>>1622351I'm near Middletown on the Bayshore. Hartshorne is nice, Huber Woods, Sandy Hook... You can climb Mt. Mitchell pretty easily. There are some nice trees in Holmdel Park, Tatum Park, etc. but these are community parks. Turkey Swamp and Manasquan Reservoir are nice parks, but still pretty suburban.
To go really /out/ you have to go to the Pine Barrens or the NJ Highlands in the NW. The Pine Barrens are pretty monotonous but there are a few especially scenic parts like the Mullica River, it's good for offroading. For climbing and stuff, Bear Mountain in NY, Sussex County, the Poconos, the Catskills, the Taconics... haha..
There are some cool fossil beds around Monmouth County. Poricy Park in Middletown, I believe Allentown, near Freehold... near Sayreville in Middlesex County is a clay flat along the Raritan River that is known for its amber and fossils (and ticks)
note to NJfags: don't forget how badly tick infested the state is. Monmouth County is particularly bad. Alpha-gal disease sucks, too.