BEACHWOOD – Nestled in the Pinelands of Ocean County, a swath of 400 acres, peppered with Pine trees and a variety of flora and fauna, is now Ocean County’s newest park - Jakes Branch County Park - Gateway to the Pinelands. This is the park that provides an overview of and introduction to this special part of New Jersey's geography.
Ocean County purchased the 400-acre tract known as Beachwood West in 2000. The unique terrain along this branch of the Toms River, offers a 6,500-square-foot nature center, which also includes exhibits and an avian observation area. The park also offers two soccer fields, a soccer/football combination field, a softball field, a softball/baseball combination field, four tennis courts, a basketball court, picnic tables and a tot playground.
Jakes Branch is built on less than 40 acres of the roughly 400-acre environmentally sensitive tract.
“The park blends passive and active recreation,” according to Freeholder John C. Bartlett said. “At the center of the park, sitting on a hill 77-feet above sea level, the 40-foot-tall observation deck offers unobstructed views of the County, a feature is certainly unique to this park."
There are interactive exhibits telling the tale of the Pinelands and a small collection of reptiles native to the area.
Prior to becoming a park, part of the tract was caught in a Pinelands fire. The scarred landscape has been allowed to remain in tact as part of the Pinelands story.
It is less than a mile from the Garden State Parkway and is located between Exit 77 (northbound) and Exit 80 (southbound) at 1100 Double Trouble Rd., Beachwood.
Admission is free. For more information, call 732-281-2750 or visit www.OceanCountyParks.org
