition of a tract that included Swartswood Lake in Stillwater Township, the commission began developing parks for the purposes of recreation by providing boating, fishing, camping, and picnicking. In the Commission's 1915 Annual Report, they stated "It is intended to make Swartswood a public playground. Boat liveries and picnic shelters to be maintained under proper control will make it available to a large number of people".[11] The Forest Park Reservation Commission was consolidated with other agencies into the Department and Board of Conservation and Development on April 8, 1915.[12]
In 1923, the legislature authorized the creation of the State Park Service to administer the state parks and forests. New Jersey began to redirect its efforts from the development of these and other properties for recreational purposes instead of protecting or promoting the commercial potential of forested land. The state legislature established a commission to create a historic park along the Delaware River above Trenton, at the location where George Washington and Continental Army crossed the river on December 25, 1776 before the surprise attack on Hessian troops at the Battle of Trenton and the Battle of Princeton (January 3, 1777). The initial plans were defeated by a public referendum, but there was increased desire to complete these plans to establish a Washington Crossing Memorial Park in time for the 150th anniversary of American independence in 1926. The park was officially dedicated and opened to the public on June 4, 1927. In the wake of World War I, state forester Alfred Gaskill proposed a new public park along Kittatinny Mountain, "as the State’s memorial to its sons who had made the supreme sacrifice in the Great War". A few years later, Colonel Anthony R. Kuser donated his mountaintop estate at High Point (the state's highest elevation) to the state for a public park with an additional gift of $500,000 to erect a granite-clad obelisk to honor veterans. Construction of the monument began in 1928 and was completed in 1930.
According to the New Jersey Conservation Foundation, the New Jersey Division of Parks and Forestry administers and manages 430928acres in its state parks, forests, and other areas. These areas, during the state's 2006 fiscal year (from July 1, 2005 to June 30, 2006) recorded 17,843,541 visitors.[13]
In 2006, the Division of Parks and Forestry began planning and preliminary work two new state parks: Great Falls State Park in Paterson, and Capital State Park in Trenton.[14] [15] The state's only other urban park is Liberty State Park in Jersey City. According to the master plan prepared by Philadelphia-based planning and urban design firm Wallace Roberts & Todd, Capital State Park would incorporate areas around the state's capitol complex in Trenton and the city's Delaware River and Assunpink Creek waterfronts to provide "a long-term strategy to revitalize Trenton by reestablishing connections to the downtown and reclaiming its riverfront."[16] [17] Great Falls subsequently became Paterson Great Falls National Historical Park.
In 2009, the state also purchased 1174acres in Jefferson Township the former site of the Mount Paul monastery and seminary belonging to Paulist Fathers (from 1924–2009). The tract, which will be developed into a state park, is located in the state's Highlands region on the eastern side of Sparta Mountain and featuring mountain streams that flow into the Russia Brook (a tributary of the Rockaway River).[18]
In 2021, Governor Phil Murphy approved the state purchase of part of an abandoned right-of way from Norfolk Southern Railway for the purpose of converting it into a new state park tentatively named the Essex - Hudson Greenway . The park will run from Montclair to Jersey City. Largely facilitated by the Open Space Institute, the park will also be a crucial section of the East Coast Greenway as well as part the 9/11 Memorial Trail, which will connect Shanksville, The Pentagon, and One World Trade Center. It will connect to the proposed Hackensack River Greenway and possibly the Hudson River Waterfront Walkway.[19] The park may also incorporate a "transitway, a project proposed in NJ Transit's "Innovation Challenge", which aims to add a new, creative transportation solutions to The Meadowlands[20] [21]
The State Park Service asks its visitors to embrace the "Carry In, Carry Out" philosophy in order to "keep the parks clean and beautiful by carrying out the trash you carry in".[22]
Fishing and hunting are permitted in several of the state parks and forest.
The State Park System also includes four golf courses that are open to the public. Each of the four courses include associated restaurant and banquet facilities and is operated under contract between a private management company and the New Jersey Division of Parks and Forestry.[23] Centerton Golf Course, located in Pittsgrove Township in Salem County is located within Parvin State Park.[24] Cream Ridge Golf Course is located in Cream Ridge in Monmouth County and was acquired by the state in 2006.[25] Spring Meadow Golf Course in Farmingdale in Monmouth County was privately developed and operated beginning in the 1920s and acquired by the state five decades later.[26]
Several of these properties were acquired as part of open space preservation initiatives managed by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protections Green Acres Program.
