New Jersey Pinelands National Reserve

The Pinelands, one of the largest fairly undeveloped tracts of land on the Eastern Seaboard, preserves a vast acreage of marshes, bogs, ponds and dwarf pines, from which the region gets its name.

Encompassing more than 1 million acres of farms, forests and wetlands, it covers 56 communities, from hamlets to suburbs, with more than 700,000 permanent residents.

In 1978, Congress established it as the country's first National Reserve. A reserve is an area of nationally significant resources that are protected through a program of local land use management supported by federal financial and technical assistance.

Visitor facilities can be found at state parks and forests, county parks and wildlife management areas. A few examples are listed below.

Entrance fees are charged in some areas.

The 18,000-acre Bass River State Forest, in Burlington County in the heart of the Pinelands, features 67-acre Lake Absegami and facilities for boating, canoeing, swimming, camping, picnicking, hiking, horseback riding, hunting and fishing.

The 50-mile Batona Trail stretches from Ong's Hat in Lebanon State Forest to Coal Road in the Bass River State Forest.

At the Wetlands Institute and Secrets of the Salt Marsh Museum in Cape May County, exhibits and a self-guided trail introduce visitors to marsh life.

Double Trouble State Park, situated on the site of a 19th-century lumber operation in Ocean County, features a historic district, short nature trails and cranberry bogs.