Ocean County To Gradually Reopen Its Parks

OCEAN COUNTY, NJ — Ocean County will gradually reopen its parks and golf courses Saturday, officials announced. Passive recreation will be allowed in the parks, but certain areas will remain off limits, County officials said Thursday.

Parks scheduled to reopen are:

• Wells Mills County Park, Waretown
• John C. Bartlett Jr. County Park at Berkeley Island
• Jakes Branch County Park, Beachwood
• Ocean County Park and Lake Shenandoah County Park, both in Lakewood
• Patriots County Park, Jackson Township
• Freedom Fields, Little Egg Harbor Township

The Ocean County Golf Course at Atlantis, in Little Egg Harbor Township and Forge Pond County Golf Course in Brick Township will be reopened for play. The Barnegat Branch Trail — starting at Burr Street in Barnegat and traveling north toward Toms River — will also open for the public.

These parks will be open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily. Golf-course hours will be 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Golfers must make reservations for tee times.

Playgrounds, public bathrooms, nature centers, pavilions, dog parks and some of the smaller parks will remain closed.

“It’s important to note that this action in no way means the coronavirus pandemic is over,” said County Freeholder Virginia E. Haines. “Rather we want to provide safe and large open spaces for our residents to spend time outside, especially with warm weather coming, and these steps will allow that.”

County officials closed their parks and natural lands March 31 as a coronavirus precaution. Since then, Governor Phil Murphy ordered the closure of state and county parks. But he announced Wednesday that he will reopen state parks and allow counties to reopen their parks.

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As a result, county officials reviewed Murphy's decision Wednesday to decide whether to reopen parks, a county spokesperson told Patch. Read more: Ocean County To Review Park Closures Amid Gov. Murphy's Decision

Municipal park restrictions remain at each towns' discretion.

County parks will open for passive recreation such as walking, jogging and biking. But large gatherings, sporting activities and picnics remain prohibited, per Murphy's orders.

The County will also cap parking at 50 percent and strongly recommend wearing face coverings.

The Ocean County Health Department has reported 6,268 coronavirus cases and 372 deaths as of noon Thursday.

“It’s important that we continue to follow social distancing rules," said Freeholder Director Joseph M. Vicari. "We all need to remember that our actions don’t affect just us, they affect our family, they affect our health care workers, they affect our emergency responders, they affect the workers at our grocery stores."

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