Pinelands National Reserve
National Reserve · New Lisbon, New Jersey
A million and a hundred thousand acres of pine forest, cedar swamp and tea-coloured water covering about a fifth of New Jersey — THE FIRST NATIONAL RESERVE EVER CREATED IN THE UNITED STATES, designated by Congress in 1978, and a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. It sits between Philadelphia and the shore in the most densely populated state in the country, which is the whole point: seventeen trillion gallons of some of the purest water in the eastern United States lie under it in the Kirkwood-Cohansey aquifer. Locals call it the Pine Barrens, and it is where the Jersey Devil is supposed to live.
15 Springfield Road, New Lisbon, New Jersey, 08064, United States
FREE and open across most of the reserve, which is a patchwork of state forest, wildlife management areas, county and private land rather than a gated park — rules, fees and hours vary by unit. State forests charge a modest day-use fee at some areas in season; camping and Batona Trail shelters are reserved through the New Jersey State Park Service and book well ahead for summer weekends. Batsto Village keeps its own hours with a small seasonal charge. HUNTING IS PERMITTED ACROSS MUCH OF THE RESERVE — check the state calendar and wear blaze orange autumn through winter.
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