Wharton State Forest
Subnational Park · Hammonton, New Jersey
A hundred and twenty-two thousand acres of pine, cedar swamp and tea-coloured water in the heart of the Pinelands — THE LARGEST SINGLE TRACT IN THE NEW JERSEY STATE PARK SYSTEM, and it is bigger than several national parks. It holds Batsto Village, the headwaters of the Mullica and Batsto rivers, the best canoeing in the state, and roughly five hundred miles of sand road. THOSE SAND ROADS ARE THE REASON THIS ROW EXISTS SEPARATELY: they strand ordinary vehicles constantly, the state has closed and gated sections because of damage from off-road driving, and people get seriously lost out here every year.
4110 Nesco Road, Hammonton, New Jersey, 08037, United States
FREE, with free parking at most points and no permit — open dawn to dusk year round. A seasonal day-use fee applies at Atsion on summer weekends and holidays, where lake swimming is lifeguarded in season only. Camping and the Atsion cabins are reserved online through the New Jersey State Park Service and book months ahead. THE SAND ROADS STRAND ORDINARY VEHICLES ROUTINELY and SECTIONS ARE GATED AND CLOSED after damage from off-road driving — the closures have changed repeatedly, so check before relying on any route. NAVIGATION IS THE REAL HAZARD: 500 miles of identical sand road, no landmarks and patchy signal, and people get lost here every year. HUNTING IS PERMITTED across much of the forest — wear blaze orange autumn through winter.
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