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2013-08-21 13 08 32 View north-northwest from 700 feet into the Atlantic Ocean on the jetty along the north shore of Barnegat Inlet in Island Beach State ParkPhoto: Famartin · CC BY-SA 3.0
A+Outdoors
Outdoors in Berkeley Township

47% of Berkeley Township’s land is conserved: 12,758 acres

11,951 acres are parks and preserves, 268 per 1,000 residents. 70 miles of mapped trail cross Berkeley Township, 1.6 per square mile of land. The biggest trail networks: Island Beach State Park (14.7 mi), Double Trouble State Park (12.1 mi), Greenwood Forest Wildlife Management Area (1.6 mi).

Ahead of 98% of U.S. towns · #38 of 468 in New Jersey. What drives it

Conserved land
47%
12,758 acres · of 42.7 sq mi of land
Trails
70 mi
1.6 per sq mi of land
Park land
11,951 ac
268 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
86%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
15 mi
9.1 mi lanes · 4.2 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
3
8 beaches · 4 boat launches

What kind of outdoors town is Berkeley Township?

Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.

Land that stays wild47% of the land is conserved; a typical New Jersey town, 11%.Room to roam268 acres of park per 1,000 residents; the typical U.S. town has 13.A trail town1.6 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land, more than 90% of U.S. towns.A beach town4 named beaches on the map.
Outdoors grade

How much outdoors does Berkeley Township have?

On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Berkeley Township is ahead of 98% of U.S. towns, #38 of 468 in New Jersey. All four inputs are above most U.S. towns; conserved land ranks highest, the share of residents near a park lowest.

A+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Berkeley Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land47% of the land · typical NJ town 11% · U.S. 4%A+Trails1.6 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (70 mi) · NJ 0.7 · U.S. 0.4APark land268 acres of park per 1,000 residents (11,951 acres) · NJ 25 · U.S. 13AParks close to home86% of residents within a half mile of a park · NJ 98% · U.S. 72%B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 98%
LessMore
New Jersey towns of 2,500+ (468)Ahead of 92%

New Jersey towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 11%; the U.S., 4%), so Berkeley Township’s 47% is ahead of 96% of New Jersey towns, while its trails per square mile lead 85% of them.

Water is 21% of Berkeley Township’s area (12 of 54 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 37%.

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.

12345
Easements protect land from building but are usually private.© OpenStreetMap contributors · USGS PAD-US
Places to walk

Pick a walk

The longest trail network is Island Beach State Park, with 14.7 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.

Island Beach State Park

Nature preserve
1,897 acres14.7 mi of trail
Ocean View TrailSpizzle Creek Bird Blind TrailCoast Guard Station #110 Trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto A-23

Double Trouble State Park

Managed by New Jersey Division of Parks and Forestry
4,211 acres12.1 mi of trail
Mill Pond TrailSweetwater TrailNature TrailNature Trail / Sweetwater Trail+1
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗

Greenwood Forest Wildlife Management Area

Managed by New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife
568 acres1.6 mi of trail
NJ State Long Trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet

Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge

Managed by United States Fish and Wildlife Service
309 acres0.3 mi of trail
Good Luck Point Trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗

Berkeley Island County Park

Park
11 acres0.3 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the trail sign
All 11 parks & preserves
Island Beach State Park1,897 acres · 14.7 mi of trail
Directions
Double Trouble State Park4,211 acres · 12.1 mi of trail · New Jersey Division of Parks and Forestry
Directions
Greenwood Forest Wildlife Management Area568 acres · 1.6 mi of trail · New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife
Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge309 acres · 0.3 mi of trail · United States Fish and Wildlife Service
Berkeley Island County Park11 acres · 0.3 mi of trail
Directions
Mill Creek Park16 acres
Whispering Pines Park11 acres
Directions
John Meagher Medal of Honor Park6 acres
Bayville Park3 acres
Manitou Park Basketball Courts & Playground2 acres
Directions
Jakes Branch County Park1 acres · Ocean County Department of Parks and Recreation
Directions
Who protects it

12,758 conserved acres

47% of Berkeley Township’s land. Water is left out: Berkeley Township has 42.7 square miles of land and 11.5 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Berkeley Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.

State natural resources6,070 ac
Other state land2,400 ac
County1,642 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits988 ac
Town or city859 ac
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service651 ac
State fish & wildlife569 ac
State Park · 6,070 acState Conservation Area · 2,969 acLocal Conservation Area · 2,781 acConservation Easement · 973 acNational Wildlife Refuge · 651 ac
Good to know

Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 46 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 1 of 204 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.

