Cape May Coastal Wetlands Wildlife Management Area
Nature preserve
1,114 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Photo: Smallbones · Public domainA+Outdoors
Outdoors in Avalon
More than half of Avalon’s land is conserved: 67%
67% of Avalon’s land is conserved, about 1,839 acres. 1,851 acres are parks and preserves, 1,244 per 1,000 residents. Virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park.
Among the top 1% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
67%
1,839 acres · of 4.3 sq mi of land
Trails
4.2 mi
1.0 per sq mi of land
Park land
1,851 ac
1,244 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
99%+
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
11 mi
9.2 mi lanes
What kind of outdoors town is Avalon?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Avalon have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Avalon is among the top 1% of U.S. towns. All four inputs are above most U.S. towns; conserved land ranks highest, trail miles lowest.
A+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Avalon’s overall grade.
Conserved land67% of the land · typical NJ town 11% · U.S. 4%A+Trails1.0 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (4 mi) · NJ 0.7 · U.S. 0.4A−Park land1,244 acres of park per 1,000 residents (1,851 acres) · NJ 25 · U.S. 13A+Parks close to homeVirtually all residents within a half mile of a park · NJ 98% · U.S. 72%A+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Among the top 1%
LessMore
New Jersey towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 11%; the U.S., 4%), so Avalon’s 67% is ahead of 100% of New Jersey towns, while its trails per square mile lead 63% of them.
Water is 16% of Avalon’s area (1 of 5 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 57%.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would still be A+. Trails and many small parks come from OpenStreetMap, mapped by volunteers, so coverage varies from town to town; the half mile is a straight line from each census block, so a river or highway in the way isn’t counted against it.
PAD-US, OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors), Census 2025 Gazetteer and 2020 blocks; details in Sources below. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →
The map
Conserved land, trails & bike routes
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it.
Easements protect land from building but are usually private.© OpenStreetMap contributors · USGS PAD-US
Places to walk
Pick a walk
Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Who protects it
1,839 conserved acres
67% of Avalon’s land. Water is left out: Avalon has 4.3 square miles of land and 0.8 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Avalon’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State fish & wildlife1,116 ac
Town or city722 ac
Not recorded692 ac
State Conservation Area · 1,116 acLocal Park · 702 acLocal Conservation Area · 517 acLocal Recreation Area · 191 acLocal Other or Unknown · 2 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cape May Coastal Wetlands Wildlife Management Area State Conservation Area | State fish & wildlife | 1,116 | Open |
| Conservation Land Local Park | Not recorded | 1,000 | Open |
| unknown Local Park | Not recorded | 192 | Open |
| Avalon Borough Beach or Boardwalk Local Recreation Area | Town or city | 174 | Open |
| Avalon Borough Estuary or Marsh Local Conservation Area | Town or city | 18 | Open |
| Avalon Recreation Field Local Recreation Area | Town or city | 10 | Open |
| Armacoast Park Local Park | Town or city | 9 | Open |
| Baypark Marina Local Recreation Area | Town or city | 4 | Open |
| Avalon Recreation Fields Local Recreation Area | Town or city | 3 | Open |
| Avalon Borough Unknown Local Other or Unknown | Town or city | 1 | Open |
3 smaller protected places aren’t shown.
Things to do
11 places to go in Avalon
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Beaches in Avalon
Seven Mile Beach
DirectionsPlus 1 beach without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Playgrounds in Avalon
5 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Boat launches in Avalon
57th Street Boat Launch
DirectionsPlus 1 boat launch without a name on the map.
Scenic views in Avalon
2 scenic views without a name on the map.
Trails & water
1 named trail
Named trails
Boardwalk0.6 mi
Biking & sports
11 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
9.2 mi
painted or protected bike lanes
1.5 mi
shoulders & shared lanes
Courts & fields
16Tennis
10Pickleball
3Basketball
1Multi-sport
1Baseball
1Softball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →1 place on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service). The map also marks 1 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.
Avalon Life Saving StationBuilding · listed 1979
About itWhen to get out
The best walking months in Avalon: April to July
NOAA’s 1991–2020 normals for the town and the daylight at its latitude. Outlined months have long days, highs of 59 to 86 °F and little rain for the place.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daylight (h) | 9.7 | 10.7 | 11.8 | 13.2 | 14.3 | 14.9 | 14.7 | 13.7 | 12.4 | 11.1 | 10.0 | 9.4 |
| High (°F) | 43 | 45 | 51 | 61 | 70 | 79 | 84 | 83 | 77 | 67 | 57 | 48 |
| Rain (in) | 3.4 | 3.1 | 4.4 | 3.4 | 3.3 | 3.6 | 4.3 | 4.7 | 3.9 | 4.2 | 3.4 | 4.3 |
February is the driest month (3.1 in) and July the warmest (highs of 84 °F). 4.7 inches fall in August, the wettest month. The climate in Avalon →
Next door
Avalon and its neighbors
Avalon has the second most mapped trails of the 2 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avalon | 67% | 1.0 | 1,244 | 99%+ | A+ |
| Middle Township | 54% | 0.4 | 775 | 81% | A |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Avalon
Where can I hike in Avalon?
The longest trail networks: Armacost Park, 0.1 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Avalon is conserved land?
67% of its land, against a typical 11% for a New Jersey town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.
Are dogs allowed on Avalon’s trails?
Cape May Coastal Wetlands Wildlife Management Area and Armacost Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Avalon?
11 miles of bike routes are on the map: 9.2 of painted or protected lanes and 1.5 of shoulders and shared lanes.
Is there public land near Avalon?
36,626 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Avalon or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 1,851 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Avalon have?
Among the top 1% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade. The grade combines the share of land that is conserved, miles of mapped trail per square mile of land, park acres per 1,000 residents and the share of residents within a half mile of a park. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
Trail talk
Conditions, parking and favorite walks from Avalon neighbors.
Share a tip
Sources
Where this page comes from
Conserved and public land: USGS Protected Areas Database of the United States (PAD-US), service updated July 2026. Parks, trails, playgrounds, beaches and other places: OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL), map data as of 2026-10-28. Land and water area: Census 2025 Gazetteer. Residents near a park: 2020 Census blocks. National Register: National Park Service. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →