# Road trips in New Jersey

> 4 road trips and 6 hand-picked places in New Jersey, with routes, stops and practical tips for driving and camping.

Source: https://camping-spirit.com/roadtrips/new-jersey/

4 road trips and 6 hand-picked places in New Jersey, with routes, stops and practical tips for driving and camping.

## Road trips through New Jersey

- [Pine Barrens and the Jersey Shore to Cape May](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/b10-jersey-shore-pine-barrens/): An old lighthouse, a forest village in the Pine Barrens, boardwalks and Victorian Cape May.
- [East Coast curiosities](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/coastal-curiosities/): Witch-trial history, a wooden elephant and wild horses on the beach.
- [Delaware Water Gap and the Poconos to Ricketts Glen](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/b20-poconos-water-gap/): From New York to the Delaware Water Gap, the waterfalls around Milford, a boulder field, Victorian Jim Thorpe and the 21 falls of Ricketts Glen.
- [West of the Hudson: Palisades, Bear Mountain and the Shawangunks](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/b20-hudson-west-bank/): Up the west bank of the Hudson from the Palisades cliffs to Bear Mountain, West Point and the Walkway, then over to New Paltz and Minnewaska.

## Places worth the detour in New Jersey

- [Lucy the Elephant](https://camping-spirit.com/places/lucy-elephant/): A six-story wooden elephant from 1881 on the Jersey Shore. Tours climb up through her legs to the howdah.
- [Batsto Village](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b10-batsto-village/): An old iron and glass-making village in Wharton State Forest, the gateway to the Pine Barrens. Sandy forest roads beyond it are not for RVs.
- [Cape May Lighthouse](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b10-cape-may-lighthouse/): A 157-foot lighthouse inside Cape May Point State Park, a top spot for autumn bird and monarch butterfly migration. Sunset Beach is nearby.
- [Barnegat Lighthouse](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b10-barnegat-lighthouse/): “Old Barney”, a red-and-white lighthouse at the north tip of Long Beach Island, with a climb to the gallery and a jetty walk.
- [Mount Tammany, Delaware Water Gap](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b20-mount-tammany/): The New Jersey side of the Delaware Water Gap, where the steep Red Dot Trail climbs about 1,200 feet to cliff views over the river gap. The trailhead lots off I-80 fill early on weekends.
- [State Line Lookout, Palisades](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b20-state-line-lookout/): The highest point of the Palisades cliffs, 532 feet above the Hudson, reached from the northbound Palisades Interstate Parkway. Trails run along the cliff edge; commercial vehicles are banned on the parkway.

## FAQs

**What are the best road trips in New Jersey?**
Popular routes include Pine Barrens and the Jersey Shore to Cape May, East Coast curiosities, Delaware Water Gap and the Poconos to Ricketts Glen and West of the Hudson: Palisades, Bear Mountain and the Shawangunks. CampingSpirit has 4 trip guides that pass through New Jersey, each with a stop-by-stop itinerary and a route map.

**Which places in New Jersey are worth a detour?**
Our editors recommend Lucy the Elephant, Batsto Village and Cape May Lighthouse.