Park Name | Image | Location | Year Established | Size | Remarks | Links | |
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Howell and Wall townships in Monmouth County | 3205acres | Features restored nineteenth-century ironworks, Allaire Village; ecosystem and geography of New Jersey's coastal plains region and Manasquan River floodplain—habitat for over 200 species of wildflowers, trees and plants, and birds; includes high-iron and acidic podzolic soils and bog iron deposits. Hosts the Pine Creek Railroad, an excursion rail line operated by the New Jersey Museum of Transportation. | [27] [28] | ||||
Green and Byram townships in Sussex County; Allamuchy Township in Warren County Mount Olive Township in Morris County | 9092acres | Located along Allamuchy Mountain and Musconetcong River, features 2440acres Allamuchy Natural Area of mature mixed oak-hardwood forests, natural fields; 14miles of marked and 20miles of unmarked trails including Sussex Branch Trail and Highlands Trail. | [29] | ||||
At the northern tip of Long Beach Island in Ocean County | 32acres | The site of Barnegat Lighthouse (1859); offers marine birdwatching and saltwater fishing, located along on New Jersey Coastal Heritage Trail Route. | [30] | ||||
Lower Township in Cape May County | 1972 | 244acres | The site of Cape May Lighthouse (1859); premier location in North America for observing fall bird migration to the south. | [31] [32] | |||
Capital State Park | Trenton in Mercer County | 2006 | - | Park currently being developed, includes buildings and areas of Trenton's capitol complex, waterfront areas along Delaware River and Assunpink Creek; celebrate Trenton's Native American, Colonial, Revolutionary War, ethnic, and industrial heritage | |||
Old Bridge Township in Middlesex County | 1610acres | Transitional zone between two different ecosystems featuring open fields, saltwater and freshwater marshes, Pine Barrens white cedar swamp, and northeastern hardwood forest. | [33] | ||||
Corson's Inlet between Ocean City and Strathmere in Cape May County | 341acres | One of the last undeveloped tracts along the state's oceanfront; features primary and secondary sand dune systems, shoreline overwash, marine estuaries; migratory and residential wildlife species; hiking, fishing, crabbing, boating and sunbathing. | [34] | ||||
Over through Central New Jersey in Middlesex, Somerset, Mercer, and Hunterdon counties. | 6595acres | Delaware and Raritan Canal mileage including the 36miles main canal between New Brunswick and Trenton and 22miles feeder canal between Trenton and Frenchtown; many historic structures including buildings, locks, spillways, and towpath; described as "the longest (and narrowest) recreation area in the state. A greenway that snakes through one of the most heavily populated regions in the world." | [35] [36] | ||||
Lacey and Berkeley townships in Ocean County | 8495acres | Provides "a window into the Pine Barrens history" and region's ecosystem; preserved historic village associated with New Jersey cranberry agriculture and Atlantic White Cedar logging and milling industries. | [37] | ||||
Rockaway Township in Morris County | 4866acres | Adjacent to Splitrock Reservoir; features mature mixed oak hardwood forest, swamps, and streams characteristic of the Highlands physiographic province; provides habitat for the endangered red-shouldered hawk and threatened barred owl. | [38] | ||||
Pennsville Township in Salem County | 1951 | 124acres | Coastal defense battery built 1872–1902 to protect the Delaware River and Philadelphia after the American Civil War. Troops were stationed at site from 1897 to 1922. | [39] [40] [41] | |||
Located between Long Valley and Chester in Morris County | 1186acres | [42] | |||||
Montague Township, Sussex County | 16091acres | Donated by Colonel Anthony R. Kuser and wife Susie Dryden Kuser; landscaping designed by the Olmsted Brothers of Boston, sons of Frederick Law Olmsted, designer of New York City's Central Park. Features the highest elevation in New Jersey, High Point, a 1803feet prominence of Kittatinny Mountain marked by a 220feet granite obelisk erected as veterans memorial. | [43] | ||||
Landing, Roxbury Township in Morris County; Hopatcong Borough in Sussex County | 163acres | Two separate parcels of land, one on the southwestern shore of state's largest freshwater lake, Lake Hopatcong, another on Lake Musconetcong; the park features remnants of the Morris Canal and Lake Hopatcong Historical Museum. | [44] | ||||
