Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge
Managed by United States Fish and Wildlife Service
88 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
Photo: SurFeRGiRL30 · CC BY 2.0AOutdoors
Outdoors in Seaside Heights
28% of Seaside Heights’ 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. 1.7 miles of mapped trail cross Seaside Heights, 2.8 per square mile of land. 28% of Seaside Heights’ land is conserved, about 119 acres.
Ahead of 94% of U.S. towns · #127 of 468 in New Jersey. What drives it
Conserved land
28%
119 acres · of 0.6 sq mi of land
Trails
1.7 mi
2.8 per sq mi of land
Park land
20 ac
8.0 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
99%+
of residents within ½ mile
What kind of outdoors town is Seaside Heights?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Seaside Heights have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Seaside Heights is ahead of 94% of U.S. towns, #127 of 468 in New Jersey. Trail miles hold the grade up; park acres per resident pull it down.
A
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Seaside Heights’ overall grade.
Conserved land28% of the land · typical NJ town 11% · U.S. 4%ATrails2.8 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (2 mi) · NJ 0.7 · U.S. 0.4A+Park land8.0 acres of park per 1,000 residents (20 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 94%
LessMore
New Jersey towns of 2,500+ (468)Ahead of 73%
New Jersey towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 11%; the U.S., 4%), so Seaside Heights’ 28% is ahead of 83% of New Jersey towns, while its trails per square mile lead 95% of them.
Water is 17% of Seaside Heights’ area (0 of 1 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 25%.
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
Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Who protects it
119 conserved acres
28% of Seaside Heights’ land. Water is left out: Seaside Heights has 0.6 square miles of land and 0.1 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Seaside Heights’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service176 ac
Town or city48 ac
Not recorded1 ac
National Wildlife Refuge · 176 acLocal Recreation Area · 28 acLocal Park · 21 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge National Wildlife Refuge | U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | 176 | Restricted |
| Beach Access Local Park | Town or city | 19 | Open |
| Seaside Heights Borough Beach or Boardwalk Local Recreation Area | Town or city | 11 | Open |
| Casino Pier Local Recreation Area | Town or city | 9 | Open |
| Bay Front Piers and Park Local Recreation Area | Town or city | 5 | Open |
| Community Center Local Park | Not recorded | 2 | Open |
| Carteret Avenue Ball Field Local Recreation Area | Town or city | 2 | Open |
| Sheridan Avenue Park Local Park | Town or city | 1 | Open |
| Beachfront Local Recreation Area | Town or city | 1 | Open |
Things to do
4 places to go in Seaside Heights
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Beaches in Seaside Heights
Sunset Beach
DirectionsPlus 1 beach without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Playgrounds in Seaside Heights
2 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Trails & water
1 named trail
Named trails
Unpaved · 1.4 mi
Seaside Heights Boardwalk0.8 mi
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
2Tennis
2Basketball
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).
Seaside Heights CarouselStructure · listed 2026
About itWhen to get out
The best walking months in Seaside Heights: April to July
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 | 44 | 50 | 60 | 70 | 79 | 85 | 83 | 77 | 66 | 55 | 47 |
| Rain (in) | 3.8 | 3.0 | 4.5 | 3.7 | 3.7 | 3.9 | 4.5 | 4.6 | 4.1 | 4.1 | 3.3 | 4.6 |
February is the driest month (3.0 in) and July the warmest (highs of 85 °F). 4.6 inches fall in August, the wettest month. The climate in Seaside Heights →
Next door
Seaside Heights 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seaside Heights | 28% | 2.8 | 8 | 99%+ | A |
| Dover Beaches South | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Toms River Township | 9% | 0.8 | 31 | 77% | A− |
| Berkeley Township | 47% | 1.6 | 268 | 86% | A+ |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Seaside Heights
How much of Seaside Heights 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 Seaside Heights’ trails?
Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge and Carteret Ave Ball Field don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Seaside Heights?
18,065 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Seaside Heights or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 20 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Seaside Heights have?
Ahead of 94% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #127 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 Seaside Heights 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 →