Duke Island Park
Managed by Somerset County Park Commission
26 acres0.8 mi of trail
Canal Trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the trailheadWebsite ↗
Photo: Brandon S. Jacobsen · CC BY-SA 3.0A−Outdoors
Outdoors in Raritan
6% of Raritan’s land is conserved, and virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park
Virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park. 1.6 miles of mapped trail cross Raritan, 0.8 per square mile of land. 6% of Raritan’s land is conserved, about 83 acres.
Ahead of 81% of U.S. towns · #269 of 468 in New Jersey. What drives it
Conserved land
6%
83 acres · of 2.0 sq mi of land
Trails
1.6 mi
0.8 per sq mi of land
Park land
73 ac
8.7 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
99%+
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
0.6 mi
What kind of outdoors town is Raritan?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Raritan have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Raritan is ahead of 81% of U.S. towns, #269 of 468 in New Jersey. The share of residents near a park holds the grade up; park acres per resident pull it down.
A−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Raritan’s overall grade.
Conserved land6% of the land · typical NJ town 11% · U.S. 4%B+Trails0.8 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (2 mi) · NJ 0.7 · U.S. 0.4A−Park land8.7 acres of park per 1,000 residents (73 acres) · NJ 25 · U.S. 13C+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 81%
LessMore
New Jersey towns of 2,500+ (468)Ahead of 43%
New Jersey towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 11%; the U.S., 4%), so Raritan’s 6% is ahead of 32% of New Jersey towns, while its trails per square mile lead 57% 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 Duke Island Park, with 0.8 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Elizabeth Ave Park
Park
1 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
83 conserved acres
6% of Raritan’s land. Who manages Raritan’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Town or city45 ac
County42 ac
Not recorded20 ac
Local Park · 43 acLocal Conservation Area · 20 acLocal Resource Management Area · 17 acLocal Other or Unknown · 9 acLocal Recreation Area · 9 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 9 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Duke Island Park Local Other or Unknown | County | 34 | Open |
| Raritan River Greenway Local Conservation Area | Not recorded | 16 | Open |
| Raritan Valley Park Local Park | Town or city | 15 | Open |
| Basilone Park Local Park | Town or city | 14 | Open |
| Raritan Borough Playground Local Park | County | 5 | Open |
| Cardinal Woods Park Local Park | County | 4 | Open |
| Ballfields Local Park | Town or city | 4 | Open |
| Frelinghuysen Park Local Other or Unknown | Town or city | 4 | Open |
| Trail Easement Local Park | County | 2 | Open |
| Elizabeth Avenue Park Local Other or Unknown | Town or city | 1 | Open |
Things to do
10 places to go in Raritan
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Public pools in Raritan
Frelinghuysen Park Pool
DirectionsPlaygrounds in Raritan
8 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Dog parks in Raritan
Raritan Dog Park
DirectionsTrails & water
1 named trail
Named trails
Open to bikes · 0.6 miUnpaved · 1.2 mi
Canal Trail0.7 mi
Biking & sports
0.6 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
0.6 mi
shoulders & shared lanes
Courts & fields
8Baseball
7Tennis
6Basketball
1Beach volleyball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →4 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service). The map also marks 3 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.
When to get out
The best walking months in Raritan: 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 | 63 | 73 | 82 | 87 | 85 | 78 | 66 | 55 | 45 |
| Rain (in) | 3.5 | 2.8 | 4.1 | 3.8 | 4.2 | 4.5 | 5.1 | 4.6 | 4.4 | 4.4 | 3.3 | 4.3 |
February is the driest month (2.8 in) and July the warmest (highs of 87 °F). 5.1 inches fall in July, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 87 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Raritan →
Next door
Raritan and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Hillsborough Township45 miBridgewater Township40 miBradley Gardens2.0 miRaritan1.6 miSomerville0.8 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Raritan | 6% | 0.8 | 9 | 99%+ | A− |
| Bridgewater Township | 15% | 1.2 | 67 | 99% | A+ |
| Hillsborough Township | 32% | 0.8 | 182 | 98% | A+ |
| Bradley Gardens | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Somerville | 7% | 0.3 | 10 | 99%+ | A− |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Raritan
Where can I hike in Raritan?
The longest trail networks: Duke Island Park, 0.8 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Raritan is conserved land?
6% 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 Raritan’s trails?
Duke Island Park and Basilone Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Raritan?
0.6 miles of bike routes are on the map: 0.6 of shoulders and shared lanes.
Is there public land near Raritan?
39,714 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Raritan or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 73 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Raritan have?
Ahead of 81% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #269 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 Raritan 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 →