48-698: Island Beach State Park is a New Jersey state park located just south of Seaside Park on the Barnegat Peninsula in Berkeley Township , Ocean County , New Jersey , United States. The park is operated and maintained by the New Jersey Division of Parks and Forestry . Most of the park encompasses the former borough of Island Beach . The park is the largest reserve of undeveloped barrier island in New Jersey and one of
96-498: A cooling afternoon sea breeze in Island Beach State Park, episodes of heat and high humidity can occur with heat index values > 104 °F (40 °C). Since 1981, the highest air temperature was 99.5 °F (37.5 °C) on July 5, 1999 and the highest daily average mean dew point was 77.2 °F (25.1 °C) on August 13, 2016. July is the peak in thunderstorm activity and the average wettest month
144-586: A large number of people". The Forest Park Reservation Commission was consolidated with other agencies into the Department and Board of Conservation and Development on April 8, 1915. In 1923, the legislature authorized the creation of the State Park Service to administer the state parks and forests. New Jersey began to redirect its efforts from the development of these and other properties for recreational purposes instead of protecting or promoting
192-520: A low risk. Middle Sedge Island in Barnegat Bay is a 25-acre (0.10 km ) island, 14 acres (0.057 km ) of which are developed with a single house. Other islands include: Little Sedge Island, Northwest Point Island and Marsh Elder Island. Some are privately owned and some are owned by the state of New Jersey. Frankie Valli ’s song " My Eyes Adored You " references the location in the lyrics saying "... over Barnegat Bridge and Bay...". In
240-867: A private management company and the New Jersey Division of Parks and Forestry. Centerton Golf Course, located in Pittsgrove Township in Salem County is located within Parvin State Park . Cream Ridge Golf Course is located in Cream Ridge in Monmouth County and was acquired by the state in 2006. Spring Meadow Golf Course in Farmingdale in Monmouth County was privately developed and operated beginning in
288-486: A public referendum , but there was increased desire to complete these plans to establish a Washington Crossing Memorial Park in time for the 150th anniversary of American independence in 1926. The park was officially dedicated and opened to the public on June 4, 1927. In the wake of World War I , state forester Alfred Gaskill proposed a new public park along Kittatinny Mountain, "as the State’s memorial to its sons who had made
336-609: A setting for his short story "The Family That Dwelt Apart", published in 1937 as the third story in his long running Preposterous Parables series in The New Yorker . It was adapted into the animated short The Family That Dwelt Apart , narrated by White, by the National Film Board of Canada . The song " My Eyes Adored You ", by New Jersey native Frankie Valli , contains a reference to "walking home every day over Barnegat Bridge and Bay". On March 22, 1975,
384-450: Is 7a with an average annual extreme minimum air temperature of 3.7 °F (−15.7 °C). The average date of first spring leaf-out is March 23 and fall color typically peaks in early-November. List of New Jersey state parks The New Jersey Division of Parks and Forestry manages a public park system which consists of over 50 protected areas designated as state parks , state forests, recreation areas, and other properties within
432-446: Is August. Since 1981, the wettest calendar day was 6.70 inches (170 mm) on August 12, 2013. During the winter months, the average annual extreme minimum air temperature is 3.7 °F (−15.7 °C). Since 1981, the coldest air temperature was −4.2 °F (−20.1 °C) on January 18, 1982. Episodes of extreme cold and wind can occur with wind chill values < −6 °F (−21 °C). The average seasonal (Nov-Apr) snowfall total
480-652: Is Liberty State Park in Jersey City. According to the master plan prepared by Philadelphia-based planning and urban design firm Wallace Roberts & Todd, Capital State Park would incorporate areas around the state's capitol complex in Trenton and the city's Delaware River and Assunpink Creek waterfronts to provide "a long-term strategy to revitalize Trenton by reestablishing connections to the downtown and reclaiming its riverfront." Great Falls subsequently became Paterson Great Falls National Historical Park . In 2009,
528-663: Is a small brackish arm of the Atlantic Ocean , approximately 42 miles (68 km) long, along the coast of Ocean County , New Jersey in the United States . It is separated from the Atlantic by the long Island Beach State Park (colloquially called a " barrier island "), as well as by the north end of Long Beach Island , popular segments of the Jersey Shore . The bay is fed by several small rivers, including
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#1732780038735576-434: Is between 12 inches (30 cm) and 18 inches (46 cm), and the average snowiest month is February which corresponds with the annual peak in nor'easter activity. According to the A. W. Kuchler U.S. potential natural vegetation types, Island Beach State Park would have a dominant vegetation type of Northern Cordgrass ( 73 ) with a dominant vegetation form of Coastal Prairie ( 20 ). The plant hardiness zone
