Parks and Preserves
65,000 acres that are yours to enjoy!
Allamuchy State Park
Together, Allamuchy Mountain and Stephens State Parks comprise 9,200 acres of park lands in Morris, Sussex and Warren Counties.
Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area
After years of struggle, controversy and benign neglect, ways to offer interpretive looks at the rich history of the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area are finally becoming reality.
Friends of Ramsaysburg
The Ramsaysburg Homestead is a historical park where twelve wooded acres along the Delaware River. Although they've seen their share of abuse and neglect, the remaining structures are relatively true to their original form and are irreplaceable. They have survived flood and fire, as well as demolition in our modern era of fast-paced real estate development.
Jenny Jump State Forest
Jenny Jump State Forest stretches between the four Warren County Townships of Frelinghuysen, Hope, Liberty, and Independence some 12 miles southeast of the Delaware Water Gap
Kittatinny State Park
It is, except for the completion of a few bridges, now possible to hike a continuous distance of nearly 50 miles on public trails through Sussex and Warren counties on the Paulinskill Valley Trail.
Marble Mountain
Trails along the Delaware River lead to the Ice Cave†and a vista overlooking the narrows north of Phillipsburg and Easton.
Merrill Creek Recreation Area
Visitors have the chance to help in environmental studies by merely carrying a turtle or lending a fish on the end of your hook.
Millbrook Village Society
Millbrook Village, part of the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area (DEWA), is a re-created community of the 1800s where aspects of pioneer life are exhibited and occasionally demonstrated by skilled and dedicated docents throughout the village. The roots of the Millbrook Village Society go back to the late '60s, not too long after Congress established DEWA.
Wildflower Hunting at Jenny Jump
Native perennial wildflowers bloom briefly, anywhere from one to four weeks, depending on the species. That means a regular visit to particularly robust nature preserves can reveal different wildflowers blooming each time. Jenny Jump State Forest has a magical variation in elevation and terrain that makes it a rewarding site for spring forest flowers.
Worthington State Forest
Situated along the river, within the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, Worthington State Forest comprises almost 6,000 acres extending about seven miles along the Kittatinny Ridge.
Worthington State Forest
Few of the hikers, campers, canoeists, and nature lovers that visit Worthington realize that industrial pumps are responsible for the preserved wilderness and natural wonders that they enjoy there. Charles C. Worthington, a prominent and very wealthy New York socialite, sportsman, fisherman, and skilled rifleman, assembled this park in the late nineteenth century. He called it Buckwood Park.
Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area
After years of struggle, controversy and benign neglect, ways to offer interpretive looks at the rich history of the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area are finally becoming reality.
Friends of Long Pond Ironworks
The nonprofit 501(c)(3) volunteer organization remains dedicated to preserving, restoring, and interpreting the remaining structures and history of the 175-acre Long Pond Ironworks Historic District, all within the Ringwood State Park System.
Friends of Wallisch Homestead
The Wallisch Homestead, more formally known as Tichenor-Gregory-Goodell-Wallisch Homestead, is one of the last remaining properties that reflects Northern New Jersey's agricultural heritage and West Milford's past.
High Point State Park
I found my thrill walking the Monument Trail in High Point State Park recently. The path along the forested mountain top at the top of New Jersey at 1,800 feet offered me palettes of color and texture that only the shallow-soil ridges of High Point can. Golden vistas of New York, Pennsylvania and Sussex County await the woodland explorer seeking gorgeous views and an enchanting w
Park Place: Montague and High Point
One autumn day you are likely to find yourself headed to New Jersey's northernmost corner in search of fall adventure. You may be guided by way of either of two well-known parks that converge at the top of the state in the township of Montague, and although few visitors care what zip code they' re in, some exploration beyond the park borders can be quickly rewarded.
Seeds of Passion at Skylands Botanical Garden
In the Ramapo Mountains of Ringwood lies one of New Jersey's most exquisite gems, the New Jersey State Botanical Garden (NJGB). Its ninety-six cultivated acres are a secret to many -- for others, a joyous discovery waiting to happen.
Sparta Mountain Wildlife Management Area
The Sparta Mountain Wildlife Management Area (WMA) lies in Sussex County off Route 517 and Glen Road near the Town of Sparta, and along the Highlands Trail.
Stokes State Forest
On the north side of Branchville near the top of New Jersey is a 15,482-acre playground known as Stokes State Forest.
