New Jersey National Parks
NATIONAL SCENIC TRAIL
Appalachian Maine to Georgia, CT, GA, MA, MD, ME, NC, NH, NJ, NY, PA, TN, VA, VT, WV
The Appalachian Trail is a 2,180+ mile long public footpath that traverses the scenic, wooded, pastoral, wild, and culturally resonant lands of the Appalachian Mountains. Conceived in 1921, built by private citizens, and completed in 1937, today the trail is managed by the National Park Service, US Forest Service, Appalachian Trail Conservancy, numerous state agencies and thousands of volunteers.
NATIONAL HERITAGE AREA
Crossroads of the American Revolution Trenton, NJ
From the heights of the Palisades at Fort Lee to the shores of the Delaware River at Red Bank Battlefield, the Crossroads of the American Revolution offers an unprecedented opportunity to understand and celebrate New Jersey’s rich history. Historic sites, preservation groups, schools, libraries, and museum work together to tell these unique stories.
NATIONAL RECREATION AREA
Delaware Water Gap HQ in Bushkill PA
the park is along the Delaware River in the states of NJ and PA. Paddlers slip down the river between low forested mountains; anglers wade the trout streams; hikers scan the valley from the ridge or peer into the 1000-foot-deep Water Gap. The valley has known human hand and voice for 10,000 years. Floodplains nourished the Native farmer; waterfalls drew the Victorian vacationer. Today, a 70,000-acre park welcomes those who seek the outdoors close to home.
PART OF STATUE OF LIBERTY NATIONAL MONUMENT
Ellis Island NJ and NY
How far would you travel to find a better life? What if the journey took weeks under difficult conditions? If you answered “Whatever it takes,” you echo the feelings of the 12 million immigrants who passed through these now quiet halls from 1892 to 1954. Ellis Island afforded them the opportunity to attain the American dream for themselves and their descendants. Come hear their stories.
NATIONAL RECREATION AREA
Gateway Brooklyn, Queens & Staten Island, New York and Monmouth County, New Jersey, NY, and NJ
Gateway is a large diverse urban park with 27,000 acres spanning Sandy Hook in N.J. and Jamaica Bay and Staten Island in N.Y. It offers green spaces, beaches, wildlife and outdoor recreation, all alongside historic structures and cultural landscapes. It is the 4th most visited National Park Service unit with more than 9.2 million annual visitors. Gateway can be reached by car, ferry, bus or train. Get away to Gateway, where you can camp and stay healthy with heart-smart activities. Photo by Sebastiano Privitera; used by permission. Alerts & Conditions » Basic Information » Calendar » Maps » Great Egg Harbor River NJ The River gradually widens as it picks up the waters of 17 tributaries on its way to Great Egg Harbor and the Atlantic Ocean. Established by Congress in 1992, nearly all of this 129-mile river system rests within the Pinelands National Reserve. This National Park Service unit is unusual in that local jurisdictions continue to administer the lands.
NATIONAL WILD AND SCENIC RIVER
Lower Delaware PA and NJ
The largest free-flowing river in the eastern United States, the Delaware River runs past forests, farmlands, and villages, and it also links some of the most densely populated regions in America. In 2000, the National Wild and Scenic River System incorporated key segments of the lower Delaware River to form this unit of the National Park System.
NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK
Morristown Morristown, NJ
Morristown National Historical Park commemorates the sites of General Washington and the Continental army’s winter encampment of December 1779 to June 1780, where they survived through what would be the coldest winter on record. The park also maintains a museum & library collection related to the encampments & George Washington, as well as items relating to pre- and post-Revolutionary America.
NATIONAL RESERVE
New Jersey Pinelands Southeastern New Jersey, NJ
This is truly a special place. It’s classified as a United States Biosphere Reserve and in 1978 was established by Congress as the country’s first National Reserve. It includes portions of seven southern New Jersey counties, and encompasses over one-million acres of farms, forests and wetlands. It contains 56 communities, from hamlets to suburbs, with over 700,000 permanent residents.
NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK
Paterson Great Falls Paterson, NJ
Cotton and silk fabrics; steam locomotives; continuous rolls of paper; airplane engines. What do these things have in common? They were all manufactured in the same place – Paterson, NJ. In 1792, Paterson was established, America’s first planned industrial city, centered around the Great Falls of the Passaic River.
NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK
Thomas Edison West Orange, NJ
Thomas Edison’s home and laboratory are a step back in time, when machines were run by belts and pulleys and music was played on phonographs. Where to the passerby, the buildings betray little evidence of the industries they once started. Discover where America’s greatest inventor changed our world forever.
NATIONAL HISTORIC TRAIL
Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary Route MA, RI, CT, NY, NJ, PA, DE, MD, VA, DC
In 1781, General Rochambeau’s French Army joined forces with General Washington’s Continental Army to fight the British Army in Yorktown, Virginia. With the French Navy in support, the allied armies moved hundreds of miles to become the largest troop movement of the American Revolution. The effort and cooperation between the two sides led to a victory at Yorktown and secured American independence.