Victor Crowell Memorial Park
Park
23 acres0.6 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Photo: Soc 59 · CC BY-SA 4.0BOutdoors
Outdoors in Middlesex
Virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park in Middlesex
Virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park. The biggest trail networks: Victor Crowell Memorial Park (0.6 mi). 0.7 miles of mapped trail cross Middlesex, 0.2 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 56% of U.S. towns · #406 of 468 in New Jersey. What drives it
Conserved land
1%
20 acres · of 3.5 sq mi of land
Trails
0.7 mi
0.2 per sq mi of land
Park land
191 ac
13 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
99%+
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
2
What kind of outdoors town is Middlesex?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Middlesex have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Middlesex is ahead of 56% of U.S. towns, #406 of 468 in New Jersey. The share of residents near a park holds the grade up; conserved land pulls it down.
B
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Middlesex’s overall grade.
Conserved land1% of the land · typical NJ town 11% · U.S. 4%CTrails0.2 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (1 mi) · NJ 0.7 · U.S. 0.4C+Park land13 acres of park per 1,000 residents (191 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 56%
LessMore
New Jersey towns of 2,500+ (468)Ahead of 13%
New Jersey towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 11%; the U.S., 4%), so Middlesex’s 1% is ahead of 2% of New Jersey towns, while its trails per square mile lead 20% of them.
NoteFew parks or trails are mapped in Middlesex. OpenStreetMap is mapped by volunteers and coverage varies from town to town, so a town with unmapped parks scores low on them.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to B+. 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 Victor Crowell Memorial Park, with 0.6 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Who protects it
20 conserved acres
1% of Middlesex’s land. Who manages Middlesex’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Town or city17 ac
Joint1 ac
Local Other or Unknown · 8 acLocal Park · 7 acLocal Recreation Area · 2 acConservation Easement · 1 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 2 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Simchock Field Local Park | Town or city | 7 | Open |
| Victor Crowell Memorial Park Extension Local Other or Unknown | Town or city | 4 | Open |
| Runyon Ballfield Local Other or Unknown | Town or city | 2 | Open |
| Roy K Harkness Community Pool Local Recreation Area | Town or city | 2 | Open |
| Fitzsimmons Park Local Other or Unknown | Town or city | 1 | Open |
| Middlesex Borough Unknown Local Other or Unknown | Town or city | 1 | Open |
Things to do
9 places to go in Middlesex
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Public pools in Middlesex
Middlesex Public Pool
DirectionsPlus 2 public pools without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Playgrounds in Middlesex
6 playgrounds without a name on the map.
Trails & water
2 lakes & rivers
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
0.0 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
Courts & fields
11Baseball
6Tennis
4Soccer
4Basketball
1Football
1Softball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Middlesex: 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 | 15.1 | 14.8 | 13.8 | 12.4 | 11.0 | 9.9 | 9.3 |
| High (°F) | 40 | 43 | 51 | 64 | 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 | 4.2 | 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 Middlesex →
Next door
Middlesex and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Bridgewater Township40 miMartinsville30 miPiscataway Township13 miDunellen0.9 miBound Brook0.8 miMiddlesex0.7 miGreen Brook Township0.7 miSouth Bound Brook0.2 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Middlesex | 1% | 0.2 | 13 | 99%+ | B |
| Green Brook Township | 5% | 0.2 | 24 | 85% | B |
| Martinsville | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Bridgewater Township | 15% | 1.2 | 67 | 99% | A+ |
| Bound Brook | 9% | 0.5 | 8 | 99%+ | A− |
| Piscataway Township | 3% | 0.7 | 20 | 93% | B+ |
| Dunellen | 5% | 0.8 | 5 | 99%+ | A− |
| South Bound Brook | 2% | 0.3 | 19 | 99%+ | B+ |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Middlesex
Where can I hike in Middlesex?
The longest trail networks: Victor Crowell Memorial Park, 0.6 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Middlesex 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 Middlesex’s trails?
Victor Crowell Memorial Park doesn’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Middlesex?
32,610 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Middlesex or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 194 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Middlesex have?
Ahead of 56% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #406 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 Middlesex 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 →