Wells Mills County Park

Take the Garden State Parkway to Exit 69, proceed west on Wells Mill Road [County Route 532] and continue for 2.1 miles to the park entrance, on the left.  

GPS Coordinates: 39.797338, -74.278003 [Wells Mills Nature Center, 905 Wells Mills Rd, Waretown, NJ 08758]

A large county park in the Pinelands, Wells Mills County Park features a lake and multiple blazed trails within its boundaries.

Eighteen miles of marked trails lead visitors through pine-oak forests, Atlantic white cedar swamps, freshwater bogs, and maple gum swamps.  The 8.4-mile Penns Hill Trail [white] circles the park, and several short trials are designated for tree identification, nature study, and the visually impaired.

Mountain bikes are permitted only on a 3.2-mile yellow-blazed trail designated for that use.  A portion of three co-aligned trails leads briefly into an adjacent Boy Scout camp, and users are asked to stay on the trail.

Use the Web Map link on this site to view a trail map.  Click for a detailed description of a hike in the park.

The land in what is now Wells Mills County Park has had an economically productive past. The abundance of Atlantic white cedar on the property prompted James Wells, in the latter part of the eighteenth century, to build a sawmill and dam Oyster Creek for waterpower. The largest park in the Ocean County park system, it offers a nature center, observation deck, canoe rental, and fishing on the millpond.