Forked River Mountains Wilderness Area
Managed by Ocean County Parks Department
2,257 acres8.7 mi of trail
Dogs on leash
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
Photo: Mr. Matté (if there is an issue with this image, contact me using this image's Commons talk page, my Commons user talk page, or my English Wikipedia user talk page; I'll know about it a lot faster) · CC BY-SA 4.0A+Outdoors
Outdoors in Ocean Township
Ocean Township has 5,327 acres of parks, 591 for every 1,000 residents
28% of Ocean Township’s land is conserved, about 3,793 acres. Virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park. 30 miles of mapped trail cross Ocean Township, 1.4 per square mile of land.
Among the top 1% of U.S. towns · #11 of 468 in New Jersey. What drives it
Conserved land
28%
3,793 acres · of 20.9 sq mi of land
Trails
30 mi
1.4 per sq mi of land
Park land
5,327 ac
591 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
99%+
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
3.3 mi
3.0 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
2
2 beaches · 4 boat launches
What kind of outdoors town is Ocean Township?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Ocean Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Ocean Township is among the top 1% of U.S. towns, #11 of 468 in New Jersey. All four inputs put Ocean Township near the top nationally; park acres per resident rank highest.
A+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Ocean Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land28% of the land · typical NJ town 11% · U.S. 4%ATrails1.4 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (30 mi) · NJ 0.7 · U.S. 0.4APark land591 acres of park per 1,000 residents (5,327 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 of 2,500+ (468)Ahead of 98%
New Jersey towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 11%; the U.S., 4%), so Ocean Township’s 28% is ahead of 83% of New Jersey towns, while its trails per square mile lead 80% of them.
Water is 36% of Ocean Township’s area (12 of 33 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 18%.
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
The longest trail network is Forked River Mountains Wilderness Area, with 8.7 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Greenwood Forest Wildlife Management Area
Managed by New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife
365 acres0.9 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Island Beach State Park
Nature preserve
517 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge
Managed by United States Fish and Wildlife Service
188 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
All 9 parks & preserves
Forked River Mountains Wilderness Area2,257 acres · 8.7 mi of trail · Ocean County Parks Department
DirectionsGreenwood Forest Wildlife Management Area365 acres · 0.9 mi of trail · New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife
Wells Mills County Park41 acres · 0.2 mi of trail
DirectionsIsland Beach State Park517 acres
Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge188 acres · United States Fish and Wildlife Service
DirectionsSedge Islands Wildlife Management Area172 acres
Barnegat Branch Trail13 acres
DirectionsLochiel Creek County Park2 acres · Ocean County Parks & Recreation
Sands Point Park2 acres · Ocean Township Parks & Recreation
Who protects it
3,793 conserved acres
28% of Ocean Township’s land. Water is left out: Ocean Township has 20.9 square miles of land and 11.7 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Ocean Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
County1,360 ac
State fish & wildlife945 ac
State natural resources546 ac
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service370 ac
Other or Unknown Local Government331 ac
Town or city236 ac
State conservation195 ac
Local Conservation Area · 2,586 acState Conservation Area · 1,151 acState Park · 680 acLocal Other or Unknown · 476 acNational Wildlife Refuge · 370 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 62 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 4 of 68 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Forked River Mountain Preserve Local Conservation Area | County | 1,523 | Open |
| Wells Mills Wilderness Area Local Conservation Area | Not recorded | 650 | Open |
| Island Beach State Park State Park | State natural resources | 546 | Open |
| Wells Mills Park Local Conservation Area | Not recorded | 472 | Open |
| Forked River Mountain Wildlife Management Area State Conservation Area | State fish & wildlife | 413 | Open |
| Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge National Wildlife Refuge | U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | 370 | Restricted |
| Greenwood Forest Wildlife Management Area State Conservation Area | State fish & wildlife | 366 | Open |
| Upper Barnegat Bay Wildlife Management Area State Conservation Area | State fish & wildlife | 266 | Open |
| Barnegat Hills Local Conservation Area | Other or Unknown Local Government | 265 | Open |
| Waretown Lake Local Recreation Area | Town or city | 158 | Open |
5 smaller protected places aren’t shown.
Things to do
15 places to go in Ocean Township
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Beaches in Ocean Township
Bay beach
DirectionsPlus 1 beach without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Playgrounds in Ocean Township
6 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Dog parks in Ocean Township
Waretown Dog Park
DirectionsWaretown Dog Park
DirectionsBoat launches in Ocean Township
Sands Point Boat RampIn Sands Point Park
DirectionsPlus 3 boat launches without a name on the map.
Fishing spots in Ocean Township
Corliss Park Lake fishing pier
DirectionsTrails & water
1 named trail and 2 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Unpaved · 5.4 mi
Elysian Park1.7 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
3.3 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
3.0 mi
off-road bike paths
0.3 mi
shoulders & shared lanes
Courts & fields
10Pickleball
5Baseball
4Basketball
2Tennis
1Skate park
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).
Falkinburg FarmsteadBuilding · listed 1993
About itWhen to get out
The best walking months in Ocean 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.
| 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 | 14.7 | 13.7 | 12.4 | 11.1 | 9.9 | 9.4 |
| High (°F) | 42 | 44 | 51 | 61 | 70 | 80 | 85 | 83 | 77 | 66 | 56 | 47 |
| Rain (in) | 3.7 | 3.0 | 4.5 | 3.6 | 3.4 | 3.8 | 4.7 | 4.5 | 3.9 | 4.0 | 3.2 | 4.4 |
February is the driest month (3.0 in) and July the warmest (highs of 85 °F). 4.7 inches fall in July, the wettest month. The climate in Ocean Township →
Next door
Ocean Township and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Lacey Township192 miBerkeley Township70 miBarnegat Township51 miOcean Township30 miBarnegat Light5.0 miLong Beach Township3.0 miForked River0.4 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ocean Township | 28% | 1.4 | 591 | 99%+ | A+ |
| Lacey Township | 63% | 2.3 | 994 | 93% | A+ |
| Berkeley Township | 47% | 1.6 | 268 | 86% | A+ |
| Barnegat Township | 49% | 1.5 | 255 | 99% | A+ |
| Long Beach Township | 38% | 0.6 | 17 | 98% | A |
| Barnegat Light | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Forked River | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Ocean Township
Where can I hike in Ocean Township?
The longest trail networks: Forked River Mountains Wilderness Area, 8.7 miles; Greenwood Forest Wildlife Management Area, 0.9 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Ocean Township is conserved land?
28% 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 Ocean Township’s trails?
OpenStreetMap records dogs as welcome at Forked River Mountains Wilderness Area (on leash). For the rest, check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Ocean Township?
3.3 miles of bike routes are on the map: 3.0 of off-road paths and 0.3 of shoulders and shared lanes.
Is there public land near Ocean Township?
124,330 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Ocean Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 5,333 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Ocean Township have?
Among the top 1% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #11 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 Ocean Township 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 →