1
Hartshorne Woods Park
Nature preserve
44 acres0.6 mi of trail
Lighthouse Link
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo Museum Parking
Outdoors · Highlands
Highlands, NJ parks, trails & bike paths
About 3.5% of Highlands is conserved land, roughly 31 acres. There are about 1.1 miles of mapped trails, and the biggest networks are in Hartshorne Woods Park (0.6 mi).
Conserved land, trails, parks and bike routes in Highlands, measured from OpenStreetMap and USGS data.
At a glance
Highlands outdoors
Conserved land
3.5%
31 of 882 acres
Trails
1.1 mi
0.8 mi per sq mi
Parks & preserves
2
7 conserved acres per 1,000 residents
Bike routes
1.2 mi
0.5 mi lanes · 0.7 mi off-road paths
Conserved land is a share of the whole town area. Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
Map
Conserved land, trails & bike routes
Tap a number or a place below to zoom in© OpenStreetMap contributors · USGS PAD-US
Places to walk
Parks & preserves with trails
Ranked by mapped trail miles. Directions go to the nearest marked trailhead or public parking.
2
Veterans Memorial Park
Park
2 acres0.2 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo the parking lot
Things to do
Beaches, playgrounds, falls & more
Pick a kind of place for the list, directions, or pins on the map above.
Beaches in Highlands
Gravelly Point Beach
Unnamed beach
Unnamed beach
Unnamed beach
Unnamed beach
Unnamed beach
Unnamed beach
Trails
Named trails
Unpaved 0.6 mi
- Lighthouse Link0.4 mi
Who protects the land
31 conserved acres
Who manages it, from PAD-US. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Biking & sports
Bike routes, courts & fields
- Painted or protected bike lanes0.5 mi
- Off-road bike paths0.7 mi
- Shoulders & shared lanes0.0 mi
Courts & fields
- Baseball3
- Tennis3
- Basketball2
- Skate park1
Counts include school and college facilities, which aren't always open to the public.
Public lands
The biggest protected places in Highlands
From USGS PAD-US: who manages each one and whether visitors are welcome.
Local Other or Unknown 11 acLocal Conservation Area 10 acState Historic or Cultural Area 4 acLocal Park 1 acLocal Recreation Area 1 ac
| Place | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grand TourLocal Conservation Area | Town or city | 8 | Open |
| Hartshorne WoodsLocal Other or Unknown | County | 6 | Open |
| Twin Lights Lighthouse Historic SiteState Historic or Cultural Area | State natural resources | 4 | Open |
| Snug Harbor ParkLocal Other or Unknown | Town or city | 2 | Open |
| Veterans Memorial ParkLocal Other or Unknown | Town or city | 2 | Open |
| Highlands Borough Conservation AreaLocal Conservation Area | Town or city | 2 | Open |
| Highlands Borough UnknownLocal Other or Unknown | Town or city | 1 | Open |
| Waterwitch BeachLocal Recreation Area | Town or city | 1 | Open |
| Navasink ParkLocal Park | Town or city | 1 | Open |
| Veterans ParkLocal Park | Town or city | 1 | Open |
History
Historic places to visit
Navesink Light StationPlaque
Twin Lights Mystery CannonCannon
North TowerLighthouse · 1862
Power HouseLighthouse · 1898
South TowerLighthouse · 1862
Twin Lights State Historic SiteLighthouse · 1862
Nearby
Highlands and its neighbors
Towns whose outdoors data has been built so far.
| Town | Conserved | Trails | Parks & preserves |
|---|---|---|---|
| Highlands | 3.5% | 1.1 mi | 2 |
| Atlantic Highlands | 2% | 0.5 mi | 1 |
| Middletown | 15.8% | 55.3 mi | 28 |
Trail talk
Conditions & tips from neighbors
No recent posts about Highlands's trails yet. Muddy, icy, a bridge out, where to park: a quick post helps the next person.
Sources: trails, parks, preserves, courts and bike lanes © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), map data as of 2026-09-28. Conserved land: USGS Gap Analysis Project, Protected Areas Database of the United States (PAD-US). Measured against the Census town boundary.
How we measure
"Trails" are OpenStreetMap paths, bridleways, public tracks and unpaved footways, plus footways inside a park or preserve or on a named trail route. Sidewalks are left out. Areas are counted on a 20-meter grid, so overlapping parcels count once. "Conserved" includes conservation easements, which protect land from development but are usually private property. Trailheads are the nearest marked trailhead, public parking lot or information board within about 150 meters of a preserve. Dog rules come from OpenStreetMap when someone has tagged them; otherwise we show what's typical for the land manager, or say the rules aren't recorded.