Barnegat Lighthouse State Park is a lovely 32-acre park on Long Beach Island's northern edge, preserving the historic lighthouse of the same name, which was once known as one of the most important navigational aids for ships entering New York Harbor. The picturesque lighthouse was originally lit in 1859 and operated until 1927. In 2009, it was relit by the Friends of Barnegat Lighthouse nonprofit organization.

Visitors can scale the lighthouse's 217 steps daily throughout the summer months for stunning views of Long Beach Island, Island Beach, and Barnegat Bay. For visitors looking to avoid the trek, the park's adjacent Interpretive Center showcases live image transmissions of panoramas at the top. Barnegat Lighthouse State Park offers ocean-side and inland trails where you will gaze out at a beautiful ocean view.

The 31.8-acre park is also popular for nature observation, including a wide variety of birds during spring and fall migrations. Nesting birds are protected, and birds such as piping plovers, least terns, black skimmers, and others can be observed and photographed. Visitors can also enjoy their picnicking facilities. Near the the Barnegat Bay there there is a paved area with numerous picnic tables and barbeque grilles. Two picnic shelters are also available for public use.

• Tripadvisor Rating: 4.5/5
• Address: 208 Broadway, Barnegat Light, NJ 08006
• Opening Hours: Daily 8:00 AM - 8:00 PM
• Admission: $3 for 12 and older, $1 for 6 - 11, free for 5 and under to climb lighthouse
• Website: https://www.nj.gov/dep/parksandforests/parks/barnegatlighthousestatepark.html
  

Grounds for Sculpture is one of New Jersey's most beautiful outdoor sculpture parks, located on 42 acres of former New Jersey State Fairgrounds land in Hamilton. The nonprofit park, founded in 1992 by John Seward Johnson II, features an ever-changing collection of contemporary art sculptures, as well as a permanent collection of over 270 large-scale works by American and international artists.

Significant works by artist Seward Johnson are on display, including his Forever Marilyn sculpture of Marilyn Monroe and his Unconditional Surrender, which recreated the iconic V-J Day Times Square photograph. Six indoor galleries are also on display, along with special events such as art classes, lectures, and moonlight garden tours throughout the year.

Grounds For Sculpture is also a garden and arboretum, with paved terraces, pergolas, and courtyards juxtaposed with natural woodlands, ponds, and bamboo groves. The Grounds have over 100 species and cultivars, as well as over 2,000 trees, with many rare and unusual finds.

Visitors can learn about contemporary sculpture through a variety of educational programs, including workshops for adults and children, artist residencies and lectures, tours for adults, schoolchildren, and toddlers, and touch tours for the blind. In addition, the park hosts a variety of family events, music and dance performances, shopping at the Museum Shop, and dining, including New Jersey's premier dining destination, Rat's Restaurant.

• Tripadvisor Rating: 5.0/5
• Address: 80 Sculptors Way, Hamilton Township, NJ 08619
  
• Opening Hours: Mon - Thu 10:00 AM - 6:00 PM, Fri - Sun 10:00 AM - 9:00 PM
• Admission: $15 for adults / $12 for seniors 65+ / $10 for students 6-17 with ID / free for members and children 5 and under.
• Website: https://www.groundsforsculpture.org/
  

Point Pleasant Beach has been named as one of New Jersey's best beaches by the New Jersey Marine Science Consortium's 2008 Top 10 Beaches Contest. The family-friendly beach, which is located in Ocean County, is known for its expansive pristine beachfront stretches and scenic mile-long boardwalk.

The expansive beach is kept crystal clean and the Boardwalk is great for kids of any age with dozens of rides along with games of chance, some of the most competitive miniature golf at the beach and Jenkinson’s Aquarium.

All of the required indulgences are offered along the mile-long Boardwalk, including waffles and ice cream, sausage and peppers, popcorn and cotton candy. There are numerous other dining opportunities, from on-the-go to full-service. Off the Boardwalk, there’s year-round entertainment and dining centered along Arnold Ave., with choices including Uncle Vinnie’s Comedy Club.

The beach is also known as an antiquer's paradise, home to delightful antique stores like the Point Pavilion Antique Center. Many to-go and full-service restaurants line the boardwalk, including the renowned Europa South restaurant, which serves up delicious Portuguese cuisine options.

• Tripadvisor Rating: 4.0/5
• Address: 18 Trenton Ave, Point Pleasant Beach, NJ 08742
• Opening Hours: Daily
• Admission: Free
• Website: https://www.pointpleasantbeach.com/

Wharton State Forest is New Jersey's largest state forest, spanning more than 122,000 acres in Hammonton's Pinelands area. The forest is named after 19th-century landowner Joseph Wharton, who is best known for proposing to tap the Pine Barrens' groundwater for drinking water for the city of Philadelphia.

