I really like Colonial Park. It's large, beautifully maintained, and offers so much to do that I…read moremake a point of visiting whenever I'm in the area. Some of the park's attractions include: * Bocce Ball Courts * Delaware & Raritan (D&R) Canal State Park Trail Access * Dog Park * Fishing * Fitness Trail * Golf Course * Large Playground * Miniature Golf * Nature Trails * Paddle Boating (Duck Boats) * Picnic Pavilions * Rose Garden & Sensory and Fragrance Garden * Spray Park * Tennis & Pickleball Courts The park also connects directly to the Delaware & Raritan (D&R) Canal State Park Trail via a pedestrian and bicycle bridge over the canal. I've walked throughout the park and along the D&R Trail. Fitness stations are located along portions of the trail, and it's easy to create a scenic loop that passes the photogenic Stone Cottage and the spectacular Rose Garden area. The Splash Park is incredibly popular with families. On hot, sunny days, parking near the playground can be hard to find. So far, I've enjoyed the duck boats, miniature golf, fitness trail, nature trails, Rose Garden, and Splash Park. Next on my list are the bocce courts, which appear to be in excellent condition. If you're visiting the area, Colonial Park is a destination well worth your time.

Great park, lovely rosegarden and easy access to partially shaded Delaware/Raritan towpath for…read morewalking/hiking/bicycling

New Jersey has a lot of excellent hiking spots. It's understandable that most of them are in pretty…read morerural areas with tons of room to roam/explore. So when I found out there was a 5.7-mile hike in the immediate vicinity of Bridgewater/Somerville, I was pretty skeptical. This is a pretty chaotic section of the state, with a lot of major highways interconnecting and a mall and heinous traffic circle thrown in for good measure - it's not the first or 100th place I'd think of for a hike. That remains the case. You can't force the design of a hike, and this is a clear example of a situation where you should have had, say, a mile's worth of trails and left it at that. My chum and I came here on Saturday to take advantage of the unseasonably warm early December weather. It was mostly cloudy throughout the hike, but the temperature steadily rose and the sun was largely out by the end. It had been raining pretty steadily the prior day so we were expecting and encountered a lot of mud and some mild rock hopping, but nothing egregious. Both of us opted for running shoes over hiking/trail shoes; it was a LITTLE rockier than I expected and in hindsight I would have gone with the latter for better support, but I didn't suffer any consequences for the decision. Our trek started at the entrance/parking lot off of Newmans Road (spacious, easy to spot with a pretty clean port-a-potty; there were drops on the seat but that's people being animals and not a reflection on the park) following the red trail running roughly parallel to the Washington Valley Reservoir before crossing Chimney Rock Road and heading up and down the orange trail in a quasi loop that runs alongside the East Branch Reservoir before another brief foray on a road (this one Gilbride Rd) and then doing another loop on the yellow trail that goes up to the Chimney Rock Outlook before circling back to Gilbride, at which point you basically complete the prior orange loop and then head back on the other side of the Washington Valley Reservoir to the parking lot. If that sounds overly complicated, you're right. There are two huge issues that mar this hike for me. One is that whoever designed the trails/blazes for this place had no idea what they were doing. Literally every possible trail and offshoot is painted with a blaze, always the same color as the "main" trail. As such, it's incredibly difficult to follow an official hiking itinerary because every fork in the trail has two choices with the same color blaze. Incredibly foolish and short-sighted. We had to VERY carefully stop each time, look at the map in our book AND double-check the GPS/map on the AllTrails app (which I hate doing) just to make sure we were on the right path. There's no reason to put a blaze on literally any walkable route like that; no idea what they were thinking. The other problem is what I alluded to earlier - this is a populated area with minimal room to hike so you end up by definition having to cross and briefly walk alongside busy roads. Chimney Rock was incredibly busy midday on Saturday, and cars were whizzing by us the entire time (the first section was probably about two minutes long, while the second was five minutes - believe me, it felt longer). I'm stunned people don't get hit there, especially since there's not a lot of room off to the side for pedestrians. If you're at the point where you're brainstorming a hiking trail and you can't avoid having the hikers come into contact with moving vehicles, that's probably a clue to scrap the plans. The big selling point of this hike is Chimney Rock, which was apparently a lookout point for George Washington during the Revolutionary War. That's all well and good, but for the money they spent to put up a protective fence and pave the trail here, they couldn't be bothered to maintain the actual rock, which is covered by broken beer bottle glass. And I'm sure General Washington had a much prettier view back in the day than we did; we were treated to the gorgeous scenery of the Stavola Bound Brook Quarry - crushed stones as far as the eye can see! The best part of the hike by far was the last section on the northern side of the Washington Valley Reservoir, and this is the part I'd actually preserve for walking, etc. It definitely helped that the sun was out at this point, but there was a cute bridge and a lot of bird activity. My chum is an avid birdwatcher and will likely be returning to this part with her camera. We also encountered a fallen tree (picture attached) that was taken down by a beaver. Very cool sighting. Head over to Watchung Reservation if you're in the area and want to commune with nature. You may hear the sounds of Route 78 but at least you won't be crossing that highway as part of your hike.

