Sandy Hook [Gateway National Recreation Area]
Directions
Take the Garden State Parkway to Exit 117, and continue on NJ 36 East for 13.5 miles, following signs to the Gateway National Recreation Area. GPS coordinates for Visitor Center parking: 40.426705, -73.985282
Public transportation is possible by bus, train, or ferry.
Bus Directions
Public transportation is possible by bus, train, or ferry.
Train Directions
Public transportation is possible by bus, train, or ferry.
Park Overview
With all the beach-goers summer weekends can be busy. Hikers will find trails, a multi-use pathway, and ocean beaches open for walking.
Trail Overview
The beaches attract hordes of sunbathers during the summer. However, the off-season visitor can use those same beaches for flying kites, walking, and fishing. During the spring and summer shorebird nesting season some areas are closed.
A 5.5-mile-long paved multi-use trail, open to hikers, joggers, and bicyclists, extends from the tolls booths at the southern end of the park to Fort Hancock on the northern end, running between the main park road and the ocean for most of the way.
The Spermaceti Cove Visitor Center offers ranger-led historical and natural interpretive programs. From this site the one-mile Old Dune Trail meanders north through heather and bayberry to a portion of the Holly Forest.
The Fisherman's Trail starts at the Area K lot, at the northern end of the park, and leads 1.5 miles to the tip of Sandy Hook at the ocean shore. An observation deck, one of four in the park, reached at 0.5 mile, offers a view of the Manhattan skyline.
Use the Web Map link on this site to view a brochure and trail map.
Park Description
Sandy Hook is a unit of Gateway National Recreation Area, created by Congress in 1972 to provide parkland around New York Harbor - the gateway through which millions of immigrants entered the New World. The park includes six miles of ocean beaches, the waters of Sandy Hook Bay, salt marshes, hiking trails, shorebird habitat, historic Fort Hancock, and the Sandy Hook Lighthouse [the oldest in the United States].
There is a parking fee for beach access parking lots from Memorial Day to Labor Day. The only free parking areas are the Visitor Center, Horseshoe Cove (both lots), Guardian Park, and Fort Hancock.
The New Jersey Audubon Society operates the Sandy Hook Bird Observatory in one of New Jersey's best year-around birding locations.
Pets are allowed only on leashes, with additional restrictions at some times and places. Click here to learn more.