Swartswood Lake
The lake is a 550 acre hole dug out by glaciers, and is surrounded by 10,000 acres of Kittatinny Mountains, its watershed.
Wallkill National Wildlife Refuge
As a major watershed, wedged between the Appalachian Valley and Ridge to the west and the Highland Ridge System to the east, the Wallkill River provides migratory and nesting habitat for waterfowl, which use the valley as a conduit between eastern Canada and the Atlantic coast and between the Delaware and Hudson rivers.
Wawayanda State Park
As wild as its name, the land of "winding, winding water" is home to Indian shelters and some of the best bear dens in NJ, a lake to swim and boat on, great gobs of pudding stone to climb, rock to scramble, ledges for leaping, primeval forest, 20 miles of Appalachian Trail and so much more
Delaware and Raritan Canal State Park
Today the canal's route provides a 67 mile corridor of recreation and wildlife that invites your pleasure by foot, bike or canoe.
Farmstead Arts
The transformation of the eighteenth-century farmstead—from an old working farm to a center for the fine, performing and practical arts—represents an on-going collaborative effort between the Friends of the KMS Farmstead; local, state and county government; hundreds of citizen volunteers; and some of New Jersey’s most respected preservation professionals.
Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge
The Great Swamp is a place where "open space" have been magic words for a long time.
Natirar
Natirar offers hiking, horses and fishing outdoors, events, exhibitions and concerts, a museum and interpretive center.
On the Banks of the Wild Six
When the Jersey sky hangs white in summer haze, head to the woods at Six Mile Run in Franklin Township, Somerset County.
Schiff Nature Preserve
The eight miles of trails at the Schiff Nature Preserve in Mendham Township are generous with beautiful vistas, challenging terrain, and a variety of natural habitats.
Friends of Great Swamp
Friends of Great Swamp was established in 1999 to provide assistance and support to Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge through volunteer efforts and the funding of programs and projects to benefit wildlife and refuge visitors. For more than twenty years the group has worked diligently to fulfill this mission.
Hacklebarney State Park
Hacklebarney State Park is 892 acres of glacial valley, with gorges carved by the Black River and two tributaries that feed it, the Rinehart and Trout Brooks. There are over 5 miles of trails.
Pyramid Power
The story of one of the Northwestern New Jersey’s largest and more improbable natural treasures, a fist shaped swath of land designated in 1987 as the Pyramid Mountain Natural Historic Area, nearly 1,500 acres of wooded terrain dotted with brooks, swamps, glacial deposits, rock outcroppings glens and vistas.
View from the Tourne
Rising beyond the eastern shore of the Rockaway River, a Passaic River tributary, stands the Tourne, a modest mountain known for its rocky terrain and spectacular New York skyline views.
Welcome to Kinney Land
It began with a tobacco fortune and country retreat carved out of New Jersey hills and farmland. From high elevations -- socially, financially and geologically speaking -- the Kinney family, founders of the Kinney Tobacco Company, could look back toward New York City, where the money was made.
Wildcat Ridge Wildlife Management Area
Tucked between Rockaway Township's town of Hibernia and Split Rock Reservoir lies a large portion of Wildcat Ridge Wildlife Management Area, one of New Jersey's many multi-use WMAs
Bald Pate Mountain, Washington's Crossing, Howell Farm
Just a few miles south of Lambertville lies an area ripe for weekend adventure and exploration. Components of local, national, and natural history are well represented, as well as brilliant prospects for craft seekers, hikers, mountain bikers, horseback riders, and picnickers.
Forest Flowers of Musconetcong Gorge
Broadly speaking, the most diverse forest ecosystems are ones with the fewest human interventions dating from modern times. Untouched land in New Jersey is rare if not non-existent. Musconetcong Gorge Reservation has a special mix of natural and human history that makes it a rewarding botanical site in the late spring months of May and June.
Hunterdon County Arboretum in Fall
Foliage in Northwest New Jersey is different than that of New England because of our wide variety of trees. Where can you find the most diverse panorama of tree species? An arboretum of course!
Round Valley Recreation Area
My family and I have enjoyed many hours boating on the reservoir and exploring the terrain.
