Nature in New Jersey

Within New Brunswick or Short Drive

Rutgers Gardens

– Location of parking on Google Maps
– Open year-round except Mondays, no fee
– Winter hours: 8am – 5pm

Buccleuch Park

– Location of parking on Google Maps

Rutgers Ecological Preserve

– Location A for parking
– Location B for parking

Sourlands

– ~35 min drive from DEENR
– Google Maps coordinates for parking
– Short hike, interesting boulder collections for scrambling and bouldering (no scrambles needed for hike)
– This trailhead gets less foot traffic

Plainsboro Preserve

– ~25 min from DEENR
– Google Maps coordinates for parking
– Not so much hiking as nature walking, pleasant views overlooking a few lakes
– Small preserve so can hear traffic from the edges

North to the Delaware Water Gap

Mt Tammany

– ~1.5 hours from DEENR
– Google Maps coordinates for parking
– Some nice elevation gain with a view over the Delaware Water Gap at the top
– Sometimes can be solitude, other times busy (but unlikely too busy in winter)

Sunfish Pond

– ~1.5 hours from DEENR – Google Maps coordinates for parking
– ~7.6 miles round trip
– Less ascent than Mt Tammany, but share same trailhead / parking lot

Hacklebarney State Park

– Google maps coordinates for parking
– ~1 hr from DEENR
– Very accessible “hiking” (really more of a nature walk), partially paved / gravel trail

High Point State Park

– Google maps coordinates for parking
– ~2 hrs from DEENR
– Highest point in the state of NJ
– Obelisk at the top offers higher views of NJ, NY, and PA (you’re at the intersection of the 3 states)

South to the Pine Barrens

The Pine Barrens are pleasant to hike and look for wildlife year round. In the winter it can be quite scenic with snow on the ground.

Clayton Park

– Google maps coordinates for parking
– ~40 min from DEENR
– Pretty hardwood forest with a trail network

Perrineville Lake Park

– ~45 min from DEENR
– Google maps coordinates for parking
– Partially open, trails along a lake and a few ponds

Pakim Pond and “Mt” Misery

– ~1hr 15min from DEENR
– A nice sampling of the various systems across the Pine Barrens: pinelands, cranberry bog, pine swamp and ponds
– Trails and a boardwalk over Pakim Pond – Google Maps coordinates for parking

Whitesbog

– ~1hr from DEENR
– Google Maps coordinates for parking
– Trails over land and boardwalks over bog
– Also includes walking past some old cranberry and blueberry infrastructure (one of the first places blueberries were commercially grown in the nation)
– Very open, pleasant on a sunny winter day

Batsto Lake Trail

– ~1.5 hours from DEENR
– Google Maps coordinates for parking
– Many intersecting trails in Wharton State Forest, can customize length

Apple Pie Hill + Firetower

– Highest point in the Pine Barrens
– Google Maps coordinates for parking
– Firetower was cool, but now it’s only accessible when staffed by a fire watcher