624-553: Is cast out of the mouth of it." The bay was originally named in 1614 "Barendegat," or "Inlet of the Breakers," by Dutch explorers of the coastline, referring to the waterway's turbulent channel. During the American Revolutionary War , the bay was used as refuge by American privateers . The bay has been a longtime center for commercial fishing . The village of Toms River was a significant whaling port in
672-650: Is located at the southern tip of the park, separating the Barnegat Peninsula from Long Beach Island . Swimming, kayaking , and fishing are permitted in some areas of the park. Four wheel drive vehicles are permitted onto the beach with a permit. Among the trees found in the park are Eastern Redcedar ( Juniperus virginiana ), Pitch Pine ( Pinus rigida ), American Holly ( Ilex opaca ), Black Cherry ( Prunus serotina ), Serviceberry ( Amelanchier canadensis ), Persimmon ( Diospyros virginiana ), Atlantic White Cedar ( Chamaecyparis thyoides ) and Sweetbay ( Magnolia virginiana ). These trees appear in different areas of
720-425: Is now accessible via a paved road. The home is about 200 feet (61 m) from the beach. It has five bedrooms and three bathrooms with a small room for the security detail. It is the only house close to the ocean. Two other houses in the park are on Barnegat Bay (one for the superintendent of the park and a governor's guest house). In addition to the governors, guests at the house have included Lady Bird Johnson ;
768-676: The Barnegat Lighthouse . The bay is part of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway , entered on its north end by the Point Pleasant Canal and connecting on the south end with Little Egg Harbor via the small Manahawkin Bay . In a broader sense, Barnegat Bay is sometimes considered to stretch to the south end of Long Beach Island and to include Little Egg Harbor. Three bridges span the bay from
816-716: The East Coast Greenway as well as part the 9/11 Memorial Trail, which will connect Shanksville , The Pentagon , and One World Trade Center . It will connect to the proposed Hackensack River Greenway and possibly the Hudson River Waterfront Walkway . The park may also incorporate a "transitway, a project proposed in NJ Transit 's "Innovation Challenge", which aims to add a new, creative transportation solutions to The Meadowlands The State Park Service asks its visitors to embrace
864-591: The Rockaway River ). In 2021, Governor Phil Murphy approved the state purchase of part of an abandoned right-of way from Norfolk Southern Railway for the purpose of converting it into a new state park tentatively named the Essex - Hudson Greenway . The park will run from Montclair to Jersey City . Largely facilitated by the Open Space Institute , the park will also be a crucial section of
912-651: The Toms River , the Forked River, the Metedeconk River , Cedar Creek, Oyster Creek, Mill Creek, Westecunk Creek, and Tuckerton Creek, all of which empty into the bay through small estuaries along its inner shore. The communities of Toms River , Silverton , and Forked River sit along the river estuaries on the bay. The bay connects with the ocean through the Barnegat Inlet , along which sits
960-531: The state of New Jersey in the United States. The agency also owns and manages 38 historical sites and buildings throughout the state (some located within the boundaries of state parkland) and also owns five public marinas and four public golf courses . These properties are administered by the Division's State Park Service, founded in 1923. New Jersey's state park system includes properties as small as
1008-407: The "Carry In, Carry Out" philosophy in order to "keep the parks clean and beautiful by carrying out the trash you carry in". Fishing and hunting are permitted in several of the state parks and forest. The State Park System also includes four golf courses that are open to the public. Each of the four courses include associated restaurant and banquet facilities and is operated under contract between
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#17327800387351056-604: The 1920s and acquired by the state five decades later. Several of these properties were acquired as part of open space preservation initiatives managed by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection ' s Green Acres Program. These are state-owned historical sites in New Jersey. These state-owned historical sites are open to the public year-round on Wednesdays through Sundays (10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., 1:00 p.m. to 4 p.m.) Download coordinates as: Barnegat Bay Barnegat Bay
1104-424: The 19th century. While still popular for fishing, Barnegat Bay has also become a popular destination for recreational boating. The water quality of the bay has been degraded by pollution in the rivers and creeks that feed it. The preservation of the bay's water quality has been an ongoing effort of several public and private organizations. The bay was immortalized by the famous writer E. B. White , who used it as
1152-418: The 32-acre (0.13 km ) Barnegat Lighthouse State Park and as large as the 115,000-acre (470 km ) Wharton State Forest . The state park system comprises 430,928 acres (1,743.90 km )—roughly 7.7% of New Jersey's land area—and serves over 17.8 million annual visitors. At the beginning of the twentieth century, New Jersey did not have much of a lumber or forestry industry. The value of its trees