Sailing at Spruce Run
The Sunfish bucked and cavorted at the ramp, looking about as quiet as a rodeo horse and as sturdy as the balsa wood models my brother made as a boy. It occurred to me, not for the first time, that the boat was little more than a dinghy with a sail. Wind blew waves across the ramp. Cold crept in under the personal flotation device as vestiges of ancient sailing lessons crossed my brain. My first mistake: raising the sail at the launch ramp. The second: imagining I could do this alone.
Schooley's Elusive Spirit
A tour along Schooley's Mountain back roads through parks, lore, and legends.
Three Great Reservoirs
Fishermen love these huge man-made lakes with a passion, as do campers, birders, boaters and folks out for a good hike. Within twenty miles of one another, Merrill Creek, Spruce Run and Round Valley can satisfy either the most avid outdoorsman looking for trophy fish or the casual daytripper in the market for a nice view.
Wildlife Tracking at Hoffman Park
You'll have to excuse me, but when I go for a hike in a forested park, it's probably not the same walk many of you would take. That's because I am a tracker.
Along the Old Mine Road
In the 1600s Dutch miners discovered copper ore in a beautiful ravine located about seven miles north of the Delaware Water Gap. To access the ore and to transport it to Kingston, New York, they constructed a road, now known as the Old Mine Road. Primitive by present standards, it was a major undertaking in its day, and legends of the road and its Dutch miners have persisted for over two centuries
Canoeing the Delaware River
The main stem of the Delaware, 331 miles from Hancock, NY, to its mouth at Cape May Point, NJ, is the longest free-flowing river in Eastern United States.
Delaware View House
From the wrap-around porch of the Delaware View House you can see clear across the valley just about to Bushkill, PA.
Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area
After years of struggle, controversy and benign neglect, ways to offer interpretive looks at the rich history of the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area are finally becoming reality.
Delaware Water Gap Trails
The famous notch that characterizes Warren County's western skyline is where the Kittatinny Mountains have given way to eons of gentle persuasion by the Delaware River, creating one of the most majestic of New Jersey's natural features between Mount Tammany and Mount Minsi in Pennsylvania.
Hampton's Map
Trace a line of forts that protected New Jersey's northwestern frontier along the Delaware River during the French and Indian war.
Millbrook Village
Millbrook Village, part of the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, is a re-created community of the 1800s where aspects of pioneer life are exhibited and occasionally demonstrated by skilled and dedicated docents throughout the village
Mohican Outdoor Center
Mohican provides a base of operations for a wide range of trail work projects carried out by AMC in cooperation with the National Park Service.
Ode to Jean
Kim Pollard's photographs recall the wreckage left by the Tocks Island project, as well as Jean Zipser's efforts to preserve the heritage of the Delaware River Valley.
Old Mine Road
In many places along the Old Mine Road within the state of New Jersey, neglect and the sharp edge of the budget axe have scraped the pavement off the surface, and revealed the powdery and pocked dirt origins of this ancient trail, said by some to be the oldest commercial road on the North American continen
Paradise Lost, and Found at Blue Mountain Lakes
The pristine aura at Blue Mountain Lake yields scant evidence of the ambitious development for which it was created. Ironically, the land on which the community was built is still, to this day, a wilderness escape.
Steep Devotion
Whatever your plans in the great outdoors, make hiking in the Delaware Water Gap part of your adventure. The Gap offers trails for all hikers from novice to expert. Come with a sense of wonder, a willingness to explore, and you may find a trail blazed just for you.
Super Intentions
The fiftieth anniversary of Delaware Water Gap Recreation Area in 2015, which coincides with the hundredth anniversary of the National Park Service in 2016, invites reflection on the past—and a focus on the future.
Van Campen Inn and Fort Shapanack
The Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area (DWGNRA) covers a 40-mile stretch from the Delaware Water Gap to Port Jervis, NY. Interesting and scenic old roads can be found throughout the area, but none possess more mystery and legend than New Jersey’s Old Mine Road
Waterfall Hunting
There are waterfalls scattered throughout the Skylands region, but nowhere so plentiful than in the Kittatinny Mountains, where streams find their way down steep slopes to the Delaware River.
Preserve, Protect, Restore
Friends groups, as we know them in relation to many of our parks and precious historic sites, are surely bound by their commitment to community and stewardship. Always not-for-profit and volunteer driven, with the occasional paid executive director, Friends groups connect people to natural places, as well as to our heritage, while enhancing the role of public lands in local communities.