New Jersey State Parks
Allaire State Park
Located in Howell and Wall townships in Monmouth County on 3,205 acres. 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.
Allamuchy Mountain State Park
Located in Green and Byram townships in Sussex County; Allamuchy Township in Warren County, and Mount Olive Township in Morris County on 9,092 acres. Located along Allamuchy Mountain and Musconetcong River, features 2,440-acre (9.9 km2) Allamuchy Natural Area of mature mixed oak-hardwood forests, natural fields; 14 miles (23 km) of marked and 20 miles (32 km) of unmarked trails including Sussex Branch Trail and Highlands Trail.
Barnegat Lighthouse State Park
Located at the northern tip of Long Beach Island in Ocean County on 32 acres. The site of Barnegat Lighthouse (1859); offers marine birdwatching and saltwater fishing, located along on New Jersey Coastal Heritage Trail Route.
Cape May Point State Park
Located at lower Township in Cape May County on 244 acres. The site of Cape May Lighthouse (1859); premier location in North America for observing fall bird migration to the south.
Capital State Park
Located near Trenton in Mercer County. 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
Cheesequake State Park
Located at Old Bridge Township in Middlesex County on 1,610 acres. Transitional zone between two different ecosystems featuring open fields, saltwater and freshwater marshes, Pine Barrens white cedar swamp, and northeastern hardwood forest.
Corson's Inlet State Park
Located at Corson’s Inlet between Ocean City and Strathmere in Cape May County on 341 acres. 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.
Delaware and Raritan Canal State Park
Located on over 60 miles (97 km) through Central New Jersey in Middlesex, Somerset, Mercer, and Hunterdon counties on 6,595 acres. Delaware and Raritan Canal mileage including the 36-mile (58 km) main canal between New Brunswick and Trenton and 22-mile (35 km) 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.”
Double Trouble State Park
Located near Lacey and Berkeley townships in Ocean County on 8,495 acres. 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.
Farny State Park
Located near Rockaway Township in Morris County on 4,866 acres. 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.
Fort Mott State Park
Located near Pennsville Township in Salem County on 124 acres. 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.
Hacklebarney State Park
Located between Long Valley and Chester in Morris County on 1,186 acres. The glacial valley and gorge of the Black River; features the rock strewn landscape of the glacial moraine from the Wisconsinan glaciation; features three endangered species: American ginseng, leatherwood and Virginia pennywort.
High Point State Park
Located near Montague Township, Sussex County on 16,091 acres. 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 1,803-foot (550 m) prominence of Kittatinny Mountain marked by a 220-foot (67 m) granite obelisk erected as veterans memorial.
Hopatcong State Park
Located near Landing, Roxbury Township in Morris County; Hopatcong Borough in Sussex County on 163 acres. 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.
Island Beach State Park
Located near Former borough of Island Beach and Berkeley Township in Ocean County on 3,003 acres. Island Beach is a narrow 10-mile (16 km) 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.
Kittatinny Valley State Park
located near Andover Borough and Andover Township, Sussex County on 5,656 acres. 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.
Liberty State Park
Located near Jersey City in Hudson County on 1,212 acres. 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.
Long Pond Ironworks State Park
Located near Hewitt, West Milford Township in Passaic County on 6,911 acres. Features Monksville Reservoir and ruins of Long Pond Ironworks, an eighteenth- and nineteenth-century ironworking community (1766–1882) along the Wanaque River.
Monmouth Battlefield State Park
Located near Manalapan and Freehold, in Monmouth County on 1,818 acres. 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.
Parvin State Park
Located near Pittsgrove Township in Salem County on 2,092 acres. 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.
Pigeon Swamp State Park
Located near Pigeon Swamp State Park on 1,078 acres. 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 Battlefield State Park
Located near Princeton Borough in Mercer County on 681 acres. 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.
Rancocas State Park
Located near Westampton Township in Burlington County on 1,252 acres. Located along the North Branch of the Rancocas Creek and an extensive freshwater tidal marsh.
Ringwood State Park
Located near Ringwood in Passaic County on 4,444 acres. Located on Ramapo Mountain, features historic Ringwood Manor, New Jersey Botanical Garden at Skylands Manor, and Shepherd Lake Recreation Area.
Stephens State Park
Located near Hackettstown in Warren County; Mount Olive Township in Morris County on 805 acres. 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.
Swartswood State Park
Located near Stillwater Township, Sussex County on 3,460 acres. 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).
Voorhees State Park
Located near Glen Gardner Borough, Hunterdon County on 1,336 acres. Former New Jersey governor Foster M. Voorhees created the park with donation of his 325-acre (1.32 km2) 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 (26-inch Cassegrain reflector)..
Washington Crossing State Park
Located near Washington Crossing and Titusville sections of Hopewell Township in Mercer County on 3,575 acres. 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.
Washington Rock State Park
Located near Green Brook Township, Somerset County on 52 acres. 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.
Wawayanda State Park
Located near Vernon Township in Sussex County and West Milford in Passaic County on 35,524 acres. Wawayanda offers 60 miles (97 km) of trails including a 20-mile (32 km) segment of the Appalachian Trail. Features 1,325-acre (5.36 km2) Bearfort Mountain Natural Area, 399-acre (1.61 km2) Wawayanda Hemlock Ravine Natural Area (399 acres (1.61 km2)), and 2,167-acre (8.77 km2) Wawayanda Swamp Natural Area