The biggest protected parcels
Parcel (PAD-US)Managed byAcresPublic access
Double Trouble State Park
State Park
State natural resources4,157Open
Crossley Preserve
State Conservation Area
Other state land2,261Open
Island Beach State Park
State Park
State natural resources1,913Open
David A. Veeder Conservation Area
Local Other or Unknown
County1,137Open
unknown
Local Conservation Area
Not recorded715Open
Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge
National Wildlife Refuge
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service651Restricted
Hovnanian Sanctuary
Private Conservation
Land trusts & nonprofits574Open
Greenwood Forest Wildlife Management Area
State Conservation Area
State fish & wildlife569Open
Veterans Park
Local Recreation Area
Town or city444Open
Haines
Local Conservation Area
County393Unknown

5 smaller protected places aren’t shown.

Things to do

30 places to go in Berkeley Township

Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.

Beaches in Berkeley Township
Amherst Beach
Directions
Bathing Beach Number 1In Island Beach State Park
Directions
Bathing Beach Number 2In Island Beach State Park
Directions
Island BeachIn Island Beach State Park
Directions

Plus 4 beaches without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.

Trails & water

11 named trails and 3 lakes & rivers

Named trails
Open to bikes · 8.8 miHorses · 2.2 miUnpaved · 23.9 mi
Ocean View Trail6.4 mi
NJ State Long Trail2.1 mi
Mill Pond Trail1.1 mi
Sweetwater Trail1.0 mi
Nature Trail0.5 mi
Spizzle Creek Bird Blind Trail0.3 mi
Good Luck Point Trail0.3 mi
Nature Trail / Sweetwater Trail0.2 mi
Coast Guard Station #110 Trail0.1 mi
White Sands Beach Entrance0.1 mi
1 more trails
Bike/Multi Use Trail
0.1 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Sunken BranchpondCedar CreekWrangle Brook
Biking & sports

15 miles of bike routes

Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.

9.1 mi
painted or protected bike lanes
4.2 mi
off-road bike paths
1.7 mi
shoulders & shared lanes
Courts & fields
19Baseball
18Tennis
11Basketball
4Soccer
1Football
1Beach volleyball
1Skate park

Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.

History along the way

2 places 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.

History →
Double Trouble Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 1978
About it
Manitou Park School HouseBuilding · listed 2005
About it
When to get out

The best walking months in Berkeley Township: April to June

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.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)9.610.611.813.214.415.014.713.712.411.19.99.3
High (°F)424451617180858477665647
Rain (in)3.83.04.53.73.53.84.64.53.94.03.24.5

February is the driest month (3.0 in) and July the warmest (highs of 85 °F). 4.6 inches fall in July, the wettest month. The climate in Berkeley Township →

Next door

Berkeley Township and its neighbors

Berkeley Township has the second most mapped trails of the 8 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.

Lacey Township192 miBerkeley Township70 miToms River Township31 miOcean Township30 miBeachwood7.4 miHoliday City South5.0 miSeaside Park1.0 miPine Beach0.0 mi
TownConserved
of land		Trail mi
per sq mi		Park acres
per 1,000		Near a park
½ mile		Outdoors
Berkeley Township47%1.626886%A+
Lacey Township63%2.399493%A+
Ocean Township28%1.459199%+A+
Pine Beach5%under 0.1999%+B−
Toms River Township9%0.83177%A−
Beachwood28%2.74699%+A+
Holiday City South— not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town
Seaside Park13%1.53299%+A+

The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.

Questions about parks and trails in Berkeley Township

Where can I hike in Berkeley Township?

The longest trail networks: Island Beach State Park, 14.7 miles; Double Trouble State Park, 12.1 miles; Greenwood Forest Wildlife Management Area, 1.6 miles; Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, 0.3 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.

How much of Berkeley Township is conserved land?

47% 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 Berkeley Township’s trails?

Island Beach State Park and Double Trouble State Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.

Where can I bike in Berkeley Township?

15 miles of bike routes are on the map: 9.1 of painted or protected lanes, 4.2 of off-road paths and 1.7 of shoulders and shared lanes.

Is there public land near Berkeley Township?

109,144 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Berkeley Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 12,418 of them inside the town line.

How much outdoors does Berkeley Township have?

Ahead of 98% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #38 of 468 in New Jersey. 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 Berkeley Township neighbors.

Town Square →
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 →