Cape May’s Dog Park offers a fenced recreation area for your canine friends. Inside you’ll find a water station, waste bags, trash receptacles, a gazebo, and seating for the humans. A double gate ensures no escapes and can help with introductions.

Park access requires a license, which you can apply for at the Cape May City Clerk’s office in City Hall. To apply, make sure you bring the following:

• Proof of a current rabies vaccination from your vet (you’ll need the paperwork, not just the rabies tag)
• Proof of your dog’s current registration with the city or municipality where you live (again, the paperwork itself; the City won’t accept a tag)

Read A Brief Guide to Cape May’s Dog Park for more

A city park on Madison Avenue, located across from the Cape May water tower. The park has a large duck pond, gazebo, a covered picnic area, picnic benches, a half-court basketball court, playground, and green space for running around.

There’s an entrance to the park from Madison Avenue, just past the Inn at the Park. Look for a narrow asphalt road with a split-rail fence to its right. That’s Leroy’s Lane. Kiwanis Park has a small parking lot. Parking is free.

The garden is named for Mike Shouvlin, a member of the Water Advisory Commission and garden’s first keeper.

The preserve offers six trails ranging from 0.2-0.5 miles in length, and a two-mile perimeter loop along the forested edge–four miles in total. Explore year-round on foot or by bicycle. Sights vary by season, with bird migration peaking in the spring and fall, and the wildflower field blooming from May through July. Beginning in late August into the fall, Monarch butterflies stop here to feed before their journey south.

Preserve amenities include a mobile bird blind, welcome kiosk, shaded pavilion with picnic tables, benches and picnic tables along the trails, and three adjustable art easels. From November 1st to March 1st, leashed dogs are welcome. Because this is a preserve, the Nature Conservancy does not provide trash receptacles. Be sure to take anything you’ve brought with you.

Explore its nearly two miles of nature trails (experienced hikers on Alltrails.com call them easy and scenic, and be ware of overgrowth), featuring two viewing platforms with views of the fields and forest, or explore the beach along the Delaware Bay. In the warmer months, you’ll want insect repellent when hitting the trails.

Here are a few things you should know:

This information is adapted from the NJDEP site:

• All state WMAs are carry-in, carry out and do not provide trash cans or recycling bins. Make sure to take anything you bring with you.
• You may not camp, swim, picnic, dump, cut or damage vegetation, have or consume alcohol, metal detect, geocache, paddleboard, paintball, or light a fire.
• Drones and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) are prohibited
• Dogs are permitted on Higbee Beach between September 1st and April 30th (the off season)
• Higbee is closed to hunting from September 1st until the Monday after the Six-day Firearm Deer Season each year
• Non-motorized mountain bikes are allowed on existing WMA trails and secondary (woods) roads from March 1 to April 15, and from June 1 to September 15, as well as on Sundays. Mountain bikes are permitted year-round if engaged in legal hunting and fishing activities.
• Yes, you can get married on Higbee Beach!
• Certain events and activities may require a permit

Learn more about Wildlife Management Area Regulations

Directions to Higbee Beach, provided by the NJDEP:

Follow the Garden State Parkway south to mile 0 and exit to the right for Route 109 North. Take Route 109 North to Route 9 south. Turn left onto Route 626. Cross the bridge and turn right onto New England Road. The road dead ends at Higbee Beach.

Higbee has a small gravel parking lot.

One more note: Due to its remote location and historic lack of local jurisdiction, being state owned, Higbee Beach long had the reputation of being a nude beach. The state ruled on this in 1996 and conferred power to municipalities to make and enforce rules and regulations in order to police state land, which means Lower Township’s ordinance 230-6 banning indecent or nude exposure is in effect at Higbee Beach. They fine violators.