Birch Grove Park — Attraction in Northfield

Forgot how much I loved this park! 🙏

Went for many walks in my youth (alone during the days usually, and with long-term partners through my teens and 20s, after hours 😄). Visited again today and feelings I haven't experienced in ages returned.

The geese and the beautiful varieties of ducks are plentiful, and glorious in their diversity, and immunity to human fear.

The paths are so well-planned, and continually used, that they are both amazing (from a park-planning perspective), and also well-trodden.

The tree-root systems are absolutely breathtaking! (But beware, the ankles of those who are less fit for side-stepping some uneven footpaths! Perhaps some paths are best explored alone before asking an elderly companion or mature individual to enjoy with you...)

There are open footbridges, boardwalks, unique covered bridges, places to fish, many sites to bird-watch, cozy settings to picnic with loved ones, or traverse alone when you are feeling more like isolating, without feeling utterly alone.

Visiting this afternoon, after not having been within arms' reach of this particular park for over a decade, I will now make intentional trips on my days off, to re-experience the beauty I found today, and years ago.

I've visited many parks in my lifetime, but after the comparisons I now have available in my memory bank, I am ever-grateful for the folks who planned, and brought Birch Grove Park in Northfield, NJ, to fruition. Who also continue to maintain the space for locals and visitors to the area.

Truly unrivaled. A recreational masterpiece. Visit whenever time allows. I'm reminded to do the same.

If you are stuck, uninspired, and bored with daily existence, please begin taking lunch at the park. Eat, walk, rue having to return to your working existence, but return knowing you have moments every day you can be grateful for.

If you are not local, rest assured that you will find amazing walking paths, proximity to nature, while also being close (distantly) to other lives, which makes you feel closer to humanity as a whole, even without interacting directly.

You just get a sense that life is bigger than your problems at Birch Grove. I truly hope your experience matches mine. (Weather permitting, of course! 😁)

The only way my experience could be better, and I could go more often than the 15 minutes of my lunch break left after travel, is if I could bring my four-legged family on the weekends.

Maybe one sole designated trail that was pet-friendly, on-leash only? Keep everyone delighted. Those who don't want animals, and those who will only be able to go when they have time for a couple walks a week, which must include their beloved doggos. It's a deal-breaker otherwise. A place we love, but have to love from a distance, and one from very fond, distant memory.

Thank you Birch Grove. If you've never been there, I can't imagine you'd be disappointed. Alone, with a partner, with a full family including children.

Your dogs, however, will be greatly disappointed. You will as well (if you're a devoted dog-lover like me, who wants to experience life with your "children") --when you find such an amazing park where your dearest family is not welcome.

If you have been there in the past (or better yet, distant past), please return. You will be amazed at what you've settled for since you...

I would not camp here again. I've tented plenty of times before and never had such an experience. We rented a tent site with electricity and water for 2 nights. We set up our tent and went to the bathroom right after, only to find absolutely horrifying bathrooms. I actually had to clean of my own seat because it had dirt and dead bugs on and in it. The sink had the same in it. I looked into the shower only to decide that I was either not taking a shower while I was there or I was going to be paying a bathhouse to use their shower on the beach. There was what looked like orange mold climbing up the walls and clearly no cleaning had been done. Anyways, we went to sleep and woke up the next morning with ticks on us and in our tent (which isn't really the campgrounds fault). With that, we decided to pack up and leave. Neither of us wanted to spend our little vacation worrying about ticks and we needed to shower. We booked a hotel (which would be clean AND have a shower). So we talked to the lady who works at the desk, and although she was very nice, she refused to give us a refund for even the second night that we wouldn't be there, even though we had packed and been out of our site by 10:30 (which is well before their checkout time of 12, so someone else could have taken the site). There was hardly anyone in the campground too, so it's not like the site was high demand. They should have refunded us for at least the one night, if not two. If they would have refunded us for both, I probably would have given them 3-4 stars, because their only fault would have been the bathrooms that BADLY need renovated.

All in all, I will not be stopping back. Ever. They will not try to make right any issues that you have and I would not even step foot in their bathrooms. And hopefully, if you do go, they're not...

First time I seriously walked this park and fished here. The park is littered with beautiful bench's, docks and wooden rails. If you fish it is stocked with trout and also has Bass,Sunfish,Catfish and Carp as well. If you're a bird watcher it is FULL of wild life. And if you're a amateur photographer this is a HEAVEN for getting some great shots. Bring the DSLR it is beautiful here! They also have a full set of Baseball fields that have a snack bar. They have a play ground for the little ones as well. If you are into fitness they have a Paracourse the runs the gambit of the park. and many trails and paths you can walk or run on. I don't have a brochure or anything to go by but I swear I saw some kind of campgrounds as well. I was super impressed in how well the park is laid out and just how many different activities that can be done here. If you can get to the park you need to take some time...