New Jersey

More wooded than its reputation, New Jersey offers Atlantic beaches and boardwalks, paddling the Pine Barrens, hiking the Appalachian Trail and Delaware Water Gap, and exceptional birding. The Pine Barrens, the Delaware Water Gap, Cape May, and the Jersey Shore beaches anchor it.

Summer is prime for the Shore; fall brings spectacular bird migration at Cape May and color in the north. Spring offers wildflowers and migrating birds; the Pine Barrens are pleasant much of the year.

Black bears in the northwest, white-tailed deer, and — at Cape May — one of the greatest concentrations of migrating raptors, songbirds, and monarch butterflies in North America.

The Pinelands National Reserve protects a globally unique pine-and-cedar ecosystem over the pristine Kirkwood-Cohansey aquifer, alongside Appalachian forest, salt marsh, and barrier beach.

New Jersey spans the Appalachian ridges and the glacially carved Delaware Water Gap in the northwest (1,803-ft High Point is the high point), the rolling Piedmont, and the flat coastal plain — including the sandy, acidic Pine Barrens and the barrier-island Shore.

The Lenape (Delaware) people lived here. A crossroads of the American Revolution, New Jersey was the 3rd state to ratify the Constitution, in 1787.

Jersey Shore beach and boardwalk culture, a strong birding tradition at Cape May, and Pine Barrens canoeing and folklore define the outdoors.

Protecting the Pinelands and its aquifer, conserving Cape May's critical migratory bird habitat, and preserving open space in the most densely populated state are key efforts.

Newark (EWR) and the Philadelphia and New York airports serve the state. The Shore, Pine Barrens, and Water Gap are all reached by car within a compact area.

Rip currents at the Shore, summer heat and storms, ticks (Lyme is common), and getting disoriented in the trackless Pine Barrens are the main concerns.

State parks charge a fee, and NJ Fish and Wildlife administers licenses; the Pinelands is a protected national reserve.

Carry a map in the trackless Pine Barrens, and heed Shore rip-current flags.

Visit Cape May during fall migration for spectacular birding, paddle the tea-colored rivers of the Pine Barrens, and hike the Delaware Water Gap. Hit the Shore beaches midweek to avoid crowds.

New Jersey borders New York, Pennsylvania, and Delaware, linking the Atlantic Shore, the Pine Barrens, and the Appalachian highlands.