Former borough of Island Beach and Berkeley Township in Ocean County | 3003acres | Island Beach is a narrow 10miles barrier island between Atlantic Ocean and Barnegat Bay featuring untouched primary dunes, thicket, freshwater wetlands, maritime forest and tidal marshes; also New Jersey's largest osprey colony, peregrine falcons, wading birds, shorebirds, waterfowl, and migrating songbirds. | [45] | ||||
Andover Township and Andover Borough in Sussex County | 5656acres | Features glacial lakes and limestone outcroppings at the headwaters of the Pequest River; part of the Sussex Branch Trail passes through park; site of the Aeroflex–Andover Airport, a New Jersey Forest Fire Service airbase for aerial wildfire suppression. | [46] | ||||
Jersey City in Hudson County | 1212acres | Created to commemorate country's bicentennial celebration, features Central Railroad of New Jersey Terminal (CRRNJ); sweeping view of the Hudson River and Manhattan skyline; Liberty Science Center; "Empty Sky" Memorial for the September 11 terrorist attacks; ferry service to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. | [47] | ||||
Hewitt, West Milford Township in Passaic County | 6911acres | Features Monksville Reservoir and ruins of Long Pond Ironworks, an eighteenth- and nineteenth-century ironworking community (1766–1882) along the Wanaque River. | [48] | ||||
Manalapan and Freehold, in Monmouth County | 1818acres | Site of the June 28, 1778 Battle of Monmouth during the American Revolution. George Washington and Continental Army attacked the rear of a British Army column commanded by Lieutenant General Sir Henry Clinton; features interpretative center, annual reenactment battle held in June, the Craig House (1746), the Rhea-Applegate house (1745), and a pick-your-own fruit orchard. | [49] | ||||
Pittsgrove Township in Salem County | 2092acres | Features Pine Barrens swamp hardwood and pine forest ecosystem along Muddy Run (Maurice River tributary). Features over 200 flowering plant species including blossoming dogwood, laurel, holly, magnolia, wild azalea. Historically, the home of a CCC camp (1933–1941), summer displacement camp for Japanese-American children during World War II; prisoner-of-war camp for German soldiers, and housing for Kalmyk refugees who escaped Eastern Europe and the USSR in 1952. | [50] | ||||
South Brunswick Township in Middlesex County | 1078acres | Located in the watershed of Lawrence Brook, an undeveloped park featuring open ponds and hardwood forests that were a major nesting site for the now-extinct passenger pigeon. | - | ||||
Princeton Borough in Mercer County | 681acres | Site of the Battle of Princeton fought between British and American on January 3, 1777 — a victory that proved decisive in restoring American morale during American Revolution. Includes the Clarke House where General Hugh Mercer died from his wounds nine days later despite the efforts of Dr. Benjamin Rush. | [51] | ||||
Westampton Township in Burlington County | 1252acres | Located along the North Branch of the Rancocas Creek and an extensive freshwater tidal marsh. | [52] | ||||
Ringwood in Passaic County | 4444acres | Located on Ramapo Mountain, features historic Ringwood Manor, New Jersey Botanical Garden at Skylands Manor, and Shepherd Lake Recreation Area. | [53] | ||||
near Hackettstown in Warren County; Mount Olive Township in Morris County | 805acres | Located along Musconetcong River, features remnants of one of 23 locks and section of towpath of the Morris Canal. Highlands Trail runs through the park. | [54] | ||||
Stillwater Township, Sussex County | 3460acres | New Jersey's first state park. The focus of the park was a place for recreation at the state's third-largest freshwater lake, Swartswood Lake (a glacial lake). | [55] | ||||
Deptford Township and Mantua Township in Gloucester County | 110acres | Former golf course with over 4 miles of asphalt and grass walking trails through unmaintained natural areas. Mantua Creek runs through its center. | [56] | ||||
Glen Gardner Borough, Hunterdon County | 1336acres | Former New Jersey governor Foster M. Voorhees created the park with donation of his 325acres farm; scenic views of Round Valley Reservoir and Spruce Run Reservoir; an observatory and astronomy education center, operated by the New Jersey Astronomical Association, offers the largest working telescope accessible to the public in the state—a 26-inch Cassegrain reflector. | [57] | ||||
Washington Crossing and Titusville sections of Hopewell Township in Mercer County | 3575acres | Commemorates site where General George Washington and the Continental Army crossed the Delaware River on the night of December 25–26, 1776, before the Battle of Trenton during the American Revolution. | [58] | ||||
