Richard A. Zachariae Recreation Center
Park
4 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
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 4.0BOutdoors
Outdoors in Surf City
Virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park in Surf City
Virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park. 0.6 miles of mapped trail cross Surf City, 0.8 per square mile of land. 4 acres are parks and preserves, 3.6 per 1,000 residents.
Ahead of 58% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
1%
4 acres · of 0.7 sq mi of land
Trails
0.6 mi
0.8 per sq mi of land
Park land
4 ac
3.6 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
99%+
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
3.4 mi
What kind of outdoors town is Surf City?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Surf City have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Surf City is ahead of 58% of U.S. towns. The share of residents near a park holds the grade up; park acres per resident pull it down.
B
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Surf City’s overall grade.
Conserved land1% of the land · typical NJ town 11% · U.S. 4%CTrails0.8 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (1 mi) · NJ 0.7 · U.S. 0.4A−Park land3.6 acres of park per 1,000 residents (4 acres) · NJ 25 · U.S. 13CParks 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 58%
LessMore
New Jersey towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 11%; the U.S., 4%), so Surf City’s 1% is ahead of 2% of New Jersey towns, while its trails per square mile lead 57% of them.
Water is 44% of Surf City’s area (1 of 1 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read under 1%.
NoteFew parks or trails are mapped in Surf City. 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
Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Who protects it
4 conserved acres
1% of Surf City’s land. Water is left out: Surf City has 0.7 square miles of land and 0.6 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Surf City’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Town or city3 ac
Local Park · 3 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Recreation Center Local Park | Town or city | 3 | Open |
Things to do
2 places to go in Surf City
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Swimming spots in Surf City
1 swimming spot without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Boat launches in Surf City
1 boat launch without a name on the map.
Biking & sports
3.4 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
3.4 mi
shoulders & shared lanes
Courts & fields
2Tennis
1Basketball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Surf City: 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) | 9.7 | 10.6 | 11.8 | 13.2 | 14.3 | 15.0 | 14.7 | 13.7 | 12.4 | 11.1 | 9.9 | 9.4 |
| High (°F) | 42 | 44 | 50 | 60 | 69 | 79 | 84 | 83 | 77 | 66 | 56 | 47 |
| Rain (in) | 3.5 | 3.1 | 4.5 | 3.5 | 3.3 | 3.7 | 4.5 | 4.4 | 3.8 | 3.9 | 3.1 | 4.3 |
February is the driest month (3.1 in) and July the warmest (highs of 84 °F). 4.5 inches fall in July, the wettest month. The climate in Surf City →
Next door
Surf City 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Surf City | 1% | 0.8 | 4 | 99%+ | B |
| Stafford Township | 62% | 1.4 | 347 | 92% | A+ |
| Long Beach Township | 38% | 0.6 | 17 | 98% | A |
| Ship Bottom | 3% | 2.2 | 16 | 99%+ | A |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Surf City
How much of Surf City 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 Surf City’s trails?
Richard A. Zachariae Recreation Center doesn’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Surf City?
3.4 miles of bike routes are on the map: 3.4 of shoulders and shared lanes.
Is there public land near Surf City?
22,007 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Surf City or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 4 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Surf City have?
Ahead of 58% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade. 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 Surf City 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 →