Lifestyle

Middletown and the surrounding area provide for a wide variety of recreational pursuits. The close proximity to the ocean, bay, rivers and woods allow residents to pursue their favorite outdoor activities including sailing, boating, surfing, paddling, fishing, hiking, mountain biking, birding and an overall deep enjoyment of nature. Public beaches and private beach clubs provide for simple relaxation or a more community atmosphere to socialize and enjoy the company of peers. There are numerous stables and miles of public and private trails for Equestrian lovers, and a number of public and private clubs for the golf enthusiast. Red Bank and the surrounding area offers a delectable selection of chef-owned, casual and fine dining spots for the avid foodie. PNC Arts Center’s extensive calendar of everyone’s favorite nationally recognized recording artists is located 5 minutes away. Both Manhattan and Philadelphia are in close proximity offering every cultural, culinary, artistic and social activity one could desire.

Shopping In Red Bank

Downtown Red Bank and The Grove Shopping Center offer your favorite luxury retail brands minutes from your driveway. Downtown Red Bank is an eclectic mix of clothing, jewelry and shoe boutiques, home furnishings, art, antiques and collectables. Major luxury brand anchors include: Tiffany’s,Hamilton Jewelers, Garmany, Urban Outfitters, Restoration Hardware and West Elm. Specialty boutiques like Coco Pari, THEO, Lucki Clover, The Gold Tinker and Quick Silver and iconic niche shops like Silent Bob and Jay’s Secret Stach, Jack’s Music Shop and Yestercades are iconic Red Bank hip brands. The Grove Shopping Center, approximately 1 mile from downtown Red Bank allows you to shop favorites like Pottery Barn, Anthropology, Free People, Gap, Eddie Bauer, J. Crew, Athleta, MAC, Brooks Brothers, Vineyard Vines, Lucki Brand, William Sonoma, Victoria Secret, Talbots, J Jill and Chico’s to name just a few. Visit The Grove and Grove West to see everything they have to offer.

The Grove

Parks and recreation

Retaining the natural beauty, history and cultural diversity...

Mere steps from the entrance to Hiddenwell, Swimming River Park’s inviting waterfront property features boating, kayaking and canoeing for the fishing, birding and nature enthusiast. Future plans are taking shape. 

Historic Middletown is known for it’s commitment to open space preservation; retaining the natural beauty, history and cultural diversity through it’s extensive Parks, Cultural Arts and Recreation Programs. There is something for everyone to experience and enjoy in the heart of Coastal Monmouth County.

Children of all ages can participate in Middletown Townships’ recreational and traveling teams for a wide variety of sports. Adult and children alike can enjoy theatre, extensive arts and crafts, gardening and outdoor adventure programs through Middletown Township and Monmouth County’s park and recreation programs. Nearby Red Bank is host to an extensive calendar of seasonal events including outdoor movies, theatre, live music and festivals hosted in Victory Gardens and Marine Parks, overlooking the picturesque Navesink River. See history come to life at Historic Holmdel Park, Allaire Village, The Spy House Museum and The Murray Farm House at Poricy Park.

Swimming River Park: This recent addition to the Park System provides scenic views of Red Bank and the Navesink and Swimming Rivers. A public boat ramp provides access to the river March 1 to November 30 for fishing, crabbing, wildlife observation, or touring the picturesque marshes and coves of this extensive watershed. The 18 acre park was acquired by the Park System with assistance from the Monmouth Conservation Foundation in September of 2015. Swimming River Park has recently undergone several improvements including new bulkheading and boat ramp, kayak beach launch area, docks, a walking trail and parking.

Marine and Victory Garden Parks, Red Bank, NJ:

Red Bank’s Marine Park and Riverside Gardens Park provide a venue for open air concerts, movies and annual music, crafts and food festivals. Last year’s Summer line up included Tuesday evening family movies, Wednesday evening fitness programs sponsored by the Red Bank YMCA, featuring a rotating program of yoga pilates and Zumba, and Thursday evening Jazz, all in Riverside Gardens Park. Marine Park was host to the NJ Symphony Orchestra, the International Beer, Wine and Food Festival and the Red Bank Guinness Oyster Festival.

Thompson Park: 

Located in the Lincroft section of Middletown, less than (3) miles away
Visit Center Hours: Monday-Friday 8am -4:30pm; Weekends 10am-4pm; Public Restrooms: 8:00am to Dusk.

The Visitor Center can be rented for meetings, special events and weddings.

Special Features: The Estate Grounds include:

The Memorial Tree Grove

The Old Orchard: 14 miles of trails contained to the park and reminiscent of the    Thompson family apple orchard

The Filly Run: A magical playground with access to the park trails - a 4.9mi paved loop

Three Barns: Includes: Theatre Barn, Activity Barn and Creative Arts Center

Off Leash Dog Park

Fishing Lake: Canoeing, Kayaking and Electric Powered Boats

Holmdel Park/ Historic Longstreet Farm: 

Located 6.4 miles away, Holmdel Park’s 566 acres is a favorite destination for active recreation and nature appreciation, and is host to nearly one million visitors yearly. This park features:

Historic Longstreet Farm:

Open daily year round from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Visitors may enter at their leisure, free of charge. From Memorial Day through Labor Day the farm is open 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Pets are not allowed within the farm.

Longstreet Farm’s mission is to promote an appreciation for Monmouth County farm life at the end of the 19th century, preserving historic structures and practices through interpretive programs and tours.  Step back in time and experience Monmouth County’s rural agricultural history come to life as Interpreters dressed in historic costume, perform the chores necessary to run and sustain a farm and livestock as though it were still the late 1800’s.

