Where to Park at the Freehold Raceway Mall

Recently I wrote about the to and from the mall.  But what about maneuvering those most nefarious plots of pavement, the parking lots? 

Once you’re in the mall, choosing a parking lot is a bit of a crapshoot. Everyone tends to have their standby and sticks with it.  However, if you venture a bit outside your comfort zone, you may find less crazy drivers, closer spots, and less headaches.

My first tip is to avoid at all costs the Cheesecake Factory lot.  Since the outdoor shopping center was built in the old parking lot, space has been significantly reduced. The restaurants here also tend to dominate the real estate, leaving few open spots for shoppers.

The food court lot is also generally a mess, so I recommend choosing a department store. Macy’s appears to be the smallest lot to my eye, but the rest are fairly interchangeable based on preference. I happen to prefer Nordstrom’s upstairs section; the way it slopes down provides many spots at the head of a row, which makes them easy to find on leaving.

If you can’t park close to a main entrance, keep an eye peeled for service entrances. These are a little sketchy-looking but are in fact legitimate (I use one to go to and from work.), and certainly handy if you wind up trapped inside after the department stores close. They are generally grayish unmarked doors in the corners between department stores (they connect to the interior of the mall itself).

Finally, keep in mind that most of the parking lots do not allow left turns onto Winners Circle, so try to keep your exit route to your right to avoid completely circling the mall to leave. 

As always, drive safe, mall maniacs, and keep an eye peeled for the elusive first spot – someone’s gotta get it!