Green Brook Township, Somerset County | 52acres | Site of a lookout used by George Washington in 1777 monitor British troop movements around New York City and northern New Jersey when the Continental Army was stationed at the Middlebrook encampment. | [59] | ||||
Vernon Township in Sussex County; West Milford in Passaic County | 35524acres | Wawayanda offers 60miles of trails including a 20miles segment of the Appalachian Trail. Features 1325acres Bearfort Mountain Natural Area, 399acres Wawayanda Hemlock Ravine Natural Area (399acres), and 2167acres Wawayanda Swamp Natural Area | [60] |
scope=col width=220 | State park | scope=col width=110 class="unsortable" | Image | scope=col width=280 | Location | scope=col width=75 | Created | scope=col width=100 | Size | scope=col width=400 class="unsortable" | Features and activities | scope=col width=50 class="unsortable" | Links |
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near Hewitt, West Milford Township in Passaic County | 2001acres | [61] | |||||||||||
Burlington County | 29147acres | Bass River is New Jersey's first state forest. Features the 67acres man-made Lake Absegami, the remains of the Civilian Conservation Corps Camp S-55 (1933–1942), a 3830acres portion of Pine Barrens pygmy forest in the West Pine Plains Natural Area, and the pine/oak woods and a small Atlantic white cedar bog of the Absegami Natural Area | [62] | ||||||||||
near Woodbine in Cumberland and Cape May counties | 21324acres | Features young pine, oak and Atlantic white cedar, and the remains of three CCC camps, and Lake Nummy, formerly the Meisle Cranberry Bog | [63] | ||||||||||
New Lisbon, Woodland Township in Ocean County | 37242acres | Features the site of Lebanon Glass Works (1851–1867); Whitesbog Village, an active nineteenth- and twentieth-century cranberry and blueberry producing community where the high bush blueberry was developed. | [64] | ||||||||||
Hope in Warren County | 4466acres | The park features the 1112feet high, 6miles long Jenny Jump Mountain ridge, large glacial boulders and outcroppings from the Wisconsin glaciation, and because the area enjoys the darkest skies in New Jersey, the park is home to the United Astronomy Clubs of New Jersey's Greenwood Observatory, open for public stargazing. | [65] | ||||||||||
West Milford Township and Bloomingdale Borough in Passaic County | 5416acres | Located near Wanaque Reservoir and part of the Wyanokie Wilderness Area, this state forest features Wyanokie High Point and views of the Manhattan skyline is part of the Northeastern coastal forests ecoregion and accessible only by foot. | [66] | ||||||||||
Jenkin's Neck in Burlington County 39.7347°N -74.4913°W | 1910 | 3366acres | Features Oswego Lake and River and a former Civilian Conservation Corps camp, as well as part of New Jersey's pygmy forest. | [67] | |||||||||
Passaic and Bergen counties | - | 4269acres | - | ||||||||||
Sandyston, Montague, and Frankford townships in Sussex County | 16025acres | Created with a donation of land by New Jersey Governor Edward C. Stokes, this state forest on Kittatinny Mountain includes the Tillman Ravine Natural Area, and New Jersey School of Conservation (operated by Montclair State University) | - | ||||||||||
Large tract through Burlington, Camden, and Atlantic counties | 115000acres | New Jersey's largest state forest, features the Atlantic coastal pine barrens ecoregion as well as the New Jersey Pinelands National Reserve, and the watershed of the Mullica River, including historic Batsto Village, a former bog iron and glass manufacturing site from 1766 to 1867, and extensive hiking trails. | - | ||||||||||
Knowlton and Hardwick townships in Warren County | 6421acres | Part of the former estate of Charles Campbell Worthington, features Mount Tammany (elevation 1527feet), the New Jersey side of the Delaware Water Gap and southern areas of Kittatinny Mountain, including the 1085acres Dunnfield Creek Natural Area (a Wild Trout stream) and Sunfish Pond, a glacial lake | - |
scope=col width=220 | State park | scope=col width=110 class="unsortable" | Image | scope=col width=280 | Location | scope=col width=75 | Created | scope=col width=100 | Size | scope=col width=400 class="unsortable" | Features and activities | scope=col width=50 class="unsortable" | Notes |
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Shamong Township in Burlington County | - | - | Located in Wharton State Forest | - | |||||||||
Delaware and Raritan Canal State Park Delaware Township in Hunterdon County | - | 80acres | - | [68] | |||||||||