Throughout the year, Longstreet Farm hosts free weekend activities that allow visitors to experience life as it would have been during the 1890s. For info on any of these events, call 732-946-3758.

David C. Shaw Arboretum:

Named for David C. Shaw who served as Monmouth County Shade Tree Commission superintendent from 1963 to 2002, the arboretum features many verities of trees, shrubs and woody plants to enjoy and inspire one’s own gardening and home landscaping ideas. The arboretum plantings provide for a wide variety of seasonal bloomers and textural diversity, all of which are cultivars and hardy to the Monmouth County landscape.

fishing
picnic areas
four tennis courts
two playgrounds
ice skating,
sledding
10 miles of trails - including a 1/2 mile paved loop linking the Pond View and Forest Edge areas of the park with group picnic facilities and playgrounds.

Gateway National Recreation Area Sandy Hook Beach

Gateway National Recreation Area - Sandy Hook Beach: 

Middletown Township is home to Gateway National Recreation Area’s 2,044 acre Sandy Hook Beach and historic Fort Hancock. The park is an approximately 6.5 mile peninsula, owned by the federal government, managed by the National Park Service and is the northern most tip of the New Jersey Coast. Visitors come from all over the tri-state region to enjoy the natural beauty of “the Hook” which is framed by the Shrewsbury River’s tail-waters estuary that flows into Sandy Hook Bay and separates it from the mainland. Sandy Hook Bay is the triangular arm of the Raritan Bay. Both the Atlantic Ocean coastal beaches and the peninsula bay beaches provide for endless seasonal recreational pursuits. SeaStreak and American Princess Cruises ferries serve Sandy Hook from Manhattan in summertime. Favorite ocean beach activities include: 

• sunbathing

• strolling

• shell collecting

• swimming

• surfing

• boogey-boarding

• body surfing

The majority of Sandy Hook’s ocean coastline provides life guard safe areas for beachgoers from Memorial Day to Labor Day. 
Sandy Hook Bay beaches are not guarded and are favored for:

• fishing

• kayaking

• windsurfing

• kite surfing

• leashed dog walking

• picnics

• birding

Miles of paved bicycle paths, wooded, beach and bay area trails for nature walks and birding, Local chapters of the Littoral Society and Audubon feature seasonal guided birding walks. Clean Ocean action sponsors environmental events and everyone loves the annual Summer beach concert series.

Hartshorne Woods

Historic and vast, Hartshorne Woods was where the regional Lenni Lenape Indian tribe lived along our coast. Richard Hartshorne, an English Quaker, sailed his boat from the Atlantic Ocean up the mouth of the Shrewsbury River to a wide cove where the Shrewsbury River meets the Navesink River and settled on some 2300 acres in 1669. Today, Hartshorne Woods comprises 791 acres of hilly and forested land that is a favorite of hikers and bikers. The Navesink Avenue entrance, located in the Navesink section of Middletown, provides access to an extensive system of well-marked trails, ranging from a .7 mile loop to a total of 14 miles. The largest trail, Grand Tour, runs the perimeter of the park. 

The Clay Pit Creek entrance features beautiful views of the Clay Pit Creek, home to a whole host of shore birds. The back pond is a quiet sanctuary and rookery for great blue herons. Raptors, snowy egrets, great blue herons and king fishers are some of the many birds you are likely to see here. There is a dock for fishing and launching kayaks and  Clay Pit Creek is a beautiful protected cove to paddle around and explore it’s natural coastline. 

The Rocky Point section of Hartshorne Woods was once a strategic military defense base. It’s entrance is located off Portland Road in Highlands, adjacent to the historic Highlands, Twin Lights. Rocky Point runs along a high coastal ridge that provides spectacular views of the rivers, ocean and Sea Bright peninsula from the woods and fields. The mountain laurels magically bloom beneath the canopy for miles in June, and if you are attentive you may find ancient lady slipper flowers blooming off the trails.  There is a fishing pier and small sand beach at the Blackfish Cove area off the main Rocky Point trail. There are miles of hilly paved loops and natural forest trails to walk, bike and hike. There are nested bald eagles, all manner of raptors and song birds and deer abound. Wear proper shoes as some of the trails are challenging and always check for ticks. Don’t miss the view from the top of the Battery looking out over the Sea Bright peninsula, the Shrewsbury River and the Atlantic Ocean. You can imagine the Lenni Lenape Indians hunting, fishing and roaming these woods with the giant old growth oaks, maples and native locust trees. The park is open from dawn to dusk. Parking is available at each section.

Recreational Programs

Children of all ages can participate in Middletown Township's recreational and traveling teams for a wide variety of sports. Adult and children alike can enjoy theatre, extensive arts and crafts, gardening and outdoor adventure programs through Middletown Township and Monmouth County’s park and recreation programs. Nearby Red Bank is host to an extensive calendar of seasonal events including outdoor movies, theatre, live music and festivals hosted in Victory Gardens and Marine Parks, overlooking the picturesque Navesink River. See history come to life at Historic Holmdel Park's Long Street Farm, Allaire Village, The Spy House Museum and The Murray Farm House at Poricy Park.

Community Resources

Hiddenwell offers the comfort of knowing that a complete range of medical services is one minute away at Riverview Hospital, Red Bank. Sloan Kettering recently opened a state of the art cancer treatment center, also located less than 10 minutes away via the Garden State Parkway at Exit 114 - Holmdel,Middletown.

Middletown Township and the close surrounding area provides for every religions and spiritual denomination to congregate, worship and commune. 

Christian Church: 

Synagogues: 

Mosques: 

Non-Denominational Churches: 

Universalist Church: 

Zen Buddhist Meditation: 

Hindu Temple: