Plumstead Recreation Park
Park
21 acres0.3 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
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 3.0AOutdoors
Outdoors in Plumsted Township
Plumsted Township has 1,722 acres of parks, 199 for every 1,000 residents
20% of Plumsted Township’s land is conserved, about 4,971 acres. 87% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 15 miles of mapped trail cross Plumsted Township, 0.4 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 90% of U.S. towns · #199 of 468 in New Jersey. What drives it
Conserved land
20%
4,971 acres · of 39.1 sq mi of land
Trails
15 mi
0.4 per sq mi of land
Park land
1,722 ac
199 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
87%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
0.5 mi
0.5 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
2
What kind of outdoors town is Plumsted Township?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Plumsted Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Plumsted Township is ahead of 90% of U.S. towns, #199 of 468 in New Jersey. All four inputs are above most U.S. towns; park acres per resident rank highest, trail miles lowest.
A
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Plumsted Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land20% of the land · typical NJ town 11% · U.S. 4%ATrails0.4 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (15 mi) · NJ 0.7 · U.S. 0.4BPark land199 acres of park per 1,000 residents (1,722 acres) · NJ 25 · U.S. 13AParks close to home87% 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 90%
LessMore
New Jersey towns of 2,500+ (468)Ahead of 58%
New Jersey towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 11%; the U.S., 4%), so Plumsted Township’s 20% is ahead of 69% of New Jersey towns, while its trails per square mile lead 33% of them.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from A− 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 Plumstead Recreation Park, with 0.3 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Brendan T. Byrne State Forest
Managed by New Jersey Division of Parks and Forestry
68 acres0.1 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
Who protects it
4,971 conserved acres
20% of Plumsted Township’s land. Who manages Plumsted Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
County5,133 ac
State fish & wildlife1,389 ac
Other state land1,266 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits687 ac
USDA easements (NRCS)413 ac
Other or Unknown Local Government267 ac
Town or city165 ac
Agricultural Easement · 6,093 acState Conservation Area · 1,000 acLocal Conservation Area · 863 acLocal Other or Unknown · 453 acState Resource Management Area · 416 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 2,935 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 5 of 188 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Colliers Mills Wildlife Management Area State Resource Management Area | State fish & wildlife | 1,415 | Open |
| National Biodiversity Park Private Other or Unknown | Land trusts & nonprofits | 687 | Open |
| Long Swamp Local Other or Unknown | County | 546 | Open |
| Ephraim Emson Local Conservation Area | Not recorded | 222 | Open |
| Coastal Divide Local Conservation Area | Not recorded | 211 | Open |
| Ocean County 1 Local Other or Unknown | County | 103 | Unknown |
| Plumsted Township Open Space Local Conservation Area | Town or city | 103 | Open |
| Jumping Brook Local Conservation Area | Other or Unknown Local Government | 97 | Open |
| unknown Local Conservation Area | Not recorded | 81 | Open |
| Pinehurst Preservation Area Local Conservation Area | County | 54 | Open |
5 smaller protected places aren’t shown.
Things to do
1 places to go in Plumsted Township
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Plumsted Township
1 playground without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Trails & water
2 lakes & rivers
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
0.5 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
0.5 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
14Baseball
13Soccer
6Tennis
4Basketball
4Football
1Pickleball
1Softball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Plumsted Township: 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 | 14.7 | 13.7 | 12.4 | 11.1 | 9.9 | 9.3 |
| High (°F) | 42 | 45 | 52 | 64 | 74 | 82 | 87 | 85 | 79 | 67 | 56 | 47 |
| Rain (in) | 3.6 | 2.9 | 4.3 | 3.6 | 3.8 | 4.1 | 4.9 | 4.5 | 3.9 | 4.0 | 3.3 | 4.3 |
February is the driest month (2.9 in) and July the warmest (highs of 87 °F). 4.9 inches fall in July, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 87 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Plumsted Township →
Next door
Plumsted Township 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plumsted Township | 20% | 0.4 | 199 | 87% | A |
| Jackson Township | 17% | 1.1 | 322 | 69% | A |
| New Hanover Township | 2% | 0.1 | 4 | 11% | C− |
| Manchester Township | 36% | 2.0 | 266 | 81% | A+ |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Plumsted Township
Where can I hike in Plumsted Township?
The longest trail networks: Plumstead Recreation Park, 0.3 miles; Brendan T. Byrne State Forest, 0.1 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Plumsted Township is conserved land?
20% 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 Plumsted Township’s trails?
Plumstead Recreation Park and Brendan T. Byrne State Forest don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Plumsted Township?
0.5 miles of bike routes are on the map: 0.5 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Plumsted Township?
116,556 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Plumsted Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 1,791 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Plumsted Township have?
Ahead of 90% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #199 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 Plumsted 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 →