1200-499: The Delaware River to Barnegat Bay. In the 2000s and 2010s, scientists and residents have drawn attention to fish kills, algal blooms , low dissolved oxygen levels, loss of habitat, diminishing clam populations, and the rise in stinging Chrysaora quinquecirrha (sea nettle jellyfish) populations in the bay, mainly due to high levels of nitrogen from fertilizer runoff. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency monitors
1248-657: The Forest Park Reservation Commission in 1905 to protect forest land and create a system of park reserves within the state. At the commission's meeting on September 12, 1905, the commissioners adopted the Salem Oak (of Salem, New Jersey ) as a symbol of New Jersey's parks. The commissioners acquired two tracts in southern New Jersey , near Mays Landing and along the Bass River , as the first state forest reserves. The Mays Landing tract
1296-591: The New Jersey Division of Parks and Forestry administers and manages 430,928 acres (1,743.90 km ) in its state parks, forests, and other areas. These areas, during the state's 2006 fiscal year (from July 1, 2005 to June 30, 2006) recorded 17,843,541 visitors. In 2006, the Division of Parks and Forestry began planning and preliminary work two new state parks: Great Falls State Park in Paterson , and Capital State Park in Trenton . The state's only other urban park
1344-413: The United States. The plant was decommissioned on September 25, 2018. A 2008 baseline sediment pollution study of 15 locations within Barnegat Bay - Little Egg Harbor area including sites at Mill Creek, Cedar Run, Parker Run measured total petroleum hydrocarbons, mercury , polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB). The joint US/UK team of scientists reported that TPH content
1392-552: The acquisition of a tract that included Swartswood Lake in Stillwater Township , the commission began developing parks for the purposes of recreation by providing boating , fishing , camping , and picnicking . In the Commission's 1915 Annual Report, they stated "It is intended to make Swartswood a public playground. Boat liveries and picnic shelters to be maintained under proper control will make it available to
1440-688: The bay are a part of the National Wildlife Refuge or the Sedge Islands State Wildlife Management Area. The northern tip of Long Beach Island includes the Barnegat Lighthouse State Park . The area surrounding Barnegat Bay and Barnegat Inlet was described by Henry Hudson , in 1609, as "... a great lake of water, as we could judge it to be ... The mouth of the lake hath many shoals, and the sea breaketh on them as it
1488-811: The budget discussions. New Jersey is one of just four states to maintain a state-owned vacation home for its governor. Other states with vacation residence are Alabama at Fort Morgan , Michigan at Mackinac Island and North Carolina at Asheville . According to the Köppen climate classification system, Island Beach State Park has a humid subtropical climate ( Cfa ). Cfa climates are characterized by all months having an average temperature > 32.0 °F (0.0 °C), at least four months with an average temperature ≥ 50.0 °F (10.0 °C), at least one month with an average temperature ≥ 71.6 °F (22.0 °C) and no significant precipitation difference between seasons. Although most summer days are slightly humid with
Island Beach State Park - Misplaced Pages Continue
1536-530: The commercial potential of forested land. The state legislature established a commission to create a historic park along the Delaware River above Trenton , at the location where George Washington and Continental Army crossed the river on December 25, 1776 before the surprise attack on Hessian troops at the Battle of Trenton and the Battle of Princeton (January 3, 1777). The initial plans were defeated by
1584-413: The daughter of Alexei Kosygin ; Hubert Humphrey ; Walter Mondale ; and Joe Biden . In July 2017 during the long July 4th holiday extended weekend the park along with other parks were closed because the state had not approved its budget . Governor Chris Christie , wife, children and friends were photographed on a deserted beach at the park. Christie took a helicopter back and forth to Trenton during
1632-598: The health of the bay by testing at four locations as frequently as once a week in the summer months, when surface water can reach 82 °F (28 °C). Community members have also expressed concern over the impact of stored radioactive material and thermal pollution at the Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station in Lacey Township. The plant which was built in 1969 was formerly the oldest operating nuclear power plant in
1680-525: The largest in the United States. The park is divided into two areas. The Island Beach Northern Natural Area covers 659 acres (2.7 km), some of which is restricted to the public. The Southern Natural Area is much larger at 1,237 acres (5 km). The park includes the Sedge Island Marine Conservation Zone, which includes about 1,600 acres (6 km) of tidal marshes , creeks, ponds, and open water. Coming in from
1728-619: The mainland to the peninsula: the Mantoloking Bridge from Brick Township to Mantoloking , and the Thomas A. Mathis and J. Stanley Tunney Bridges from Toms River to Ortley Beach. The Barnegat Division of Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge comprises wetlands along the inner southern part of the bay. Along the outside of the bay, on the peninsula, is the Island Beach State Park . Various islands within
