Sandy Hook and Fort Hancock
National Recreation Area · Highlands, New Jersey
A six-mile barrier spit at the northern end of the Jersey Shore, run by the National Park Service as the New Jersey unit of Gateway National Recreation Area, with the Manhattan skyline on the horizon across the bay. It holds SANDY HOOK LIGHTHOUSE, BUILT IN 1764 AND THE OLDEST ORIGINAL LIGHTHOUSE TOWER STILL STANDING AND OPERATING IN THE UNITED STATES — it was lit eleven years before the Revolution and the British held it through the war. Behind it is Fort Hancock, an abandoned army post of officers' houses, gun batteries and a Cold War Nike missile radar site, and seven miles of ocean beach including New Jersey's only official nude beach.
128 South Hartshorne Drive, Highlands, New Jersey, 07732, United States
A National Park Service unit, open daily year round from dawn until dusk with the visitor centre and museums keeping shorter daytime hours. FREE OFF SEASON; a per-vehicle beach parking fee applies in summer and the America the Beautiful pass is accepted. PARKING FILLS AND THE ENTRANCE ROAD CLOSES ON HOT SUMMER WEEKENDS, sometimes before 11:00, after which cars are turned away — arrive before 9:00 or take the seasonal fast ferry from Manhattan. Lifeguards on designated beaches only, roughly late June to Labor Day. Plover nesting closes sections of beach each spring. Fort Hancock is largely unrestored and fenced areas must not be entered.
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