Lebanon and Clinton townships in Hunterdon County | 1968 | 3684acres | Trails for hiking, horseback riding, and mountain biking; camping, fishing, hunting (waterfowl only), picnicking, boating/canoeing (gas motors limited 10 hp), swimming, scuba and skin diving, cross-country skiing, ice fishing, sledding | [69] | |||||||||
Union and Clinton townships in Hunterdon County | 1974 | 1290acres | - | - | |||||||||
Warren Grove Recreation Area | - | Warren Grove in Ocean and Burlington counties 39.7534°N -74.3872°W | 1972 | 617acres | Administered by the Bass River State Forest, this site was acquired from the National Park Service in 1972. This site is part of what is known as the "Pygmy Forest", featuring the groves of Pitch Pine that is part of the Dwarf Pine Plains Habitat in the New Jersey Pine Barrens. Features the endangered broom crowberry (Corema conradii) and other rare plant species. | [70] |
scope=col width=220 | Marina | scope=col width=110 class="unsortable" | Image | scope=col width=300 | Location | scope=col width=80 | Berths | scope=col width=120 | Maximum vessel length | scope=col width=80 | Draft | scope=col width=300 class="unsortable" | Description | scope=col width=50 class="unsortable" | Links |
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Senator Frank S. Farley State Marina | - | Atlantic City, Atlantic County 39.3779°N -74.4299°W | 640 | 300feet | 12feet | [71] | |||||||||
Forked River State Marina | - | Forked River in Lacey Township, Ocean County 39.8349°N -74.195°W | 125 | 50feet | 6feet | ||||||||||
Fortescue State Marina | - | Fortescue, Downe Township, Cumberland County | 125 | 50feet | 9feet | Access to Delaware Bay and Atlantic Ocean. | |||||||||
Leonardo State Marina | - | Leonardo in Middletown Township, Monmouth County 40.4224°N -74.0612°W | 176 | 50feet | 6feet | ||||||||||
- | Liberty State Park in Jersey City, Hudson County 40.7099°N -74.0515°W | 200 | 50feet | 18feet | Located in Liberty State Park across from Manhattan, with access to Liberty Science Center, and by ferry to the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island and New York City. |
These are state-owned historical sites in New Jersey.[72] These state-owned historical sites are open to the public year-round on Wednesdays through Sundays (10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., 1:00 p.m. to 4 p.m.)
scope=col width=220 | Historical site | scope=col width=110 class="unsortable" | Image | scope=col width=280 | Location | scope=col width=75 | Acquired | scope=col width=500 class="unsortable" | Historical significance | scope=col width=50 class="unsortable" | Links |
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Highlands, Monmouth County 40.3962°N -73.9858°W | 1962 | Located 246feet above sea level on the headlands of the Navesink Highlands; built in 1862 to replace an earlier lighthouse (1828); first American lighthouse to test a Fresnel lens; site of a demonstration by Marconi of the wireless telegraph in 1899. | - | ||||||||
Somerville, Somerset County | 1947 | Built in 1751 (relocated to present site in 1913), the home of two Dutch Reformed clergymen: John Frelinghuysen and Jacob Rutsen Hardenbergh who served local congregations in the Raritan River valley; and Frederick Frelinghuysen, a Revolutionary War officer, later a general, father to Theodore Frelinghuysen. Frelinghuysen and Hardenbergh were influential in establishing Queen's College (now Rutgers University) in 1766—of which Hardenbergh was its first president. | - | ||||||||
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Somerville, Somerset County 40.5689°N -74.6219°W | 1947 | An eight-room Georgian mansion built on the "Hope Farm" estate of John Wallace in 1778–79. During the second Middlebrook encampment, George Washington used the home as his headquarters in the first half of 1779 and used it to host foreign dignitaries and plan military strategy during the American Revolution. | - | ||||||||
Camden, Camden County 39.9425°N -75.1239°W | 1947 | The small six-room home was purchased by the American poet Walt Whitman in 1884 and he resided there in his declining years until his death in 1892. Today it houses a museum with many of Whitman's belongings and pieces of furniture. | [73] | ||||||||
Hopewell Township, Mercer County | - | - | |||||||||
Byram Township Sussex County 40.9156°N -74.7561°W | - | Restored eighteenth- and nineteenth-century village associated with the iron industry and Morris Canal. | - | ||||||||
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