Wharton State Forest is perfect for those families who love the outdoors, love a bit of adventure, and love being active! Visitors can explore the former Batsto Village bog iron and glassmaking center, which operated between 1766 and 1867. Lovely hiking trails showcase native wildlife like bald eagles, ospreys, turkeys, river otters, and foxes, while miles of unpaved roads offer opportunities for horseback riding and mountain biking. Year-round opportunities for outdoor recreation range from fishing, hunting, boating, and swimming at Atsion Lake to cross-country skiing throughout the winter months. Other attractions include a museum shop, an interpretive center, and day-use picnic sites.

There's also a guarded beach inside for anyone who wants to take a quick swim break while hiking through the forest. Also, if you visit during blueberry season, you will notice low-rise, heavy blueberry bushes strategically placed along the trails.

• Tripadvisor Rating: 4.0/5
• Address: 31 Batsto Rd, Hammonton, NJ 08037
  
• Opening Hours: Mon - Fri 8:00 AM - 8:00 PM, Sat - Sun 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
• Admission: Free
  
• Website: https://nj.gov/dep/parksandforests/parks/whartonstateforest.html

Liberty State Park was established in 1976 to commemorate the country's bicentennial. It spans over 1,200 acres on the Hudson River Waterfront, offering spectacular views of Manhattan and Downtown Jersey City.

The park offers a variety of amenities and attractions in addition to recreational activities such as grilling, fishing, hiking, biking, boating, and picnicking. You'll find two fantastic restaurants, Maritime Parc and The Liberty House, as well as a brand new beer garden, Baozi Brew. Both Maritime Parc and The Liberty House offer incredible food and views; visit in the evening for a spectacular sunset or either for an incredible brunch.

On Sundays and Tuesdays during the summer, the park hosts a free summer concert series, and it also offers kayak eco-tours and guided Segway tours. It also has a 36-acre nature preserve, which includes one of the few remaining tidal salt marshes on the Hudson River estuary. This picturesque urban park is a haven in the midst of a bustling metropolis. Visit Liberty State Park as soon as possible if only for the dining.

• Tripadvisor Rating: 4.5/5
• Address: 1 Audrey Zapp Dr, Jersey City, NJ 07305
  
• Opening Hours: Daily 6:00 AM - 10:00 PM
• Admission: Free
  
• Website: https://nj.gov/dep/parksandforests/parks/libertystatepark.html

Holland Ridge Farms, one of the best day trips from New Jersey, is the most beautiful location for great photos, videos, and content with a stunning backdrop. This flower farm is only an hour's drive from Philadelphia. Holland Ridge is the largest U-Pick tulip farm in the United States, planting over 8 million tulips each year. While the tulip season has ended, Holland Ridge doesn't just plant tulip bulbs. As soon as the fields are cleared, the farm begins its fall harvest: sunflowers. In the fall, there are sunflowers as far as the eye can see, making the trip all the more enjoyable.

A visit here is incredibly highly delightful. Children run laughing through fields of flowers. Families pose knee-deep in blooms to get that perfect holiday card photo. Meanwhile, millions of candy-colored tulips or sunflowers sway in the breeze while hawks soar overhead. It is a sheer wonder, and the farm brings happiness, joy, and vivid color to every visitor. It is why thousands of people make the pilgrimage to Holland Ridge each year — and that number is only getting bigger.

The farm is the perfect background for holiday shoots, family memories, and social media influencers. It even encourages it, with props and sets scattered around the farm inviting people to take photos. You can sit inside a giant clog, snack on Dutch pancakes, or hop a ride on their recently added tractor service. But a visit doesn’t have to be just about the flowers. There’s a great local bakery stocked with treats, plenty of food trucks for the hungry kids, and even farm animals for the kids to enjoy.

• Tripadvisor Rating: 4.0/5
• Address: 86 Rues Rd, Cream Ridge, NJ 08514
  
• Opening Hours: Daily 9:00 AM - 6:00 PM
• Admission: $13 for ages 3 and up. Free for ages 2 and younger
  
• Website: https://www.hollandridgefarms.com/

Cheesequake State Park is a beautiful 1,610-acre state park located within the city of Old Bridge that was established in 1937. The geographical location of Cheesequake State Park makes it unique. It is not only located in the middle of the urban north and the suburban south, but it is also in a transitional zone between two different ecosystems.

Open fields, saltwater and freshwater marshes, an Atlantic white cedar swamp, pine barrens habitats and a northeastern hardwood forest await you. Visitors can fish for trout, catfish, sunfish, and largemouth bass on the six-acre Hooks Creek Lake, which also has crabbing opportunities. Boating, canoeing, and swimming are permitted throughout the summer, with lifeguards on duty between Memorial Day and Labor Day.

Five marked hiking and mountain biking trails meander through the region's forest and marshland areas, while an interpretive center offers exhibits on the region's unique ecology. Throughout the winter months, visitors can enjoy opportunities for cross-country skiing, sledding, and snowshoeing. Visit and make your own park memories by stopping in the interpretive center, reserving a group picnic site or exploring nine miles of trails.