The Washington Valley State Park parking lot is basically a hidden driveway with a small,…read moreinconspicuous sign that suddenly pops up out of nowhere after you've been driving for a while on Newmans Lane. Recommend using GPS to navigate lest you miss the entrance. The park is also accessible from Vosseller Avenue at Millers Lane, though Google Maps will default to Newmans Lane when you chart a route to "Washington Valley State Park". The Newmans Lane entrance seems to be popular with mountain bicyclists and dog walkers. The highlights of this park are the Washington Valley Reservoir and raptor watching in autumn. Otherwise, the trails are pretty low-key (boring even) which make for some relatively quiet walks, which are only interrupted occasionally by the sound of scurrying chipmunks and teenagers jumping into the reservoir in the summer. As another reviewer noted, some of the more remote parts of the trails are not thoroughly blazed, but you should be able find your way even without trail markers. Be sure to grab a park brochure from the wooden bulletin board at the trailhead if you need help navigating. The brochures are also great for swatting away gnats. The red trail has a lot of rocks/gravel and multiple changes in elevation, so you might want to wear shoes with sturdy soles and firm grip. The reservoir does not have a boat ramp but has various trails and rock formations for shoreline fishing (license required, of course). Random trivia: back in 2015, a convicted sex-offender was sighted here fishing before being arrested. With that being said, remember to curb your dog and be sure to leave before the park officially closes 1/2 an hour after sunset.

Phenomenal park with a good length of paved path that goes around a lake. This park hosts free…read moresummer concerts. Comes with a gazebo and plenty of trees to escape the sun

Nice little park with tennis courts, playgrounds and basketball courts and enough space to go for a…read morenice couple of laps of walking or running. It's kept very clean and well maintained by Middlesex county. There's some parking in the front and there's a giant parking lot in the back. They have a gazebo if you need to do wedding or photo shoot as well

There is a large, wood-and-tire playground with two big climbing structures, slides, swings, tire…read moreswings, bridges, tunnels with a soft mulch surface. There is no shade here and it gets hot mid-day. It is not obvious, but you can park right next to the playground by the bike racks. Next to the playground is a sand volleyball court. Further north there is a baseball field, and a paved walking trail around the park, where you can see a cannon, a gazebo, and the berms created for flood control (Bound Brook has had a hard time with hurricanes in the last several years). One of the largest American flags that you are likely to see proudly flies over this park. The Green Brook which borders the west side of the park is a tributary of the Raritan River and offers good fishing opportunities.

There are 2 grounds here and I'm reviewing ground 2 , which is closer to the parking . Ground 1 is…read moregood . We had some U17 matches there and it's good. Ground 2 is a bit wierd . There is a tree right before the mid wicket boundary .... Everytime someone hits there and hits the tree, you have to run and score . It's not considered a six ! Nice and big parking !! Overall a good ground but ground 2 is a bit wierd !

Nice place for a walk. Mostly level ground so it's good for all ages & health conditions. Lots of…read morepicnic benches for parties. And decent bathrooms... that's ALWAYS a plus!

Thomae Park is one of many small township parks that started from humble beginnings. In the early…read more1970s there was just a low lying piece of township land until residents built a playground from discarded car tires. Now there is a baseball field, basketball court and a proper playground as well as open field space where soccer and football is played. Thomae Park hosts many neighborhood events and township recreation ball games. An unpaved parking area can accommodate more than a dozen cars and makes a great starting spot for a walk along the Green Brook which by the way holds some nice fish.

Does anyone know what happened to the Revolutionary War era house that used to be in Thomae Park,…read moreprior to its development. I remember it from my childhood visiting the area.

Our family has enjoyed tubing on the delaware every summer for years. It's a great way to spend an…read moreafternoon in nature

Honestly, I don't know why this place got such few stars? The four stars that I've assigned as well…read moredeserved. I visited on a weekday and perhaps that made all the difference in the world. My experience form beginning to end was fantastic. I think one thing that seems to bother most people is the BBQ lunch. The BBQ lunch was apart of my package and when I arrived they were just loading the buns to be taken out on the river. I'm getting a little ahead of myself here but you'll understand in a minute. When I arrived, there were already several eager adventurous folks checking in, buying waterproof items for sale, collecting their water rafts and some even already on the water. I checked in with my Groupon and as directed, I left my keys - collected my Kayak and proceeded to the bus. Please note, the rule is, everyone must wear a mask until you're actually on the water; great rule as it gets crowded in the shop as well as on the bus. It keeps everyone safe. I chose the kayak experience which was awesome but the real fun is in a tube. After my journey down the river, I immediately purchase another Groupon just so that I could come back and have a tubing experience. So, back to the BBQ lunch. By the time I paddles my way down (a few signs for the waters edge for direction) to the BBQ shack on the water, they were still setting up. I guess I paddle too fast. I decided to keep moseying down the river as I had already packed a lunch just in case after reading the reviews about the BBQ shack not being up and running. Oh well, next time I'll enjoy a burger. Again, this is the perfect mid week escape. The ride outside of NY is quick and there's plenty of parking. Although it says Delaware tubing it's actually located in New Jersey; well at least the border between the two. I would recommend going early and taking as much time as you like in a tube with family and friends. I would also recommend bringing children as they will develop a lifelong love of being on the water. I'm a big fan now and I can't wait to return in a few weeks. P.S. I was told by my bus driver, they offer a fall foliage experience where they only allow kayaks on the river.

a few mowed trails through some meadows and woods by a few ponds and the Passaic River (which is…read morequite small here near to its source in Mendham, more like a creek.) Lots of birds here if you are into that, otherwise nothing really exciting, but tranquil. A quite undeveloped park in terms of facilities there is a small parking lot, a picnic table, a gazebo in the meadow , a few wooden benches along the trails; and that is about it. But if you want solitude you will find it here, I saw no other humans here.. only deer tracks