New Jersey's National Parks

Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge

Photo courtesy: Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge

A visit to New Jersey's National Parks is a diverse journey with thousands of acres of forests, recreation areas, museums, historical sites, and wildlife refuges that offer visitors a vast variety of outdoor and indoor activities.

These New Jersey national parks provide visitors with an opportunity to experience a variety of attractions and activities including; hiking trails, lakes, mountain climbing, biking, wildlife, camping, national monuments, historic sites, and educational experiences.

Northern New Jersey National Parks

Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge
Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge
Morris County, NJ
973-425-1222
Website
Consists of 7,600 acres of varied habitats and over the years, the refuge has become a resting and feeding area for more than 244 species of birds. Fox, deer, muskrat, turtles, fish, frogs and a wide variety of wildflowers and plants. 8.5 miles of primitive trails with free roaming and off-trail travel permitted.

Great Falls National Historic Park
72 McBride Avenue
Patterson, NJ
A spectacular natural attraction in the nations most populous state, it also gained historical significance in the early stages of the American industrial Revolution by supplying water power to the nations first manufacturing center. The Great Falls of the Passaic River and the surrounding historic buildings and raceways are the foundation for stories of Alexander Hamilton, the Industrial Revolution, the labor movement and the important contributions of immigrants to the making of America. Hamilton envisioned Paterson, with its water power provided by the Great Falls of the Passaic River, as America's counterpart and response to the industrial revolution occurring in England during the same period.
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Great Falls National Historic Park<
Morristown National Historical Park
Morristown National Historical Park
30 Washington Place
Morristown , NJ
Website
This National 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. Visitors to the park will get to explore museums and exhibits, hike through Jockey Hollow and the Revolutionary War Winter Encampment, or join a ranger program. Shop at the Eastern National Museum store at the Washington's Headquarters Museum or the Jockey Hollow Visitor Center for books, artwork, postcards, and items for kids of all ages.
Rangers are available at the Visitor Center or Museum who will assist you and provide information

Thomas Edison National Historical Park
211 Main Street
West Orange , NJ
Website
This national park provides a unique opportunity to interpret and experience important aspects of America's industrial, social and economic past, and to learn from the legacy of the world's best known inventor.This one time lab was the place where experiments were conducted on about half on Thomas Edison's 1,093 patents. In it's time it was one of the first research and development labs and at it's peak it housed over 10,000 employees. The three inventions considered to be Edison's greatest are the electric light system, the phonograph, and motion pictures. This facility is the birthplace of motion pictures.
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Thomas Edison National Historical Park


Central New Jersey National Parks

Sandy Hook Gateway  Recreation Area
Sandy Hook Gateway Recreation Area
Sandy Hook, NJ
(732) 872-5970
Website
Offers visitors a blend of historical sites, the nations oldest light house, ocean and bay beaches, swimming, birding, surf fishing, a spectacular holly forest, natural areas, other recreation activities. It's a great place for biking with a seven-mile long Multi-Use Pathway (MUP) starts at the park entrance and loops around Fort Hancock. Hiking is also popular with a neat trail that begins at the Sandy Hook Visitor Center and at Area M near Nine Gun Battery



Southern New Jersey National Parks

Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife  Refuge
Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge
800 Great Creek Road
Galloway, New Jersey 08205
(609) 652-1665
Website
Part of the Hudson River/New York Bight Ecosystem, the refuge protects more than 40,000 acres of coastal wetlands and tidal habitats to support a wide variety of water birds and other wildlife. Special emphasis is placed habitat management for the endangered and threatened bird species which nest here.
There are activities at Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge throughout the year including hunting, fishing (freshwater and saltwater), wildlife viewing, photography and environmental education

Pinelands National Reserve
15 Springfield Road
New Lisbon, NJ
(609) 894-7300
Website
Over one-million acres of farms, forests and wetlands. It contains 56 communities, from hamlets to suburbs, with over 700,000 permanent residents. The area has an abundance of recreation including canoing, camping, hiking, access to historic sites, wildlife viewing, educational experience with many  sand roads throughout the Pinelands.

Pinelands National Reserve
Cape May National Wildlife Refuge
24 Kimbles Beach Road
Cape May Court House, NJ
609-463-0994
Website
The Cape May National Wildlife Refuge, one of the largest in the National Wildlife system, was established to protect migratory birds along New Jersey's coastline. It's 11,000 acres include three units; the Delaware Bay Division, the Great Cedar Swamp Division, and the Two Mile Beach Unit.
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