1776-419: The nature center, 1 mile (1.6 km) into the park, in a display garden, which is located by a freshwater wetland. Most visitors come for the white sand beach, the ocean waters, and natural backdrop, in contrast to the developed and boardwalk-lined beaches to the north and south. Island Beach State Park encompasses many miles of beach; the northernmost have life guards. People can swim, surf, fish, and kayak in
1824-574: The park include Bayberry ( Myrica pensylvanica and Myrica cerifera ), Highbush blueberry ( Vaccinium corymbosum ), Beach plum ( Prunus maritima ), Swamp azalea ( Rhododendron viscosum ), Red and Black Chokeberry ( Aronia arbutifolia and Aronia melanocarpa ), Heather ( Hudsonia ericoides ) and Sweet Pepperbush ( Clethra alnifolia ). Every September the park hosts an exciting Beach Plum Festival, replete with tours, foods, music and great atmosphere. There are also many grasses, forbs and herbaceous plants. Many of these plants can be seen at
1872-401: The park, depending on the specifics of salt and wind exposure. They are often stunted, compared to inland examples of their species, and display the "salt spray horizon" effect, with the side facing the ocean sheared tightly by the environment, with their westerly sides tending to grow taller. Thus, the trees and shrubs often take on wedge-like shapes with their low side on the east. Shrubs in
1920-604: The park, the state has maintained an official vacation residence ( 39°53′11″N 74°04′55″W / 39.8865°N 74.0819°W / 39.8865; -74.0819 ) exclusively for the New Jersey Governor (in addition to the governor's mansion at Drumthwacket , in Princeton near the state capital of Trenton ). The residence was built by Phipps in the 1920s. The house is in the Cape Cod style. It
1968-439: The park. The park also allows dune buggy access in the southern portion of the park. There is also a boardwalk extending from Barnegat Bay to the main road allowing boaters access to the beach. On the bayside of Island Beach State Park is an area called Tices Shoal , where boaters gather together and anchor. Since New Jersey acquired the 2,694 acres (10.90 km) estate of Henry Phipps, Jr. in 1953 for $ 2.75 million to form
Island Beach State Park - Misplaced Pages Continue
2016-460: The sea-front, a visitor ascends over a large primary dune covered in tall grasses and down into a narrow maritime forest, consisting of many tall bushes and short trees including holly , goldenrod and black cherry . Approaching the bay side, one finds reeds and a muddy estuary that is home to blue crabs and herons and other marine birds. The park is an excellent site for bird watching with osprey nests and bird blinds set up. The Barnegat Inlet
2064-412: The song became a Billboard No. 1 hit . The Trust for Public Land , a national land conservation group, has done extensive work in the Barnegat Bay area for over two decades, protecting over 1,100 acres (4.5 km ) of land. The Trust recently began the new River to Bay Greenway, the primary goal of which is to create a 70-mile (110 km) multi-use recreational route across southern New Jersey from
2112-590: The state also purchased 1,174 acres (4.75 km ) in Jefferson Township the former site of the Mount Paul monastery and seminary belonging to Paulist Fathers (from 1924–2009). The tract, which will be developed into a state park, is located in the state's Highlands region on the eastern side of Sparta Mountain and featuring mountain streams that flow into the Russia Brook (a tributary of
2160-559: The supreme sacrifice in the Great War". A few years later, Colonel Anthony R. Kuser donated his mountaintop estate at High Point (the state's highest elevation) to the state for a public park with an additional gift of $ 500,000 to erect a granite-clad obelisk to honor veterans. Construction of the monument began in 1928 and was completed in 1930. According to the New Jersey Conservation Foundation ,
2208-564: Was insignificant and undermined by destruction by uncontrolled forest fires , and after decades of clear-cutting forests to fuel iron forges , furnaces , and other industrial operations. In 1896, the state geologist recommended the acquisition of land for parks in order to protect water supplies and to provide natural recreation to the state's increasing urban populations. After several years of reports and advocacy of geologists and naturalists (including, notably, U.S. forester Gifford Pinchot ), New Jersey governor Edward C. Stokes established
2256-475: Was low and that mercury content ranged from <0.02 to 2.61 mg/kg dry wt. PAH content ranged from as low as 37 ug/kg to 1696 ug/kg with the highest concentrations at Tuckerton Creek, nevertheless these concentrations are not considered harmful to humans or biota. The distribution pattern of PAHs throughout the study area was consistent with the burning from grass, wood and coal sources. Concentrations of PCB were below reported effects ranges suggesting
2304-579: Was sold in 1916 after opposition from local officials and landowners made acquisition and expansion on adjacent lands impossible. The Bass River tract became the core of Bass River State Forest . In 1907, the commissioners would also acquire 5,000 acres (20 km ) on Kittatinny Mountain near Culver's Gap , supplemented by a gift from Governor Stokes, which would become the core of Stokes State Forest . The reservations, which by 1912 comprised 13,720 acres (55.5 km ) became sites for studying forests, reforestation projects, and scientific forestry. With
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