Donaldson Park
Managed by Middlesex County Office of Parks and Recreation
77 acres3 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Photo: Toinfin · CC BY-SA 3.0A−Outdoors
Outdoors in Highland Park
Virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park in Highland Park
Virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park. 6.8 miles of mapped trail cross Highland Park, 3.7 per square mile of land. The biggest trail networks: Donaldson Park (3 mi), Rutgers Ecological Preserve (1.9 mi), Johnson Park (0.8 mi).
Ahead of 78% of U.S. towns · #297 of 468 in New Jersey. What drives it
Conserved land
1%
11 acres · of 1.8 sq mi of land
Trails
6.8 mi
3.7 per sq mi of land
Park land
159 ac
11 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
99%+
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
1.8 mi
0.4 mi lanes · 1.4 mi paths
What kind of outdoors town is Highland Park?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Highland Park have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Highland Park is ahead of 78% of U.S. towns, #297 of 468 in New Jersey. Trail miles hold the grade up; conserved land pulls it down.
A−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Highland Park’s overall grade.
Conserved land1% of the land · typical NJ town 11% · U.S. 4%CTrails3.7 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (7 mi) · NJ 0.7 · U.S. 0.4A+Park land11 acres of park per 1,000 residents (159 acres) · NJ 25 · U.S. 13B−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)Ahead of 78%
LessMore
New Jersey towns of 2,500+ (468)Ahead of 37%
New Jersey towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 11%; the U.S., 4%), so Highland Park’s 1% is ahead of 3% of New Jersey towns, while its trails per square mile lead 98% of them.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from B to 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
The longest trail network is Donaldson Park, with 3 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Rutgers Ecological Preserve
Nature preserve
80 acres1.9 mi of trail
BlueOrangeOrange-BlueWhite
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Molimock-Graff Park
Park
1 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
11 conserved acres
1% of Highland Park’s land. Who manages Highland Park’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Town or city8 ac
County2 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits1 ac
Local Park · 7 acLocal Conservation Area · 3 acOther Easement · 1 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 1 acre is a conservation easement, usually private land. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Valley Place Ravine Local Park | Town or city | 4 | Open |
| Native Plant Reserve Local Conservation Area | Town or city | 3 | Open |
| Red'S Marina Local Park | County | 2 | Open |
| Karsey Park Local Park | Town or city | 1 | Open |
Things to do
26 places to go in Highland Park
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Highland Park
Felton Avenue Tot Lot
DirectionsIrving Primary School
DirectionsPlus 15 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Dog parks in Highland Park
Donaldson Dog ParkIn Donaldson Park
DirectionsBoat launches in Highland Park
1 boat launch without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Scenic views in Highland Park
1 scenic view without a name on the map.
Picnic areas in Highland Park
Grove 1In Donaldson Park
DirectionsGrove 2In Donaldson Park
DirectionsGrove 3AIn Donaldson Park
DirectionsGrove 3BIn Donaldson Park
DirectionsGrove 4In Donaldson Park
DirectionsOpen GroveIn Donaldson Park
DirectionsTrails & water
4 named trails
Named trails
Open to bikes · 2.0 mi
Blue0.9 mi
Orange0.4 mi
Orange-Blue0.2 mi
White0.1 mi
Biking & sports
1.8 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
0.4 mi
painted or protected bike lanes
1.4 mi
off-road bike paths
9/11 National Memorial Trail (New Jersey thru route)Bike route
0.3 miEast Coast Greenway (NJ South)Bike route
0.3 miCourts & fields
8Tennis
7Baseball
5Basketball
5Soccer
2Softball
1Football
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →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.
When to get out
The best walking months in Highland Park: April to June and August
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) | 9.6 | 10.6 | 11.8 | 13.2 | 14.4 | 15.0 | 14.8 | 13.8 | 12.4 | 11.0 | 9.9 | 9.3 |
| High (°F) | 41 | 43 | 51 | 63 | 73 | 82 | 87 | 85 | 78 | 66 | 55 | 45 |
| Rain (in) | 3.5 | 2.9 | 4.2 | 3.7 | 4.1 | 4.4 | 5.0 | 4.5 | 4.1 | 4.2 | 3.3 | 4.3 |
February is the driest month (2.9 in) and July the warmest (highs of 87 °F). 5.0 inches fall in July, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 87 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Highland Park →
Next door
Highland Park and its neighbors
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Highland Park | 1% | 3.7 | 11 | 99%+ | A− |
| New Brunswick | 8% | 1.6 | 6 | 99%+ | A− |
| Edison Township | 5% | 0.8 | 18 | 98% | A− |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Highland Park
Where can I hike in Highland Park?
The longest trail networks: Donaldson Park, 3 miles; Rutgers Ecological Preserve, 1.9 miles; Johnson Park, 0.8 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Highland Park is conserved land?
1% 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 Highland Park’s trails?
Donaldson Park and Rutgers Ecological Preserve don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Highland Park?
1.8 miles of bike routes are on the map: 0.4 of painted or protected lanes and 1.4 of off-road paths. Named routes: 9/11 National Memorial Trail (New Jersey thru route) and East Coast Greenway (NJ South).
Is there public land near Highland Park?
32,001 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Highland Park or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 159 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Highland Park have?
Ahead of 78% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #297 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 Highland Park 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 →