• Tripadvisor Rating: 4.0/5
• Address: 300 Gordon Rd, Matawan, NJ 07747
• Opening Hours: Daily 8:00 AM - 8:00 PM
  
• Admission: Weekdays $5.00, Weekends $10.00
• Website: https://nj.gov/dep/parksandforests/parks/cheesequakestatepark.html

Adventure Aquarium is just a few minutes from downtown Philadelphia on the Camden Waterfront and features one-of-a-kind exhibits with more than 8,500 aquatic species throughout two million gallons of water. Adventure Aquarium is home to the largest collection of sharks on the East Coast, including the only Great Hammerhead Shark as well as Silky Sharks on exhibit in the United States, and the only aquarium in the world to exhibit hippos.

Other popular favorite exhibits include Little Blue Beach, home to some of the cutest and smallest penguins in the world; Sea Turtle Cove, which shines a light on various endangered species of sea turtles; Pirates Passage, showcasing aquatic animals from all over that warm-water region; and the pulse-pounding Shark Bridge, suspended just inches above the sharks in Shark Realm. Come face-to-face with penguins, turtles, stingrays, and so much more!

Celebrations at Adventure Aquarium may include a five-hour package inclusive of an open bar, a cocktail hour, dinner service, a champagne toast, house linens, complimentary parking, and event staff. Dinners are served as either three-course plated meals or as buffets. Dietary restrictions are accounted for and vegetarian options are made available to guests. Setup and teardown services are provided and coordinated by the aquarium's Catering Sales Manager. This is included in the presented five-hour package.

• Tripadvisor Rating: 4.0/5
• Address: 1 Riverside Dr, Camden, NJ 08103
• Opening Hours: Mon - Fri 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM, Sat - Sun 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
• Admission: Adult. (13 - 64). $26.99 - $44.99 ; Child. (2 - 12). $18.99 - $34.99 ; Senior. (65 +). $24.99 - $42.99.
  
• Website: https://www.adventureaquarium.com/

The brisk blue waters of Round Valley Reservoir attract swimmers, boaters, fishermen, picnickers and campers to its scenic shore. The reservoir covers about 2,350 acres and is approximately 180 feet deep, the second deepest lake in New Jersey. It has a water capacity of 55 billion gallons. The reservoir is stocked with lake trout. The Round Valley Reservoir swimming area was created by the construction of an earth dam across a narrow waterway on the west side of the reservoir, separating it from the main part of the reservoir.

Round Valley offers wilderness camping, with campsites on the reservoir's eastern side accessible only by hiking or boating. Watching the boats on the water enhances the view while hiking along the reservoir. The campers' parking lot is three miles away from the nearest site, reachable by a steep and rugged trail. Cross-country skiers and sledding enthusiasts congregate at Round Valley in the winter months.

For the nature lover, kayaking is particularly enjoyable in the early summer when waterfowl nest along the shoreline. Kayaking around Round Valley can take four to six hours, depending on how often one pauses to enjoy the wildlife and scenery. The variety of stocked species lends itself to several types of the sportsman. Fly-fishing for brown and rainbow trout from the shore, drop fishing from boats in the deepest areas for lake trout, or spinning in the grass beds off shore for bass and pickerel are all productive.

• Tripadvisor Rating: 4.0/5
• Address: 1220 Lebanon-Stanton RoadLebanon, NJ 08833-3115
  
• Opening Hours: Daily
• Admission: Free
  
• Website: https://nj.gov/dep/parksandforests/parks/roundvalleyrecreationarea.html

One of the area’s most popular attractions is Morey’s Piers in Wildwood. The quintessential seaside amusement and water park provides visitors and their families with a full day’s worth of entertainment. It’s easy to enjoy summer days at the Jersey Shore at Morey’s Piers and Beachfront Water Parks with their thrilling rides and wild water slides.

Located on the Wildwood’s Boardwalk, Morey’s had been a family-owned business since 1969. For amusement park rides there are three separate piers – Surfside Amusement Pier, Mariner’s Amusement Pier, and the Adventure Amusement Pier. And for those looking to cool off in the summer, Morey’s also features two water parks – the Ocean Oasis Water Park & Beach Club and the Raging Waters Water Park.

What makes Morey’s Pier great for the entire family to enjoy is the variety of rides. There are kiddie rides, family rides, thrill rides, and extreme thrill rides like the Skycoaster and Skyscraper for those who need a little something extra.

After a long day at Morey’s Piers and water parks, bring the family back to the Ala Kai Motel in Wildwood Crest. This motel is located just steps from the beach and offers affordable accommodations for you and your family. Guests enjoy daily housekeeping, comfortable bedding, modern amenities, and an excellent location along the Jersey Shore.

• Tripadvisor Rating: 4.5/5
• Address: 3501 Boardwalk, Wildwood, NJ 08260
  
• Opening Hours: Daily 9:00 AM - 12:00 AM (Next day)
• Admission: Morning Session $35.99, Afternoon Session $39.99, All Day Session $49.99
  
• Website: https://www.moreyspiers.com/