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A. Paul King County Park
2 West Bay Avenue, Stafford Township (Manahawkin)
This park lies nestled in the heart of Stafford Township on
lovely Manahawkin Lake. It offers a variety of recreation
possibilities, a brightly-colored children’s playground and a
large picnic area shaded by a stand of pines.
Parks & Recreation Administrative Offices
1198 Bandon Road, Toms River
732-506-9090
This beautiful site on the Silver Bay is the home of the
Ocean County Parks & Recreation Administrative Offices,
where numerous activities sponsored by the Department
are planned and supervised under the guidance of Parks
& Recreation Chairman, Freeholder John C. Bartlett, Jr.
These activities include recreational and educational
programs, a summer concert series, environmental
programs, sports programs, arts and crafts classes and
trips to a variety of events and locales. Additionally, many
programs and classes for adults and children are held in
the spacious and fully accessible program room. During
summer months, the Ocean County Parks boat, the “Bay
Cruiser,” is docked on site for ecological tours of the Silver
and Barnegat Bay area.
Riverfront Landing County Park
71 East Water Street, Toms River
732-506-9090
This “pocket” park is in a beautiful and tranquil
environment on the Toms River in downtown Toms River.
For those employed in and around the town, a picnic at
this meticulously manicured park overlooking the river is a
great lunchtime alternative.
E. B. Leone County Conservation Area
Hooper Avenue & South Shore Drive, Toms River
These pristine wetlands on the northern shore of Silver Bay
can be visited via the Parks & Recreation Department’s
pontoon boat tours.
Stanley H. “Tip” Seaman County Park
120 Lakeside Drive (Route 9), Tuckerton
609-296-5606
“Tip” Seaman County Park on the shores of Pohatcong
Lake is probably best-known as the site of the Ocean
County Decoy and Gunning Show. This two-day event
draws exhibitors and visitors from the entire eastern
seaboard and beyond and has been named as one of the
top 100 events in North America. “Tip” was also the home
of the first Barnegat Bay Decoy Museum, and the recently
constructed and expanded museum is just across Route 9
at the site of the Tuckerton Seaport.
Wells Mills County Park
905 Wells Mills Road (Route 532), Waretown
609-971-3085
Wells Mills is the largest park in the Ocean County Parks system with
over 900 acres of pine and oak forest within southern New Jersey’s
environmental marvel, the Pine Barrens. Miles of hiking trails with
varying degrees of difficulty can be found here, including a “VIP”
(Visually Impaired Persons) Trail. Beautiful Wells Mills Lake has trails
meandering around it, and canoe rentals are available at a nominal
cost. The three-story Nature Center offers a great display floor, a library,
and Elizabeth Meirs Morgan Observation Deck on the third floor,
dedicated in honor of a very active local naturalist and conservationist.
Environmental programs and classes are held regularly at Wells Mills,
with experienced naturalists available to answer questions about the
ecology of this area. The annual “Pine Barrens Jamboree,” a day filled
with music, piney vittles and hand-made crafts, is held at Wells Mills
each October.
